By Cat McCue / Photo above: A $1.21 million grant will help the Monacan Indian Nation purchase more than 300 acres on Bear Mountain in Amherst County. © The Conservation Fund In the Blue Ridge Country coverage area, 13 projects in 11 localities will receive a total of $5.586 million for protecting some 2,840 acres. In Amherst County, the Monacan Indian Nation will use $1.21 million to purchase 339 acres of mostly hardwood forests on Bear Mountain, the tribe’s home for more than 10,000 years.