BLACK MOUNTAIN, N.C. (AP) - A new purchase by a North Carolina-based land trust has expanded protection of the “Seven Sisters,” a string of mountain summits officially known as the Middle Mountains.
The Asheville Citizen-Times reported Tuesday Jim and Marcia Verbrugge sold 123 acres (50 hectares) on Brushy Knob to the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy for $400,000, less than half the assessed price.
SAHC Executive Director Carl Silverstein says the deal means the peak’s western flank will join its eastern slopes in being protected forever from housing or other development.
While the Montreat Conservation Easement and the Asheville Watershed protect much of the Seven Sisters, hundreds of acres are privately owned by Camp Merri-Mac and the Billy Graham Estate.
The Verbrugges said in a statement that they wanted to make sure the land was persevered.
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Information from: The Asheville Citizen-Times, http://www.citizen-times.com
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