Members of the Ashe County Cemetery Committee updated the Board of Commissioners on Oct. 20, reporting extensive survey work, volunteer engagement and challenges in accessing and maintaining historic cemeteries.

"We managed to find 48 graves there in what was a cornfield," said Jerry (committee member), describing recent ground-penetrating radar work at an African American slave cemetery in the Nathan's Creek area. Committee members said the GPR unit is in frequent use and that volunteers and outside interest have grown after social-media posts about discoveries.

The committee said it has located 1,181 cemetery sites in the county database and has visited 392 sites; volunteers have cleaned 44 and 19 of those are now adopted (community groups or institutions agreed to ongoing maintenance). Committee members said roughly 330–350 abandoned cemeteries still need adoptive stewards and estimated there may be as many as 1,300–1,400 total cemeteries countywide when unrecorded sites are included.

Committee members urged that the county pursue an adoption model so that volunteers do not repeatedly clean sites that immediately revert to overgrowth. They also said some cemeteries (including one near Grassy Creek) remain inaccessible because of storm damage and downed trees and that property-owner access can be difficult when heirs live out of state.

The committee and commissioners discussed ordinance language and enforcement. County staff and the committee noted North Carolina law already prohibits hunting in cemeteries; the committee said the proposed local ordinance is intended to clarify protections for burial sites and address problems such as deer stands and other inappropriate uses. Committee members said they will continue outreach to landowners to secure access and to identify adoptive caretakers.