On June 25, 2022, the City of Boone partnered with the High County Audubon Society (HCAS) to host a tree planting event on the Bolick property. The City of Boone originally purchased the Bolick property in 2016 and permanently retained approximately 31 acres of the 54-acre property. The HCAS partnership began when the city, in conjunction with New River Conservancy and Watauga County, embarked on the restoration of the South Fork New River which flows near the Bolick property.
The High Country Audubon Society, whose mission is to encourage novice and expert birders in the five-county area of Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Watauga and Wilkes, and to engage in conservation, education and Research to Benefit Birds of Western North Carolina, has purchased more than 260 trees through grants to benefit the reforestation of the Bolick property. Trees purchased and planted include hemlock, lime, sycamore, cherry, sourwood, hazel, witch hazel and dogwood as well as shrubs such as rhododendron, mountain laurel and silky dogwood.
The Town of Boone thanks the High Country Audubon Society, the High Country Chapter of the Sierra Club and others who dedicated their Saturday to help reforest the Bolick property. To date, working with its partners, the city has planted over 1,000 trees and shrubs on the Bolick property in an effort to reforest the floodplain along the South Fork New River.
For more information on how to participate in events similar to this one, please contact Laney Pilkington, Administrative Support/Communications Specialist at [email protected] or at (828) 268-6200.
Courtesy of the City of Boone.
