The Coastal Land Trust announced on Thursday, March 17th, that it has ensured permanent protection of 30,000 acres with its purchase of 99.76 acres along the Northeast Cape Fear River east of the Town of Burgaw, Pender County.

The acquisition will preserve the property’s natural values, as well as provide new recreational opportunities for the public in the future.

The Coastal Land Trust received a grant from North Carolina’s newly created Ecosystem Enhancement Program (EEP) to purchase the property.

Since its founding in 1992, the Coastal Land Trust has been working with landowners along the coastal plain of North Carolina to help protect locally and regionally valuable natural areas and waters.

The Northeast Cape Fear River tract brings the acreage of land protected past the 30,000 mark- a significant accomplishment in an area faced with rapid development.
The Northeast Cape Fear/Wells Tract consists of approximately one mile of river frontage on the Northeast Cape Fear River and lies immediately across from the Coastal Land Trust’s 310-acre Henline conservation easement and across from the North Carolina Wildlife Resource’s 14,000+acre Bear Garden property.

The tract is within a significant natural heritage area, the nationally significant Northeast Cape Fear River Floodplain natural heritage area.

“We are pleased to partner with the state to protect this spectacular land,” said Camilla Herlevich, Coastal Land Trust Executive Director. “The permanent protection of this property will add to a string of protected properties in the area, forming a natural habitat corridor that will protect pristine water quality, help sustain the region’s wildlife, and will help preserve numerous rare plants and animals.”

In the near future, the North Carolina Coastal Land Trust plans to transfer the property to the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission in the near future. The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission will manage the land as a public game land. “The Wells tract protects valuable wetlands that are important to a wide array of wildlife resources located along the NE Cape Fear River” stated Tommy Hughes with the NC Wildlife Resource Commission.

The property will be incorporated into the NC Wildlife Resources Commission Game Lands Program which consists of approximately 2 million acres that span from the mountains to the coast.

The Coastal Land Trust purchased the property from Mr. Charles Wells and some of his partners of Burgaw. The property was originally platted for waterfront development, but Hurricane Floyd altered these plans. “I liked the concept of working with the Coastal Land Trust and the state to purchase this land in order to set it aside for conservation values and to have it available for future generations,” said Wells.

EEP is a program of the NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources that funds permanent preservation of high quality streams and wetlands and restoration of degraded areas.

The program is funded with existing federal and state highway funds allocated to offset the loss of wetlands and damage to streams caused by highway construction projects.

The EEP program combines an existing NCDENR wetlands-restoration initiative with ongoing efforts by the N.C. Department of Transportation.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is a sponsor in the agreement.

“The goal of EEP is to protect and enhance ecosystems across the state,” said Bill Gilmore, EEP Director. “This project is an example of how the state is doing that by preserving high quality streams and natural habitat.”

The North Carolina Coastal Land Trust works with private individual and corporate landowners in North Carolina to conserve special places along our coast, like the Northeast Cape Fear Wells tract, for the future enjoyment of all North Carolinians. The Coastal Land Trust is based in Wilmington, N.C., and has local offices in New Bern and Kill Devil Hills.

Landowners interested in pursuing conservation of their land through the EEP initiative should call their local land trust or visit www.nclandtrusts.org to locate the land trust serving their community to determine if their property might be eligible to receive funding through this agreement.