This July matters reached the boiling point at Howard's Knob. Friends of Howard's Knob, the Watauga High Country Land Trust, the Access Fund, and other groups had been negotiating to acquire the popular boulders on the north side of the mountain and to minimize environmental and scenic impacts from proposed development. (The Access Fund pledged $15,000 to the Land Trust for purchase of a parcel containing the north side boulders.) But when the developer rejected several purchase offers and prepared to build his 8000 sq. ft. home in full view of the town of Boone, local activists grew desperate.
So on July 14 and again on July 17, local climbers scaled trees to prevent the bulldozers from moving in, but that was just the beginning. A week later Friends of Howard's Knob staged a rally to support preservation of "The Knob," and 500 people marched in the streets of Boone. These actions merited reports on CNN and in the national print media.
"It was our last resort," said Jeffrey Scott, co-founder of the High Country Land Trust, who climbed a hickory tree and remained there for seven hours to stop the bulldozers. "We just wanted to show [the developer] we weren't giving up." Scott was arrested and fined $200 for trespassing, but three days later climbers AJ Porter and Jim Toomey repeated his action, this time hauling portaledges and a week's worth of food and water up with them. Although the bulldozer operators threatened to topple the trees anyway, in the end the 'dozers were stymied, if only temporarily.
Joey Henson, a well-known boulderer and also a founder of the Land Trust, reckons the protesters "got our point across." Henson said the march on July 25 included many Boone residents, and demonstrated that "there is widespread support for our proposal" to preserve the bouldering area and adjacent woodlands as a county park. Henson and other activists are now seeking major donations for their cause-$150,000 is needed to meet the developer's asking price.
By August things had calmed down somewhat, according to Henson. The developer was talking again to the Land Trust. Construction of the developer's new home had not progressed past the driveway. The Land Trust was feverishly raising funds to increase their purchase offers. But Howard's Knob remains closed to climbing and the chips are still down in the fight to save this major climbing resource. What will climbers do now?
The Access Fund suggests a healthy donation to the cause. For more information, call the High Country Land Trust at 704.264.2511.