COASTLINES LINES VOLUME 23 // ISSUE 3 // Fall 2023
Coastal Land Trust Annual Celebration at Old Town.
CELEBRATING THREE DECADES OF CONSERVATION
T
hirty years of conserving the places we all love on the North Carolina coast is something to celebrate. And celebrate we have, with five gatherings over the past year. Friends old and new spent afternoons and evenings toasting the successes of the past and sharing excitement for the future. We kicked off the celebrations last September at Old Town in Brunswick County. The Coastal Land Trust family had the chance to meet Harrison Marks who had recently been appointed as Interim Executive Director, enjoy music from Masonboro Sound and a reading by Bland Simpson, and hear Jesica Blake give a wonderful overview of the long list of lands protected in the lower Cape Fear Region. CELEBRATING, continued on page 4
Rising nearly 90 feet above the water below, these bluffs are a notable landmark on the Chowan River. Photo courtesy of Tom Earnhardt
THIS SMALL PLACE
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n July, Coastal Land Trust purchased a 17-acre property along the Chowan River near Point Comfort in Bertie County. Saving this small place from likely residential development was a major feat, with challenges every step of the way. Some notable people agreed. “Bravo and kudos,” stated Tom Earnhardt, host and co-producer of UNC-TV’s Exploring North Carolina. “Great news, that was a long time coming,” said Mike Leonard of The Conservation Fund. “Let the trumpets sound off: what a powerfully good day in the natural history of our state!” exclaimed Bland Simpson, author of “North Carolina: Land of Water, Land of Sky”. So, what is so special about this small place?
John and Claudia Griffin with Ed and Susan Norvell (left), hosts of the 2023 Party for the Point.
CoastalLandTrust.org
The property near Point Comfort is a prominent landmark on the Chowan River, rising 90 feet above the water. This land may be the highest point directly above sea level in the North Carolina coastal region. The bluffs are part of the Wicomico Terrace, an ocean shoreline dating as far back as the Pleistocene Era (which ended about 12,000 years ago). Layers of
clay, sand, quartz, ironstone, limestone, and marine fossils have been deposited over time, creating layers of color and texture. “These geologic layers tell incredible stories about the history of changing climates and sea levels over many millennia,” states Dr. Stan Riggs, coastal geologist and professor emeritus at East Carolina University. “From a scientific point of view, there is tremendous value in preserving these incredible bluffs.” In addition to its distinctive topography and geological value, the property also hosts a unique coastal forest ecosystem of large white oak, American beech, and holly rarely found on the North Carolina coast. Mike Schafale, ecologist with the North Carolina Natural Heritage Program, explored the property in April, documenting mesic mixed hardwood forests of American beech, loblolly pine, and northern red oak, as well as swamp forests of bald cypress, American elm, red maple, swamp tupelo, and green ash in wetlands along a small stream running through the property. The forest community growing POINT COMFORT, continued on page 4
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