Natural Resources

As the National Park Service faces an astonishing price tag to repair all aspects of the Blue Ridge Parkway, coupled with impending budget constraints, care of the trails, campgrounds, picnic areas, and overlooks are falling to the bottom of the long list of priorities. That means, the places you enjoy nature on the Parkway desperately need your help!

FUNDED!

A rehabilitation project for one of the most popular trails along the Blue Ridge Parkway is underway! A crew with the American Conservation Experience is repairing Craggy Flats Bald Trail, which has become deeply rutted, leading to erosion.

FUNDED!

FUNDED! Thank you for your gifts to make this project a reality. A crew with the American Conservation Experience has just finished most of the repairs at Craggy Flats Bald Trail during a four-week stint.

Since the Foundation’s initial funding of remote wildlife cameras in 2009, the devices have captured more than 25,000 images of over 35 species of wildlife, including black bears, bobcats, coyotes, red and gray foxes, elk, European wild hogs, white-tail deer, and numerous other species on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The infrared cameras are a valuable tool for resource managers in their efforts to survey and oversee larger animals, especially predator species, on Parkway land.

Rangers are tasked with not just the safety of visitors on the Blue Ridge Parkway, but also the resources that make the park so special, including the plants and animals that live here. The Foundation will fund training for park rangers to reduce poaching and natural resource theft. 

Elk and wild boar populations are growing along the Western North Carolina section of the Parkway. The Foundation will fund research to aid in good wildlife management decisions for these large mammals.

We are partnering with the Conservation Trust for North Carolina (CTNC) to support a crew with the group's North Carolina Youth Conservation Corps, allowing Parkway campgrounds and trails to realize improvements while young men and women learn about the wilderness and themselves.

Crayfish may be small, but they can send a big message, telling scientists a lot about the state of the environment in which they live. The southeastern Appalachian Mountains are one of two major crayfish hot spots in the world, yet little research has been done to catalog or understand the varieties of species along the Parkway.