Collaboration Between Highlands: Reflections from the NC Forever Board Retreat at Grandfather Mountain

“In Praise of Ben Doran”

By Duncan Ban MacIntyre

Though writing more than 200 years ago about a highland peak an ocean away, MacIntyre could have been writing about Grandfather Mountain, the North Carolina highland peak draped in its own “flawless green raiment.” It was atop that iconic mountain where members of NC Forever, the United Kingdom’s Embassy and Consulate Staff, and Brooks Pierce gathered to discuss the intersection of economic development and conservation.

It was a day spent discussing big problems, big problems that everyone in the room acknowledged could only be solved through collaboration and partnership.

NC Forever, a consensus-based approach to big problems.

NC Forever is an unconventional partnership of businesses and non-profits. The partners work together to advocate for the funding needed to conserve NC’s lands and waters. https://ncforever.org/. Brooks Pierce helped stand the organization up in 2017 and serves as outside staff to its Board.

NC Forever runs on consensus. Each member organization has one board seat and gets one vote. This means that NC Forever only takes actions and advances legislative agendas that have the support of all its members, corporate and nonprofit alike.Building consensus takes collaboration, and it was that spirit that permeated the Board’s Retreat.

 

The Retreat: Bogs to Bagpipes

The Board’s retreat took place over the course of two days in the area around Grandfather Mountain, with the second day culminating in a joint event, the Grandfather “Summit.”  British Embassy and Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation representatives as well as numerous guests, along with the Board, participated in the Summit.

 

Day One: A walk in a bog.

During the first day, Board members and Brooks Pierce staff were led on a tour of Pineola Bog near Linville, NC. The bog is a conservation victory that has already benefited the local area. Andy Sicard, Superintendent of Grandfather Mountain State Park, and members of his staff, took Board members around and through two of the bogs they have worked to restore.

As Superintendent Sicard noted, the reclaimed bogs likely helped mitigate flood damage during Hurricane Helene. Downstream communities were protected thanks to the bogs’ natural, reclaimed ability to absorb large amounts of water. Brian Strong, Director of North Carolina State Parks, was also on hand to discuss the significance of the work done and the path ahead for similar natural resources.

 

The Board gets to work, welcomes friends, and grows its ranks.

 

On the second day, Board members gathered for their quarterly meeting to discuss its upcoming advocacy priorities. Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation, also an NC Forever member, graciously hosted the second day’s events at the Wilson Center for Nature Discovery atop Grandfather Mountain. Present at the meeting were representatives from member organizations such as Syngenta, Dominion Energy, American Rivers, North Carolina Friends of State Parks, the NC Farm Bureau, NC Realtors, NC Association of Soil & Water Conservation Districts, Fitzpatrick Communications, Nutrien, and Environmental Defense Fund.

 

The Board also welcomed several guests, including Brian Strong; Mike Leonard, with The Conservation Fund; John Nicholson, Chief Deputy Secretary for the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality; Lewis Ledford, former NC State Parks Director and Exeutive Director Emeritus of the National Association of State Park Directors, and Bruce Beard, with the Department of Defense’s Sentinel Landscapes program. Each provided invaluable insights into the conservation policy landscape at the federal and state levels, giving Board members helpful ideas about possible proposals to include in NC Forever’s 2026 legislative agenda.

 

Most exciting was the addition of NC Forever’s newest Partner Organization, The Conservation Fund. Guenevere Abernathy, the Fund’s North Carolina State Director, was on hand to accept the invitation. With complementary missions and goals, The Conservation Fund will find itself at home with NC Forever.

 

The British are coming!

After wrapping up its business, Board members eagerly awaited the arrival of British Consul General, Rachel Galloway, and her staff.

Upon their arrival, Jesse Pope, Executive Director for the Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation, took everyone further up the mountain for a guided tour of the Mile-High Swinging Bridge. After the requisite photo op (see picture to the right), Mr. Pope used the vista as his backdrop to explain the Stewardship Foundation’s role in preserving one of North Carolina’s treasures.

As Mr. Pope pointed out, this conservation victory was not the result of one government, organization, or company. Instead, Grandfather Mountain was saved for future generations through a partnership between private and public entities.

 

The Grandfather “Summit”: Learning from one another.

 After (most) everyone traversed the Swinging Bridge and took in the views, attendees moved back to the Wilson Center for a three-part summit on the summit.

First, Consul General Galloway and Robert Fourqurean, Policy Advisory, Energy and Climate at the British Embassy, shared the British approach to conservation, climate, and collaboration. The presentation noted that the United Kingdom has set a target of conserving 30% of British land and sea by 2030. Consul General Galloway highlighted the broad potential for international cooperation not only on the federal level, but also at the state, local, and organizational level. Mr. Fourqurean opened the door to consideration of a collaboration between the United Kingdom’s largest national park, Cairngorms, in northern Scotland, and Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation, Grandfather Mountain State Park, and the National Park Service’s Blue Ridge Parkway, in Western North Carolina.

Second was a panel discussion by NC Forever representatives Graham Smith (Site Collaborative), Guenevere Abernathy (The Conservation Fund), Jesse Pope (Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation), and guest Bruce Beard (DoD). The Panel was moderated by Bill Ross, Of Counsel at Brooks Pierce and former Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Panel participants discussed the importance of building coalitions between conservation entities and for-profit companies, and they extolled the efficacy of unconventional partnerships.

Finally, attendees participated in an open discussion between local and state leaders. Representatives from Visit NC, the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce, and GROW NC joined the conversation. Leaders provided updates about Helene recovery efforts and shared stories about the successful intersection of conservation and economic growth.

 

A taste of Scotland to celebrate ancient bonds.

After a full day on the mountain, attendees were thirsty. Not to be outdone in hospitality, and as a show of the bonds that unite Scots and Tarheels, consulate staff hosted a scotch tasting to close out the event. There were more than a few kilts and plenty of scotch to enjoy the pipes, fiddle, and dancing.

The future is collaboration.

Closing a day talking about the land with an homage to all things Scottish was poetic.

When Scots-Irish settlers moved into the Blue Ridge Mountains, they felt a deep sense that they were somehow coming home. Some of them had never seen their ancestral land, but they still felt that same pull from those peaks and valleys.

Running underneath the spine of the Appalachians is a vein of rock. It dips down in Maine, runs under the Atlantic, re-emerges in the British Isles, and runs under the Scottish Highlands, under places like Ben Doran.

The land ties us together. On September 24, local, state, federal, business, nonprofit, and international leaders talked about some of the biggest problems facing our species. There was no rancor, there was no yelling (except for loud laughter at the reception), and there was none of the fatalism that so often accompanies such conversations. Instead, there was hope, hope in the power of the land and the wellbeing of all peoples to unite us in the pursuit of answers.

The NC Forever Board Retreat and Grandfather Summit reminded everyone that some problems are too big to be solved alone. The only solution is to working together, as partners.