Easements provide an area for wildlife and a buffer between Neuse River and built-up zones


Old friends with land along Upper Broad Creek have befriended a whole community for generations to come by protecting nearly 179 acres of waterfront land along the Neuse River tributary.

The retired Weyerhaeuser employees with strong ties to forestry and wildlife, and a love of the local landscape, used different conservation initiatives and the N.C. Coastal Land Trust to protect land along two tributaries of Morgan Swamp in Craven County east of the Neuse River.

“We love the rural area where we live in Craven County, the farm fields, the woodlands, the swamps,” said Joe Hughes, who with his wife, Gloria Hughes, agreed to protect 54 acres of their farm located off Saints Delight Church Road.

The conservation easements mean the property can never be developed commercially, thus providing an area for wildlife and a buffer between development and the river.

Friends formerly of New Bern, Norman and Nancy Johnson, of Tubac, Ariz., Tom and Pricilla Terry, of Olympia, Wash., and Hugh’s sister, Annette Hughes Phillips of Atlanta, sold land protection agreements on 124 of their 138 acres forming more than a mile of frontage on the Upper Broad Creek.

“It thrills us to see the foxes, deer, wild turkeys and especially black bears in our neighborhood,” said Joe Hughes, whose roots in Craven County go back more than 300 years and who lives about two miles from the property. “By placing a conservation easement on our farm, we can help keep the land that we love the way that it is.”

He said he realized development was coming in the region and wanted to preserve the land and capitalize on some recently expanded federal tax incentives to help make it possible.

He said he hoped other landowners in the area would consider placing a conservation easement on their property, too.

Land protection for the other properties came from grants from the Clean Water Management Trust Fund and N.C. Attorney General’s Environmental Enhancement program. The property is located across from the Lee’s Landing public boat ramp.

The agreements restrict development but allow for recreation, forest management and wildlife habitat enhancement.

“This project really highlights the power of private-public partnerships to enhance our local water quality,” said Janice Allen, land protection director of the N.C. Coastal Land Trust.

Sue Book can be reached at 635-5666 or at sbook@freedomenc.com.

Conservation easements

For more information, call Janice Allen at the N.C. Coastal Land Trust at 634-1927 or go to www.coastallandtrust.org.