 Most recently in the latter part of the 20th century, parts of the same farm areas have been re-cultivated by S.Kenneth Wilson, a direct descendant of the Peake and Ayers families that owned a significant amount of land which now makes up much of the North Carolina side of the Roan.In addition to herding livestock on and around the balds, his family has made significant efforts to restore many of the medicinal plant species that have been hunted to near extinction in the area.In 2007 the USDA recognized his livestock farm to be the highest operating on the entire east coast of the USA.