<< Back 8/14/02 $2 million allocated for Needmore purchase SMN The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has sweetened the pot for the preservation of the Needmore Tract in Swain and Macon counties. North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission recevied $2 million from the U.S. F&W as part of its Recovery Land Acquisition (RLA) Grants Program. The money, which is part of the Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund, is designed to help NCWR purchase the tract which supports populations of the federally listed spotfin chub (a fish) and Appalachian elktoe mussel. The RLA Grants Program provides funding to states for acquisitions of habitat that support approved recovery plans for federally listed species. According to a U.S. F&W press release, “Acquiring this land [Needmore] will provide riparian protection for the river and its biologically diverse aquatic communities.” Crescent Resources, the land management arm of Duke Energy, and The Nature Conservancy have been studying the disposition of the tract since 2000. In October of 2001, Crescent published a Needmore timeline stating a tentative report regarding the tract would be produced in spring 2002. However, earlier this year, Crescent pushed back the timeline for any decision on Needmore to November. “The Fish and Wildlife grant can only have a positive impact on the Needmore project,” said Bill Gibson, director of the Southwestern Commission. Gibson has been working on the Needmore issue on behalf of Macon and Swain county governments. “It raises money, but just as important, it raises interest and points to the unique conservation value of the property,” Gibson said.