Blue Ridge Conservancy protects Wilkes County peak

The Blue Ridge Conservancy (BRC) recently moved to protect a 2,400-foot peak in the Brushy Mountains in Wilkes County. 

Two acres of land might seem small. But the mountain peak is the final puzzle piece in a conservation project dating back to 2011. 

The site, which previously housed a communications tower, is surrounded by land already owned by the BRC and increases the tract to a total of almost 100 acres that include the headwaters of Cub Creek.

BRC's Director of Land Protection Eric Hiegl says the area is a distinctive subchain of the Blue Ridge Mountains that remains relatively undeveloped.

"So, there's a lot of potential for land conservation in the Brushy Mountains," Heigl said. "They have a unique ecological significance and importance that we want to try to get ahead of the curve and conserve."

Earlier this year the BRC completed a roughly 1,100-acre conservation project in collaboration with the Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina. That land includes portions of Wilkes, Alexander, and Iredell counties.