Julie McNeal grew up visiting a wildlife preserve with her grandmother in Quogue, NY on the south fork of Long Island. She credits these memories and experiences in nature as the reason why she envisioned a wildlife refuge on her own land, and ultimately protecting her property from commercial development.

Her only goal and dream in life was to be a veterinarian. When that didn’t work out, she started rescuing dogs. Julie recalls, “My husband never had dogs so he wasn’t really on board until our first three passed. We ended up with ten and John said, ‘we had gone to the dogs’.” With continued land annexation in Knoxville, Julie and John were afraid that new zoning would mean they’d lose their dogs and discussed looking for a piece of land. John saw an ad in the paper and said it seemed like a lot of trouble to go see, but that if Julie wanted to, she could check it out. The old farmer came, unlocked the gate, and drove her around in “ugly” March. She fell in love, and took John out a week later to show him. He loved it too, and sent Julie back to make the deal.

Roughly 90% of the property is woodlands, with mature oak and hickory trees, intermittent woodland streams and springs, and open pastureland. During a cursory survey of the land’s natural features, FLC biologists identified 127 different plant species on this diverse tract – 110 of which were native. These natural, undisturbed areas provide terrestrial and aquatic habitat for interesting plants, migratory birds, and lots of white-tailed deer. “I’ve been here about 20 years, and I think maybe a couple have been here that long because you start to recognize some of the older ones. I’m not sure where else they could live so peacefully if it wasn’t on this land,” Julie says.

When the time came to plan for her estate, Julie learned about Foothills Land Conservancy and began discussing the option of a conservation easement. It was a process that took several years of careful consideration and much patience from Bill Clabough, who came back many times to answer questions and make sure Julie was comfortable with her decision for the long-term stewardship of this special property. The turkey, deer, possums and other animals now have a safe place, like a refuge, in Roane County that’s permanently protected from development. And that gives Julie a sense of peace, too.