When morning mist blankets the Black Mountains around Burnsville, you are looking at one of the most biodiverse temperate ecosystems on planet Earth. More salamander and moss species inhabit these ancient folds than all of Europe combined.
As urban expansion climbs up mountain ridges, we must remember that Western North Carolina’s peaks serve as the headwaters for the Catawba, Yadkin, Broad, and French Broad rivers. How we treat these ridges today determines the quality of the water running through Charlotte and Piedmont kitchen taps tomorrow.
