BOONE, N.C. — Thanks to $21,820 in funding from the National Park Service (NPS), Dr. Mark Spond, Appalachian State University’s liaison to the NPS, has completed a condition assessment of agricultural parcels adjacent to the Blue Ridge Parkway — a 469-mile road that snakes along the central and southern Appalachian Mountains of Virginia and North Carolina.
NPS, which owns the parcels, leases the land through a Special Use Permit for a period of five years as part of its Agricultural Lease Program. The leases provide a modest source of revenue for NPS and promote the pastoral setting along portions of the parkway, Spond shared.