Southern Highlands Reserve and Nelson Byrd Woltz Partner to Steward a Vital Southern Appalachian Landscape

New ecological research reveals rare species and globally imperiled habitats across the 120-acre Western North Carolina conservation site.

LAKE TOXAWAY, NC, UNITED STATES, October 7, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Southern Highlands Reserve (SHR) has engaged Nelson Byrd Woltz (NBW) Landscape Architects to develop a comprehensive stewardship plan designed to protect one of the Southern Appalachians’ most ecologically important landscapes. A newly completed ecological survey has confirmed that SHR is home to an extraordinary concentration of rare plant and animal species and globally imperiled natural communities. The findings are now guiding a comprehensive stewardship partnership with NBW Landscape Architects, whose highly lauded, research-driven approach will help ensure these natural resources are protected for generations to come.

Across the Reserve’s 120 acres on Toxaway Mountain, conservation biologists with Mountains-to-Sea Ecological documented 247 plant species and 82 animal species, including 12 rare plant species, six state-rare animal species, and nine rare natural communities. Among the findings were globally imperiled spray cliff communities, two exceptionally rare low-elevation bedrock seeps, a high-elevation rocky summit and a stunted high-elevation red oak forest — habitats found in few places anywhere in the Southern Appalachians. The survey also confirmed a thriving population of pink-shell azaleas; SHR has the largest, naturally occurring stand of pink shell azaleas on record.

This ecological survey is the first phase of a stewardship planning process expected to unfold over the next decade, guiding decisions about the Reserve’s landscape, infrastructure and visitor experience for years to come.

Those discoveries are guiding a comprehensive landscape stewardship plan led by NBW, a research-driven firm whose work is grounded in ecology, cultural history, and long-term stewardship of significant properties including The Ramble in Arkansas, Houston’s Memorial Park in Texas, Mt. Cuba Center in Delaware, and Bok Tower Gardens in Florida.

“This project is a very important critical step for the organization’s future,” Kelly Holdbrooks, Executive Director of SHR, says. “As a high-elevation conservation site, Southern Highlands Reserve is a refugia for many species and an area of tremendous natural significance. Southern Highlands Reserve has been a trailblazer for conservation horticulture and a steward of native plants for the last 25 years, and our conservation work is a direct result of great partnerships in public and private sectors. Nelson Byrd Woltz and their design team bring extraordinary depth of experience in designing landscapes that honor both cultural heritage and natural systems, and we are deeply grateful to be working with their team.”

NBW’s planning process combines ecological analysis, historical research, and operational planning to create a framework for protecting the Reserve’s sensitive habitats while strengthening ecological resilience. The work will improve the visitor experience and deepen public understanding of the site’s natural and cultural significance. Working alongside Robinson Design Engineers, the team will also identify opportunities to improve stormwater resilience in response to recent historic flood events, ensuring these sensitive ecological communities continue to thrive for generations to come.

“It is a privilege to work with Southern Highlands Reserve on this landscape of rare ecological richness,” Thomas Woltz, Senior Principal and Owner of NBW, says. “The recent survey confirms what careful stewardship over 25 years has already shown: this mountain is a refuge worth protecting at every scale. Our work will translate that scientific understanding into a plan that welcomes the next generation of visitors to know and to protect this extraordinary place.”

This is not just a beautiful place. It is an ecologically irreplaceable one. These findings will form the scientific foundation of NBW’s comprehensive plan — and they deepen our commitment to getting this stewardship right, for the long term.

###

Jan Hardin
Southern Highlands Reserve
+1 828-885-2050
Visit us on social media:
LinkedIn
Instagram
Facebook

Media gallery