Announcement from Buncombe County Soil & Water Conservation:
June 10, 2020 — Buncombe leads the state in Farmland Preservation efforts, and now their keystone project, the Farm Heritage Trail has been nationally recognized with the National Association of Counties (NACo) 2020 Achievement Award.
Buncombe County Soil and Water Conservation District’s Farm Heritage Trail has been honored with the NACo Achievement Award for creating and implementing the trail. The Farm Heritage Trail is a scenic driving route through the rural agricultural communities of Alexander, Leicester, Newfound and Sandy Mush in northwest Buncombe County. The public is welcome to travel the public roads of this trail and enjoy viewing the conserved family farms, with designated signage, that are along the route. The entire route is a leisurely two hour drive while enjoying farm stops along the way. Trail riders may choose to follow the specific route or enter and exit at any point, selecting farms they may want to drive by or visit along the way.
“We appreciate this national recognition of our Farm Heritage Trail. We initiated this effort to increase awareness of our farmland conservation efforts and support our farms. It is vital to Buncombe County’s future that we have strong and resilient family farms; therefore, we must conserve farmland, and we must ensure that our farms are economically viable. The Farm Heritage Trail provides an opportunity for both Buncombe County residents and tourists to visit and support our farms, as well as learn about our conservation efforts.”
— Terri Wells, Buncombe County Agricultural Advisory Board, Vice-Chair
The Farm Heritage Trail recognizes the importance of protecting farmland, honoring agricultural heritage and supporting the future of agricultural operations within Buncombe County. Through agritourism, the trail informs citizens and tourists about the importance of our local food system, and that in order to protect our view sheds, we must protect our farmland. The outcome of this project is a stronger agritourism community within the county, a network of farmers for the public to connect to, and increased awareness of the experiences offered on farms in Buncombe County.
“This award shows how Buncombe County’s farmland preservation efforts stand out nationally and that the Farm Heritage Trail is a prime example of the innovativeness and resourcefulness of the county,” states Ariel Zijp, Buncombe County Soil and Water Conservation District Farmland Preservation Coordinator. “The Farm Heritage Trail was launched in 2016 in the Northwest of the county and continues to grow with future plans to expand to a county-wide trail. This is a model that can be replicated nation-wide to encourage agritourism and the protection of farmland.”
“I am beyond pleased to see this hard work recognized and rewarded! The idea for the creation of a Farm Heritage Trail has been a dream of many for some time. When Ariel Zijp joined Buncombe County Soil and Water Conservation District’s staff in 2015 that dream began to take shape. In less than a year she found support to fund the initial startup. Now just four years later we are being nationally recognized for our innovative work to bring agritourism and farmland preservation awareness to our community and beyond. I couldn’t be prouder of our commitment to preserving the agricultural heritage of Buncombe County and to our pioneering approach to sharing and promoting our history for generations to come. The NACo Achievement Award does not mark the end of our journey but provides fuel to power the expansion of the trail to further highlight Buncombe County’s commitment to our community’s farmers and ranchers as well as preserving the beautiful landscape that makes visiting Buncombe County a must for travelers far and wide. We thank NACo for their recognition of our efforts!”
– Jennifer Harrison, Buncombe County Ag and Land Resources Director
Buncombe County Soil and Water Conservation District’s mission is to conserve the soil, water and natural resources of Buncombe County by providing, education, technical assistance, economic incentives and farmland preservation to meeting changing needs. The Farmland Preservation Program encourages the voluntary preservation and protection of farmland from non-farm development as well as supporting the agricultural heritage and economic success of the farming community within Buncombe County.
To learn more: www.farmheritagetrail.org
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