Pardon Eustace Conway of the building codes that he broke at his Turtle Island Preserve.

Recently, Turtle Island Preserve has come under scrutiny by the Watauga County Planning and Inspections department after operating unimpeded in the same location for the last 26 years. The heart of the issue centers on concerns about the construction of buildings at Turtle Island Preserve. The buildings are constructed from trees harvested on the farm using methods from hundreds of years ago. The buildings are safe and sound structures (according to a structural engineer recommended by Watauga County) but purposefully do not follow modern codes or use modern materials, as they are built using methods that pre-date the conception of these codes and often these materials. Because of the actions Turtle Island Preserve is now closed and with it valuable educational resources.