Greetings from the North Carolina Coastal Land Trust! You are reading the March 2007 edition of Tidecast, the quarterly email updates written especially for the Coastal Land Trust Tidewater Society.

In this edition you will find information on our spring field trips and our ongoing efforts to protect land for public access and recreation. Please, read on.

Spring Flings and Open Preserves

I don’t know about you, but I am eager for the spring! When the weather warms, the trees start to bud, and the migrating warblers appear in our woods, it is the perfect time to get outside and explore the natural beauty of our North Carolina coast.

The Coastal Land Trust is saving the places you love on the coast, places for you to enjoy and explore, in the spring or any season! I’d like to invite you to two field trips this spring to explore some of the lands that YOU have helped to protect:

Warbler Watching at Seagate Woods Tuesday, April 17: Join the Coastal Land Trust and the North Carolina Maritime Museum for this birding trip led by Jeannie Kraus, JoAnne Powell, and our own John Fussell. Seagate Woods is a 123-acre Coastal Land Trust preserve in Carteret County near Beaufort, and it is a critical feeding and nesting area for more than 25 species of neotropical birds, including 13 species of warblers. This is truly a bird’s paradise (and a birder's paradise) and an event not to be missed! To register, call the Museum at 252-728-7317. Reservations are limited; cost is $20 per person.

Wildflower Walk at the B.W. Wells Savannah , Saturday, June 2: Come along on this favorite annual jaunt to the “Ghost of the Big Savannah” in Pender County to find rare wildflowers and carnivorous plants. This is your chance to peek at the results from our prescribed fire last December (you may remember the picture from the last Tidecast). In fact, our B.W. Wells Savannah boasts more than 245 plant species, so you’re sure to see something cool. Free to Tidewater Members – that’s you! Email Jesica Blake or call her at 910-790-4524 for more information or to sign up. Space is limited. Includes bag lunch.

And if you can’t attend either one of those trips, here are some other special places that you might want to visit this spring:

• Springer’s Point This Coastal Land Trust preserve in Ocracoke is open to visitors every day. This is a great place for walking, picnicking, or kayaking.


• Oakhurst Nature Park – We partnered with Onslow County to purchase this property in Jacksonville, and it was opened to the public as a passive nature park in 2004. Click here for directions .


• Airlie Gardens – The Coastal Land Trust was instrumental in New Hanover County’s acquisition of Airlie Gardens in 1999; we wrote the grant proposals and negotiated the transaction. Click here for the official Airlie Gardens website.


• Dave Richie Landing – This canoe/kayak launch on Harrison’s Creek in Pender County was protected by the Coastal Land Trust in 2004.


• Ev-Henwood Nature Preserve – The Coastal Land Trust partnered with UNC-Wilmington to place this woodland on Town Creek in Brunswick County under conservation agreement. Click here for the official Ev-Henwood website.


• Holly Shelter – The Coastal Land Trust worked with the State of North Carolina to protect this land that has excellent examples of low pocosin, wiregrass uplands, and bald cypress swamps. It is located along the upper reaches of Shelter Creek, and helps protect the water quality and wildlife habitat of the Northeast Cape Fear River watershed.


• Cool Springs Environmental Education Center – We partnered with Weyerhaeuser Company to place a conservation agreement on this 1700-acre property near New Bern in 2005. Click here for the official Cool Springs website.


• Bird Island – We helped the State acquire Bird Island off the Brunswick County coast in 2001 as part of the North Carolina Coastal Reserve. You can walk to Bird Island from Sunset Beach; be sure to check out the Kindred Spirit mailbox! Or join us during the summer for the weekly Wednesday morning nature walks.


• Lea Island - We have been purchasing lots at Lea Island, one by one, since 2000, transferring ownership to the State for inclusion in the Lea Island Natural Area. Lea Island is off the coast of Pender County, north of Figure Eight Island.


• Fort Macon State Park – This area is located at the east end of Bogue Banks and is a great place to explore salt marches and estuaries in kayak or walk through the historical park with a Civil War fort.
  

Not satisfied with the list? Neither are we! With your help, we are working hard to protect even more places for you to explore and enjoy on our coast...

• We are in the process of purchasing 110 acres on River Road in Wilmington this spring and giving it to New Hanover County for a new nature park. The park will feature nature trails and a canoe/kayak launch. Details here.


• In 2004 we bought 900 acres on Town Creek in Brunswick County, and we’re now helping the County open it as a nature park. The park will include picnic shelters, walking trails, and a canoe/kayak launch. Details here


• We’re writing grant applications to purchase a new canoe/kayak access in Manteo on the Croatan Sound. This news is so new; I can’t even give you a link on the internet!


• We’re working with the Foy Family to place a conservation agreement on the Abbey Nature Preserve near Wilmington. The Abbey Nature Preserve is 67 acres in size and adjacent to the Poplar Grove Plantation.

And we have dozens more projects just like this in the works. Of course, open preserves and public lands are just a portion (albeit an important portion) of what we do.

We can do all this and more, with your help. Thank you so much for all you do for the Coastal Land Trust!

Cheers,
Camilla

P.S. The purpose of Tidecast is to keep you informed of upcoming events and ongoing conservation projects. If you’d prefer that I use a different email address, if you’d like me to add a family member to the list, or if you would rather not receive these emails, just let me know. I would be happy to mail you a paper copy of Tidecast each quarter or take you off the list altogether. And I promise to never share your email address with another party.