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11. A Tribute To Dave RichieThe Coastal Land Trust wishes to dedicate the B.W. Wells Savannah Online Educator’s Guide to Pender County environmentalist Dave Richie who died in December, 2002. Dave had a long career with the National Park Service. Among his many conservation contributions as a Park Service manager were his efforts to secure land along the Appalachian Trail. Today, more than 99 percent of the trail is protected because of his efforts. He retired from the National Park Service in 1987 and moved to Hampstead, North Carolina, where he put his national conservation experience to work preserving special places in his own backyard, i.e., in Pender County. He was a member of the Pender County Planning Board; the Advisory Committee of the Lower Cape Fear River Program, the Coastal Federation and president of Pender Watch and Conservancy, a local citizen’s group. He was a charter member of the Coastal Land Trust where he vigorously supported efforts to conserve the natural beauty of this coastal county. Dave supported the Coastal Land Trust’s efforts to save the B.W. Wells Savannah in Pender County and attended the June 2002 dedication event. He wrote the following June 2002 news article for Pender Watch and Conservancy. Celebrating the success of fundraising to protect the “Ghost of Big Savanna,” the North Carolina Coastal Land Trust formally dedicated the tract on June 5th to the memory of B.W. Wells, a North Carolina ecologist who had sought to preserve Big Savanna in the middle of the last century. Big Savanna was a large wetland, near Burgaw, with seemingly unique characteristics of soil and moisture that produced glorious displays of wildflowers, including many rare species. Those who had the opportunity to preserve Big Savanna failed to do so in the mistaken belief that the area was too wet to be converted to agriculture. The “Ghost of Big Savannah” was discovered recently by Richard LeBlond, a biologist who was conducting an inventory of Pender County plants and animals for the North Carolina Natural Heritage Program. A 117-acre tract near Watha had similar soil and moisture characteristics to those formerly found in Big Savanna and many of the rich diversity of plants that were once so prominent there. LeBlond found out the tract was for sale and the Coastal Land Trust took the project from there. Dave Richie passed away the same year that the Coastal Land Trust acquired and dedicated the B.W. Wells Savannah. He will always be remembered for his national conservation contributions particularly in securing the Appalachian Trail, but also for his efforts “to act locally” where he lived in coastal North Carolina. The Coastal Land Trust dedicates this B.W. Wells Savannah educational guide in his honor. Dig Deeper |
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