box springs wilderness land conservation in north carolina

Box Creek Wilderness Land Preservation

wave

Unique Places To Save Provided Online Technology to Help Prevent a Power Line Over One of the Largest Natural Heritage Areas in North Carolina

Unique Places To Save conducted an online outreach and education campaign in coordination with our valued partner, Unique Places LLC, to help educate the public about the re-routing of a high-voltage power line that was proposed by Rutherford Electric Membership Corporation to run through the 7,000 acre Box Creek Wilderness Natural Heritage area in western North Carolina. From our online and technological efforts, we garnered nearly 2,000 signatures in support of our efforts to stop the high voltage power line.

If developed as first proposed by the power company, the power line would have destroyed more than two miles of intact and exceptionally-diverse forest, and would have significant fragmentation in an important wildlife corridor between the South Mountains and Blue Ridge Escarpment (see here for award winning South Mountains to Blue Ridge Corridor Map Atlas completed by Unique Places GIS & Design).

 

photo of children playing outdoors

Mandi Taylor, May 2025

How Green Spaces Improve Our Immune System

Like many other millennials, I grew up hearing tales of hardship from the older generations - like the infamous 12-mile, uphill both ways trek to school. We were often labeled as “soft” compared to their experiences. Now, when seeing the yo...

photo of kayakers paddling on the Cuyahoga River

Sam Warnock, April 2025

A River Under Fire: The Cuyahoga River's Comeback

Few rivers tell the story of environmental neglect and redemption quite like the Cuyahoga. Once a dumping ground for industrial waste, this Ohio river was so polluted that it caught on fire repeatedly before the passage of the Clean Water A...

photo of floods in rural farmlands

Mandi Taylor, April 2025

How Wetlands Impact Insurance Costs - Part Two

In the first part of our research into how wetlands impact insurance costs, we discussed the decline of wetlands across the U.S., amplified by recent legal changes that leave millions of acres unprotected. Now, we connect that ecological lo...

photo of wetlands with buildings in the background

Mandi Taylor, April 2025

How Wetlands Impact Insurance Costs - Part One

Welcome to the first installment of our Conservation Cares series! We often hear about land and natural resource conservation in broad strokes, but how does it tangibly affect our daily lives? This series of topics illustrates how different...