MARYVILLE, Tenn. - Foothills Land Conservancy says it protected 11,000 acres in Tennessee and North Carolina in 2013 through conservation easements.
Director Bill Clabough told The Daily Times that the amount was a record for the Maryville-based organization, which conserved 6,000 acres in 2012.
"It's been a great year," Clabough said. "The FLC Board of Directors has been very supportive. The staff has worked real hard. We had a bunch of support from the community. It's one of those years you almost pinch yourself and say 'golly bum!'"
The easements include properties in Campbell, Van Buren and Grundy Counties in Tennessee as well as a property near Boone, N.C.
A conservation easement allows landowners to place permanent restrictions on the future uses of property.
"The one I just got through completing was 2,100 acres on west side of Fall Creek Falls State Park, protecting the western boundary. (We completed) another 100-acre easement on the east side of Fall Creek Falls."
He said if two ongoing projects in Georgia had been completed in 2013, the conservancy would have protected more than 12,000 acres.