Andrew Kota is the executive director of Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina, a land trust that permanently protects land and water in Western North Carolina for the benefit of people and all living things.
If you’ve ever hiked at South Mountains State Park, enjoyed a view of Lake James State Park, or visited Catawba Falls, then you’ve benefitted from a fraction of the work by the Morganton-based organization.
For the past 30 years, the land trust has worked to protect more than 74,000 acres of forests, farms, waterways, and mountain landscapes across eight counties in Western North Carolina. Much of that story is told in a new documentary “A Dream for the Future,” which highlights both the Conservancy’s history and its current efforts to permanently protect Hickorynut Mountain near Old Fort, a 12,000-acre tract of land roughly the size of Manhattan.
Andrew joined Foothills Conservancy in 2005 and has spent the last two decades helping conserve some of the region’s most important lands and waterways. In this episode, he shares what land conservation actually looks like in practice; why places like Hickorynut Mountain matter; the challenges facing this work; and what it means to think not just years, but generations into the future.
You can also listen via the following outlets or on your favorite podcast platform.
Apple Podcasts
Spotify
Amazon Music
Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina
foothillsconservancy.org
Watch: A Dream for the Future
Theme Music
The song “Goa” was written by Lyndsay Pruett and performed by the Jon Stickley Trio.
On The Blue Ridge 