A critical historic and natural property in the Cape Fear Corridor has won permanent protection from development through a cooperative effort by NC Coastal Land Trust, state and federal agencies, and the property’s owners.

Clarendon Plantation in Brunswick County was one of almost 30 plantations along the Cape Fear River where “Carolina Gold” rice was once cultivated. Today, Clarendon features extensive forests, bluffs along the river, and expansive marshes, and is recognized for its wildlife, water quality, and forest resources.

The Coastal Land Trust, the NC Clean Water Management Trust Fund, and the NC Division of Forest Resources purchased landowner agreements to conserve this historically and naturally significant property on Dec. 30.

Clarendon’s owners, the Thomas and Pace families, placed a 400-acre tract under a water quality landowner agreement, and a second 325-acre tract under a working forest landowner agreement. The agreements mean that, while the property will remain in private hands, its management will protect natural resources that benefit the public.

“We’ve always recognized Clarendon’s critical importance to the tapestry of conservation lands on the western banks of the Cape Fear River. These are lands of national significance,” said Camilla M. Herlevich, Executive Director of the Coastal Land Trust. “Wildlife need corridors along rivers to travel as they forage for food—the wider the better. Not only does Clarendon add to the thousands of acres that neighboring private land owners have set aside for wildlife to use, it boasts miles of buffers for water quality, expanses of marsh, and productive forestland, which helps everyone in the community.”

Funds for the two conservation acquisitions were provided by the North Carolina Clean Water Management Trust Fund (CWMTF), the federal Forest Legacy program, the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s North American Wetlands Conservation Act grant program; and private donors Fred and Alice Stanback of Salisbury.

Clarendon is considered to be the “keystone” tract of the Coastal Land Trust’s Cape Fear Corridor Conservation Initiative because it is the northernmost of a series of properties in eastern Brunswick County – almost 11,000 acres in total – that have been protected since 1995. That acreage includes a 900-acre tract near Clarendon that will eventually be donated to Brunswick County and operated as a nature preserve open to the public.

“My family has worked toward conserving and protecting our land for at least ten years now. We are thankful that the Coastal Land Trust has had the vision, perseverance and expertise to achieve our mutual goal of being good stewards of the land," said Rachel Pace.

The Cape Fear Corridor is a key component of the biologically rich Cape Fear Arch region. The Cape Fear Arch is a geologic feature of the landscape of southeastern North Carolina and northeastern South Carolina, and is the reason that nature in this part of the country is so spectacularly diverse, abundant and interesting, with plants like the Venus flytrap and animals like the fox squirrel.

Clarendon’s water quality landowner agreement calls for buffering more than 3 miles of water including the lower Cape Fear River and its tributaries Mallory Creek and Little Mallory Creek, which serve as the northern boundary of Clarendon Plantation. The brackish marshes and river are home to native sturgeon and the American alligator, and numerous birds, shellfish and other wildlife. “The conservation of Clarendon Plantation is an important addition to a significant water quality and natural resources conservation effort underway along the lower Cape Fear River and Town Creek,” said Richard Rogers, Executive Director of CWMTF.

The working forest landowner agreement is designed to protect Clarendon’s forests of longleaf pine and mixed pine hardwoods. The uplands also feature special limesink ponds, which are of great interest to biologists because of their unusual plant life.

“This is a great day for the people of Brunswick County” said Congressman Mike McIntyre. “The Clarendon Plantation Project provides an amazing opportunity to preserve a historic landmark while also protecting the sensitive environment along the Cape Fear River. This project was a recipient of federal Forest Legacy program funding, which I was very pleased to support. Clarendon Plantation is a wonderful example of what working together at the local, state, and federal level can achieve.”