VOLUME 14 ISSUE 1 WINTER 2014
Year -End Land Rush – A Holiday Marathon Over 11,000 acres protected in one month !
The Coastal Land Trust completed six new significant conservation acquisitions between December 1 and December 31, 2013. “We think that the Coastal Land Trust may have protected more land this December than any other conservation group in the state,” said Camilla Herlevich, Founder and Executive Director. “If we hadn’t planned ahead – foregoing December vacations; scheduling routine work ahead of time during the summer and fall; lining up attorneys, surveyors and contractors; and raising the money to pay them – we could never have made it through December’s marathon.” Brown’s Island/Tract #1
Brown’s Island/ Tract #1 – Carteret County
Recognized as a natural heritage site of statewide significance, this 600-acre island is one of the largest remaining undeveloped islands along the coast. Located just north of Harker’s Island in Carteret County, the island features an unusual maritime forest community of longleaf pine, live oak, and wiregrass that provides excellent habitat for a host of wildlife that inhabits the island, including beautiful shorebirds and waterfowl. By acquiring this 183-acre tract, which was purchased with a grant from Fred and Alice Stanback and a significant donation from the owners, the Coastal Land Trust has now protected 415 acres, on Brown’s island! This tract will be transferred to the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission for management.
McFadden Tract – Bladen County
Cape Fear River/McFadden The Coastal Land Trust purchased title to the McFadden Tract, 238.10 acres along the Cape Fear River in Bladen County. The property, which is located just south of the 1,400 acre N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission Whitehall Plantation Game Lands, features cypress-gum swamp and hardwood wetlands providing natural habitats for fish and wildlife along the Cape Fear River and French’s Creek. This property will be transferred to the Wildlife Resources Commission for management.
Joyce Creek – Camden County
Joyce Creek/Williams The Williams family donated an agricultural conservation easement on 418.28 acres of their family farm near South Mills in Camden County. The farm, which grows corn, wheat, soybeans and rapeseed, also features wood land, beautifully-managed wildlife food plots and one mile of frontage along both sides of Joyce Creek.
Owens & Williams Tract – Pender County
The conservation easement held by the Coastal Land Trust will permanently preserve the agricultural viability and productivity of the property’s prime agricultural soils, preserve the woodland nature of the forested portions of the property and prevent development of the property. Allen’s Creek/ Orton Plantation – Brunswick County
Photo courtesy of Walker Golder
Marsh Islands – Currituck County
Northeast Cape Fear/ Owens & Williams Property owned by the Owens and Williams families along the Northeast Cape Fear River was identified as early as 2002 as a high priority by the Coastal Land Trust. The Coastal Land Trust worked with HVW Legacy Holdings, the families’ limited partnership, to close on a conservation easement over 2,315.56 acres of this property in late December. A grant from Fred and Alice Stanback, and a significant donation from the owners, made the project possible. “This property is an absolute gem, with more than five miles of frontage along the Cape Fear River, with high bluffs in many places,” said
Executive Director Camilla Herlevich. “Its uplands are characterized by longleaf pine and mixed loblolly pine forest, which grade into bottomland hardwood sloughs and small depression ponds as the topography varies throughout this beautiful property.” The protection of this tract adds to the protected lands along the Northeast Cape Fear begun with the conservation easement donated on 1,200 acres by the Thomas Family at Five Eagle Partners Farm in Pender County.
Allen’s Creek/Orton Plantation II On December 27th, the Coastal Land Trust completed one of the largest transactions in its history. Orton Plantation Holdings, LLC, which is owned by conservation philanthropist Louis Bacon, donated a conservation easement on 6,442.72 acres at Orton Plantation. This tract comprises land west of NC Highway 133 and does not include the area along the Cape Fear River, where the plantation house and most of the historic features and archaeological sites are located. The area placed under easement includes a variety of natural features and managed forests. Water features on the property include Allen’s Creek (which changes its name to Lilliput Creek); McKinzie Pond, Blue Pond and a host of small limesink ponds. Its forests include stands of longleaf pine and wiregrass; mixed longleaf and loblolly pine; cypress-gum swamp; pocosin and pine flatwoods communities. Wildlife habitat includes the federally endangered Red-Cockaded Woodpecker (for which the owner has entered into as Safe Harbor Agreement with the N. C. Wildlife Resources Commission and the U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service) and a host of game species including quail, wild turkey, and other upland game birds. This donated conservation easement represents a giant step forward in permanently protecting the lower Cape Fear corridor, a founding goal of the Coastal Land Trust more than two decades ago.
Currituck Shooting Club/ Marsh Islands On December 31, the last day of the 2013 year, the Coastal Land Trust acquired a donated conservation easement on 1,535 acres of the historic Currituck Shooting Club property from The Fidelity Company, as the agent for The Currituck Shooting Club. The property includes an extensive marsh island and buffer system along the Currituck Sound. It features prime waterfowl and fisheries habitat and provides connectivity and a critical buffer to the neighboring Audubon Sanctuary at Pine Island and the nearby Narrows Marshes. This area is one of the most significant habitats for migratory waterfowl on the entire East Coast Flyway. The Coastal Land Trust plans to transfer the easement to National Audubon Society in 2014, for them to manage as part of its Currituck Marshes - Pine Island Important Bird Area and Sanctuary.