This Land, Your Land

The U.S. Forest Service and National Park Service on Friday marked the purchase of 8,100 acres of timberland near Marion a century ago to begin the movement to create national forests.

That tract became part of the Pisgah National Forest and the first of 1.2 million acres of national forests in North Carolina.

The initial purchase followed approval by Congress of the Weeks Act, which allowed federal money to be used to buy forests for watershed protection.

The Weeks Act eventually led to the creation of 52 national forests in 26 Eastern states and the addition of 19.7 million acres on national forests and grasslands across 41 states and Puerto Rico, the U.S. Forest Service says in a news release.

An exhibit commemorating the Weeks Act was unveiled Friday at Laurel Knob Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway (Mile Post 349.2), which overlooks the initial Pisgah tract about an hour north of Asheville.