Roan Mountain

hiking Roan Mountain, originally uploaded by oryngo.

The Appalachian Trail Conservancy is going to use goats to help keep the balds in the Roan Highlands clear. Its a Baa-tany Project

Angora Goats To Graze On Roan Mountain

Two eternal mysteries surround Roan Mountain like a thick morning mist.
First, why are the balds bald? And second, should the forest service exert any particularly strenuous efforts to keep the balds bald?
Theories bordering on legend – and occasionally crossing that border – suggest that prehistoric mastodons and mammoths roamed the mountain and grazed voraciously. When they became extinct, bison and elk took over.
It has also been suggested that a lightning strike or series of strikes may have sparked a fire or two. And of course, no mountain legend is complete without the devil walking across the landscape wreaking havoc in his footsteps.
Whatever their origin, Roan’s grassy balds – Round Bald, Jane Bald, Grassy Ridge and Hump Mountain – are actually fields on the densely forested mountain that give Appalachian Trail hikers short stretches in the sun with some nice long-range views.
They are also unique ecosystems with an intriguing assortment of rare plants and insects. Therefore, the forest service has elected to preserve them, or at least try to, against the forest’s encroachment. A third question then becomes how to go about it.