Kevin Caldwell is Vegetation & Wildlife Ecologist and owner of Mountains-to-Sea Conservation, Inc (MTS).  Since 1994, Caldwell has worked with engineers, landscape architects, land trusts and their clients, USFS, municipalities, and over 75 private landowners in the southern Blue Ridge. He specializes in comprehensive botanical & wildlife inventory, natural community classification, and identification and management of rare species and critical habitats. His background in plant propagation and installation provides a basis for habitat restoration projects.

Kevin is experienced on remote lands and rugged terrain in all weather conditions. Recently, he served as Stewardship Ecologist for Sweet Water Trust of Boston. There, he worked closely with The Nature Conservancy, designed the organization's baseline documentation and monitoring protocols, wildlife tracking programs, and helped manage wilderness easements on 45,000 acres of land from Adirondacks through northern New England. He has field experience in the Mid-Atlantic, the southern Blue Ridge, and the southeast, the southwest, and Puerto Rico. He has worked with Equinox Environmental of Asheville, NC, Epsilon Associates of Maynard, MA, the Kentucky Natural Heritage Program, and is former co-owner of Appalachian Ecological Consultants (1996-2001).

He holds a bachelor's degree in Ecology from UNC-Asheville (‘96). He is a member of the Ecological Society of America, the Southern Appalachian Botanical Society, Society for Conservation Biology, and Society for Ecological Restoration. He serves on the Land Management Committee for the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy and the Forest Task Force of the Western North Carolina Alliance, both of Asheville NC.

MTS helps real estate professionals, private landowners, engineers, land planners & landscape architects discover, protect, and manage the natural heritage of the land within "conservation development" land use plans.  Why bother?  The price of land is just the first part of land value - the value of the forests, waters, plants & wildlife are priceless.  We help landowners understand the "natural capital" of their land, giving them financial and conservation options that do not exist for the landowner who does not inventory the "toolbox" of their land.

We conduct botancial & wildlife inventories, land use & conservation planning, habitat restoration & management, forest stewardship, and regulatory projects for a wide range of clients.  We specialize in design of ecologically sensitve small communities offering private lots and large protected areas with trails and other amenities - the 'centerpieces' of the land. 

We also "restore" the original landscapes where homesites are constructed by assessing the site, saving native topsoils and high quality plants & seeds from the actual site, and returning them to natural areas and homesites later - somewhat like native plants landscaping but using the actual native plants of the site.  Additionally - we design & construct trails, restore and "release" damaged forests, remove invasive plant infestations, and control the hemlock wooly adelgid. 

Kevin has performed biological work for:

Conservation Developments:

• Sylvan Habitat / Brevard NC
• Balsam Mountain Preserve / Sylva NC
• Lake Toxaway Community / NC
• Sapphire Ridge / Sapphire NC
• Falcon Ridge / Cashiers NC
• Nantahala Village / Topton NC
• Balsam Ridge / Balsam Grove NC

Land Trusts & Nature Preserves

• The Moog Foundation (yes - the man who invented the synthesizer!) / Leicester NC
• Southern Appalachiah Highlands Conservancy / Asheville NC
• Conservation Trust for North Carolina / Raleigh NC
• Conservation Advisors / Brevard NC
• Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy / Hendersonville NC
• Foothills Land Conservancy / Morganton NC 
• Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust / Highlands NC
• Wildacres Retreat / Little Switzerland NC
• North American Land Trust (NALT) / Pennsylvania
• The Overton "Old Growth" Park / Memphis TN
• Dewar Wildlife Trust's "Gorilla Haven" Project / Georgia
• Valle Crucis Conference Center / Valle Crucis NC
• The SmartWood Foundation

And over 75 private landowners who care about the land

"Lucky for me, while interviewing Kevin Caldwell for an article in the New Life Journal, I learned that Kevin does residential landscape restoration projects.   He enlightened us about the "natural history" of the land my home sits on, what I could do to restore the rare and native plants while increasing my privacy and a sense of "sanctuary".   janeAnne Narrin / Eco-Stewards Realty - Asheville, NC.