Your gift, your legacy

About Ed Adams

1933-2018

Ed Adams was born December 4, 1933 in Madison County, GA, to the late Clarence and Ola Stephens Adams. His attorney father and school teacher mother valued education and civic engagement, and Ed followed all eight of his older siblings to college. He attended Emory-at-Oxford and received his law degree from the University of Georgia in 1956. He moved to Winston-Salem, NC, and was admitted to the North Carolina Bar in 1960. From 1961 to 1969, he practiced in Winston-Salem where he was an Assistant Solicitor for Forsyth County.In 1970, Ed was offered, and took, an opportunity to move to Sparta to succeed long-time county attorney Floyd Crouse.  At the time, Crouse was representing Ashe, Alleghany and Grayson Counties in opposition to the Blue Ridge Project —  twin hydroelectric dams that would have inundated more than 50,000 acres of the best farmland along the New River.  Ed moved his young family and joined the dam fight.

Ed became devoted to the “dam project,” understanding its irrevocable impact on the economy, culture and ecology of this remarkable landscape. He represented the three counties before the Federal Power Commission, testified before the Interior Committee of both the U.S. House and Senate and appeared with Attorney General Edmisten before the District of Columbia Circuit. He and his allies prevailed and in 1976, legislation stopping the project was signed into law by President Gerald Ford. Ed was present in the Rose Garden when President Ford signed the Bill designating the 26.5 mile segment of the New River as part of the Wild and Scenic Rivers system, halting the dam project.

In honor of his service, in 2008 Ed became the first recipient of the Wallace and Peggy Carroll Vigilance Award. Ed was a founder of the National Committee for the New River — now the New River Conservancy — with stints as Director and President. Read more about our origin story here. Over the years, he donated countless hours of pro bono work to the organization, establishing land trusts and other protections for property along the river.

Ed was named for the political theorist Edmund Burke, whose famous quote adorned his office desk: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” The New River project was only the beginning of a long career founding, leading, and serving a remarkable list of civic and service organizations in his adopted community and around the state.

By making a planned gift to the Edmund Ivan Adams Legacy Society, you, too, can play an important role in protecting and preserving this significant natural resource. Your gift will support the Conservancy in our work to safeguard the waters, woodlands and wildlife of the New River watershed for future generations.

Ed and Marion Adams on the New River, 1992.