As land becomes more and more valuable in monetary terms, it becomes harder and harder for those who value it for other reasons to hold on to it.

Development pressures and the higher taxes that come with increasing land prices have tempted or forced many families that once farmed their land to relinquish their heritage.

Thankfully, the children of Jamie and Elspeth Clarke chose to pursue a different route. Hickory Nut Gap Farm is one of the region’s most historic and scenic, located on the old Drovers Road scenic highway.

The six surviving children of the Clarkes, whose grandparents purchased the land in 1916, chose to place the land under a conservation easement, which means it will remain farmland in perpetuity.

The conservation easement will be paid for thanks to support from the N.C. Agricultural Development and Farmland Protection Trust Fund.

The Trust Fund, run by the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, awarded Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy $703,500 to nearly match a contribution from Buncombe county to protect Hickory Nut Gap Farm. The owners, the children of the Clarkes, are donating 25 percent of the value of the conservation easement.

More than money

The family could have gotten much more money by selling the land for development. And that would have been a great temptation.

“There was some feeling that everyone needed to get their share and the only way to do that would be to sell it or give it up,” said Annie Ager, one of the Clarkes’ daughters. She inherited the land and now runs the farm.

Thanks to the trust fund, that wasn’t necessary.

“A good portion of the farms that will be intact in 30 years are going to be the farms protected with conservation agreements,” said William Hamilton, Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy Farmland Protection director. “Without the trust fund, it’s very difficult to get anything accomplished to protect those farms.”

The trust fund prioritizes working farms with creative enterprises. Two businesses that operate on Hickory Nut Gap Farm are Flying Cloud Farm and Hickory Nut Gap Meats. The owners lease the land from their family members.

The easement gives Jamie Ager, co-owner of Hickory Nut Gap Meats, the assurance he needs to build his business and make investments he’d been putting off.

That means the two operations will continue to provide locally grown fruits, vegetables and meats to seven grocers, 14 restaurants and many individuals in Asheville and the surrounding area.

Maintaining local food

Producing farms provide a measure of food security in this time of rising gas prices. But farms have the added value of preserving scenic open space. In the case of Hickory Nut Gap Farm, there’s also the value of preserving a piece of the region’s history.

The farm’s history dates back to the first settlers crossing the Blue Ridge after the Revolutionary War. Travelers of the road lodged at Sherrill’s Inn, which still stands as the centerpiece of the farm.

Hickory Nut Gap Farm is located on a scenic byway 10 miles from Chimney Rock Park. It’s in a section of the county that has been developing rapidly.

Without the funding provided by the N.C. General Assembly to the Farmland Preservation Trust Fund and the commitment of the members of the Clarke family to their heritage, Buncombe County might have lost this unique and special place to development.

The state funding for Hickory Nut Gap Farm was the largest of 41 grants totaling $7.6 million awarded across North Carolina this year by the trust fund. This year’s grants, which gave more than $2 million to governments, conservancies and organizations in Western North Carolina, marks the largest amount of money the trust has awarded since its inception in 2006. Unfortunately, the trust fund has been cut in half for the next funding cycle at this critical time in the state for preserving farmland.

North Carolina lost 5,500 farms and 300,000 acres of farmland between 2003 and 2006. That’s a lot of capacity for food production that’s no longer available in the state.

Here’s hoping lawmakers will recognize the need to increase, rather than decrease, the money available to preserve farmland. Once lost, it’s lost for good.