Over 18 years ago, I joined the Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC) as the Central and Southwest Virginia Regional Director, eventually becoming Vice President of Conservation and Policy. At the time, the then Appalachian Trail Conference boldly decided to change its name to Conservancy and focus its efforts on conserving the Appalachian Trail experience for future generations to enjoy.

The dictionary definition of a conservancy is an organization designated to conserve and protect natural resources. What sounds simple on paper is, of course, far more complex on the ground — especially for a resource like the A.T., which traverses over 2,198 miles of diverse terrain from marshland to forest, grassy bald to alpine tundra.

Since I began my journey with the ATC, I have had a close-up look at what a conservancy does, and I am proud of what our small but mighty team has accomplished in protecting what Benton MacKaye articulated at the fifth meeting of the ATC conference, in 1931: “A realm and not a trail marks the full aim of our effort. The trail is but the entrance…”

Preserving Biodiversity

Given the challenges of encroaching incompatible development, the growing list of invasive species, and the loss of ecosystem function, it’s an enormous task to manage the A.T. landscape to support the ecological services required to sustain biodiversity and allow species to adapt and move. The Trail passes through many ecosystems, making it a crucial corridor for wildlife — especially considering the changing climate.

Every year, the team manages hundreds of acres that enhance views and are home to declining species such as golden-winged warblers, metalmark butterflies, and other species that prefer early successional habitat. Also known as young or disturbed habitats, early successional habitats were historically maintained through natural processes such as wildfires, flooding, windstorms, and the activities of large herbivores. These habitats support diverse wildlife by providing both food and cover. Could you imagine hiking the entire Trail without enjoying a monarch butterfly flitting across a meadow?

Part of the work of maintaining critical ecosystems requires addressing immediate threats to the health of an entire species. Many people are familiar with the American chestnut story. Once a keystone species across the Appalachian forests, the tree is now gone due to the chestnut blight. To every extent possible, we don’t want that to happen again to other forest species. That’s why the ATC’s team has worked in recent years to treat the emerald ash borer (EAB), an invasive insect species that has been causing significant damage to ash trees (Fraxinus species) throughout North America. We are working swiftly to protect ash trees against EAB in an attempt to conserve some individuals that could ensure the survivability of the species once EAB has declined.

Partnering for Land Conservation

In 2015, the ATC and National Park Service recognized that we could not accomplish landscape conservation gains alone. We need the support of as many conservation partners as possible. So we convened the A.T. Landscape Partnership (ATLP), which includes over 100 partners today. The ATLP steering committee developed a strategic plan that identifies increasing the pace and scale of conservation within the Trail landscape. That landscape is broadly an area of approximately 5 miles on each side of the protected Trail corridor. The total A.T. landscape, including the protected Trail corridor, national parks, forests, and state lands, is nearly 27 million acres. Approximately 32 percent of this area has been conserved. In the coming decades, how might we get to 50 percent conserved while focusing on unprotected viewsheds and regions that provide functional connectivity for wildlife between larger, protected areas?

The ATC supports land conservation partners by providing leverage grants that allow our partners to move land acquisition projects across the finish line. Thanks to generous donations from The Volgenau Foundation and other private donors, the ATC has recently contributed nearly $4 million towards conserving over 80,000 acres within the Trail landscape.

The ATC also undertakes strategic land acquisition work through a land trust that now holds nearly 6,000 acres in fee or easements. Most recently, we worked to conserve nearly 1,000 acres in the Catawba Valley right under McAfee Knob. This area sits just outside the expanding outskirts of Roanoke, Virginia, and is vulnerable to new development. Today, the A.T. views, healthy forests, and headwaters of the Chesapeake Bay watershed in this region are protected forever, for all. The team is now planning and implementing forest restoration projects in this area and is considering opportunities to accommodate recreation and overnight use.

Protecting High-Quality Views

In recent years, the ATC and NPS have turned our attention to gathering and cataloging data about the scenic resources of the Trail. Our goal is to protect high-quality views well into the future. To do that, we must understand and document what we have today. It’s both an art and a science to describe natural beauty, and we are fortunate to work with experts at the NPS and U.S. Forest Service to help us gather data on scenic quality, landscape features, and the level of impact a view has already sustained. Our team is well on its way to inventory scenic resources from all A.T. viewpoints. So far, we have collected data from points in West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maine. On deck next is Virginia.

Last but not least, the ATC’s conservation agenda would not be complete without our advocacy work on Capitol Hill. During the 1980s and ’90s, the ATC’s then Executive Director, Dave Startzell, was a force to secure federal commitments to complete the Trail corridor. Today, over 99 percent of that corridor is protected. But that doesn’t mean our work to actively engage Congress and federal agencies has ended. Given our broader landscape conservation goals, we need sustained policy-focused capacity. Since 2014, through the efforts of our federal policy director, we have worked with Congressional partners to create an A.T. House Caucus and have engaged in targeted federal policies to increase funding for conservation work.

The ATC’s evolution as a conservancy is ongoing. On the horizon, the ATC is working with partners to analyze how the Trail landscape supports a broader East Coast conservation corridor for recreation and wildlife movement. With a changing climate, we need to have more strategic and targeted investments to adapt and mitigate the impacts of climate change.

Benton MacKaye’s prescient vision for the Trail is as relevant today as 100 years ago. With the Trail on the ground, we can, and should, invest more to achieve the broader conservation vision. As a Conservancy, we will continue strategizing, planning, and implementing projects that sustain this landscape into the next century and beyond.

Laura Belleville served in a variety of conservation-focused roles at the ATC for 18 years. In October 2023, she took on a new position as Senior Director of Conservation Programs at the National Forest Foundation.