The Fortune family has deep roots in the Southern Appalachian soil. Philip Fortune is a fifth generation farmer in these mountains, with a real sense of place and a strong tie to the land. But when crops of new houses started replacing the corn, cattle, and tobacco that once grew around him, Philip could no longer recognize as home his family’s small farm just outside Asheville, North Carolina.

Totally surrounded by subdivisions and widened roads, Philip found it difficult to continue his agricultural operation and decided to move his family over the mountains to 180 acres of land near Midway in Greene County, Tennessee. He was determined, however, not to stand by and watch the same thing happen to his new homeplace. So, he donated a permanent conservation easement on his farm to The Land Trust for Tennessee to protect it from subdivision and development forever.

Greene County is the sixth largest county in terms of overall area in Tennessee, and despite its scenically steep topography, contains some amazingly rich farmland along its river and creek bottoms. Unfortunately, this farmland is often the most vulnerable to the new development the area is experiencing. The Fortune easement marks the first permanent conservation success story for The Land Trust and its local partner, The Appalachian RC&D Council, and jumpstarts a joint effort to protect the rich agricultural resources of the region.  Philip Fortune’s easement also helps protect two federally endangered aquatic species, the Chucky Madtom and the Cumberland Bean mussel, and the overall water quality of Little Chucky Creek. 

 To learn more about The Appalachian RC&D Council’s Northeast Tennessee project area, please visit www.lbctrust.org .

Easement donors Philip Fortune and his family accept a gift from Roy Settle, Appalachian RC& D Coordinator
and Jeanie Nelson, Land Trust President and Executive Director.