RRGCC acquires 718 acres

https://www.instagram.com/p/DGMQvENMiod/?igsh=MTJsd3Q2djFkNTBodw==

Yep, you read that right – your home crag just got a whole lot bigger!!!

In a historic moment for climbing access, the RRGCC is excited to announce our largest land acquisition ever – right in the heart of the Red River Gorge!

Here's the cliff notes (pun intended):
• 10 years in the making
• 14 miles of cliff line
• 718 acres
• $1.7 million purchase

Wow, way to go RRGCC, and everyone who contributes to them!

Link to the announcement https://rrgcc.networkforgood.com/projects/246604-ashland 

Red River Gorge Climbers’ Coalition (RRGCC) is ecstatic to announce a historic 718-acre acquisition as part of the larger sale of Ashland’s former Wildlife Management Area in Lee County, KY. The $1.7 million purchase conserves a massive swath of land in the Cave Fork region while also adding several tracts contiguous with the existing Miller Fork (MFRP) and Pendergrass-Murray (PMRP) recreational preserves. This serves as the largest land acquisition of its kind ever completed by a local climbing organization in the United States. 

Now you might be thinking, $1.7 million is a lot of money, how could a small non-profit like RRGCC manage that? It would have been impossible to do it alone.

• USFWS Kentucky Field Office and Kentucky Natural Lands Trust (KNLT) provided $350,000 from the Imperiled Bat Conservation Fund to further the conservation of critical habitat in the Hell Creek corridor.
• U.S. Forest Service (USFS) granted RRGCC $600,000 through their Community Forest Program in a partnership to create a 570-acre community forest as part of the acquisition.
• The James Graham Brown Foundation in Louisville awarded RRGCC with a $500,000 grant. This generous contribution highlights JGBF’s commitment to supporting transformative initiatives.
• The down payment of $110,000 was paid from RRGCC reserves, built over time by its generous donor base through memberships & event revenue.
• RRGCC secured private loans from an anonymous donor and Jordan Wood to cover the difference of the purchase 

RRGCC is ever thankful for its incredible partners who helped in monumental ways to push this deal through!

What’s next? Well this is where you come in. Paying off $100,000 in loans and investing another $100,000 to build out property infrastructure is quite the project.

To recap: new area bigger than MFRP and nearly as big as PMRP (which both also grew a bit). Hell yeah!!!