With each successive fire, B. W. Wells Savannah will become increasingly open, with conditions more conducive to the spectacular floral displays that Wells described in the 1920s and 1930s. — Thomas R. Wentworth from the Catalog of the B. W. Wells Exhibit, Department of Plant Biology, NC State University
3. The B. W. Wells “Ghost” Savannah
A Short Hike with Richard LeBlond in the B.W. Wells Savannah/Environmental Media Corporation
Wells’ Big Savannah occurred in a soil type called Liddell, soils that are rare on the Lower Coastal Plain, but common in the Burgaw and Wallace areas. The Liddell soils are high in silt and very fine sand and drain poorly. They extend some fifty square miles in Pender County and may have once been an ancient lakebed. Wells described The Big Savannah as treeless; which was unusual for savannahs in the state. When biologists examined aerial photos of the area taken in 1938 and beyond, they determined that the historic openness of the area could have developed in response to frequent fire.
Heritage Program scientists were studying these photographs in 1997 while conducting an inventory of the natural habitats in Pender County. The lead botanist on the project, Richard LeBlond, noted a Carolina Power and Light (now Progress Energy) power line right-of-way in an area about 5 miles north of the former Big Savannah that had the same soil type. He also noted that the area was open because of the establishment of the right-of-way and routine mowing by CP&L. While working in the area, LeBlond began to visit the site to examine the area more carefully.
Move your mouse over the image to compare the 1938 aerial to a more contemporary aerial showing the cultivation of The Big Savannah/NCCLT
During his hikes, he found one rare species after another, and soon realized that the small area beneath the power lines could be connected to Wells’s historic Big Savannah. The area had the same soil type and was not plowed or planted in pines. Rare plants that Wells had described in the Big Savannah occurred there, and as a result of the CP&L right-of-way, the woody vegetation on the land was mowed with results similar to routine burning.
The 1938 maps and LeBlond’s fieldwork confirmed his suspicion that the power line savannah was once connected to the Big Savannah. LeBlond had found a ghost of Wells’ Big Savannah.
Map shows juxtaposition of the Big Savannah and B. W. Wells Savannah (click to view larger map) /LeBlond
