MB Civic

[N.B. This does not bode well; I do not trust the sellers at all…]

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

CHIMNEY ROCK, N.C., Aug. 19 — For more than a century, the family of Dr. Lucius B. Morse has served as the steward of Chimney Rock in the Blue Ridge Mountains, keeping the park that has expanded there undeveloped and open to the public.

The park’s Web site says that Dr. Morse, a physician who was advised to seek a palliative climate after being diagnosed with tuberculosis, often visited Chimney Rock. In 1902, with financial backing from his brothers, Hiram and Asahel, he bought the rock and 64 acres around it.

But last month, the Morse family announced that the park in western North Carolina, which has expanded to 1,000 acres and includes the 400-foot Hickory Nut Falls, was for sale. The decision to sell the park has stoked fears that the land will be developed for vacation and retirement homes.

Among those who are concerned is State Senator Walter Dalton, Democrat of Rutherfordton. “We have some beautiful property in North Carolina that is under private ownership, of such a nature that I think they have become legacy properties, and the people would be best benefited by them coming under public ownership,” Mr. Dalton said. “The most pressing concern right now is what does happen up at Chimney Rock.”

Todd Morse, who with his father, Lucius B. Morse III, listed the park for sale, said the decision was motivated by mounting financial concerns, potential estate-tax complications and the planned creation of Hickory Nut Gorge State Park. The state would like Chimney Rock to become the centerpiece of the park.

Mr. Dalton was able to add $15 million for park land acquisition to this year’s state budget and through the Nature Conservancy offered $20 million for the park, a price set by an independent appraiser. But the Morse family rejected the offer, choosing instead to put Chimney Rock up for sale with Sotheby’s for $55 million.

Todd Morse declined to discuss the negotiations with the state or the financial details of the park.

Much of the acreage has been maintained in pristine condition, and some scientists have described Hickory Nut Gorge as one of the most biologically diverse areas in the state. Todd Morse said he and his father shared a desire for the next owner to “carry on the legacy of stewardship that we’ve started here.”

But those who wish to preserve the park’s natural state are worried that if the new owners require a greater cash flow than current traffic is generating, some level of new development will follow.

“Even five years ago, there wasn’t the development pressure that all of a sudden there is now,” Mr. Morse said.

Much of the land in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was bought with Rockefeller money, and the Mellon family paid for much of the private land now protected as part of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

Private-to-public land conversions have become more difficult in recent years, said David Carr, a lawyer with the Southern Environmental Law Center, based in Charlottesville, Va. “Funds are harder and harder to come by,” Mr. Carr said. “As you’re seeing with Chimney Rock, when ownership turns over, those gems are put at risk.”

Should he or his father die, Mr. Morse said, the family is concerned that high estate taxes could bring an undesirable sale.

Lobbying for the state to get involved in Chimney Rock’s future may be for naught. Current law prohibits state officials from paying more than the appraised value for the park, but there is a possibility that the state might be allowed to match a higher offer from a private buyer.

“The best-case scenario would be if the family would sit down and continue to work in earnest with the state to find a way to sell the property to the state at a reasonable price that would address their financial needs,” said Fred Annand, associate director of the North Carolina chapter of the Nature Conservancy. “That’s not going to happen as long as the property is listed at $55 million. This thing is going to have to run its course.”