Waterfront Property Along the Neuse River Saved for Conservation
The Coastal Land Trust purchased more than 700 acres located on the banks of the Neuse River directly across from the City of New Bern, and gave the property to the State of North Carolina for management by NC Wildlife Resources Commission.
The property features freshwater marsh, cypress-gum swamp, and forests of bottomland hardwoods, loblolly pine, and longleaf pine. The property includes more than 3 miles of frontage along Duck Creek, Northwest Creek and the Neuse River.
“We are so grateful for the way the community came together to support this significant conservation project, which protects wildlife habitat, but also preserves a scenic view of the Neuse River waterfront,” said Janice Allen, Deputy Director of the Coastal Land Trust. “Securing this waterfront tract for conservation also ensures that its wetlands will continue to absorb, filter, and slow down any future floodwaters moving downstream, contributing to a more resilient coast.”
The Coastal Land Trust purchased the property from WHC Holdings, LLC and Five-Star Group, LLC, both managed by Cameron Management of Wilmington.
North Carolina Wildlife Resources Department intends to add the property to its Neuse River Game Lands for management. The Neuse River Game Lands includes a 3,400-acre tract, to which this newly acquired tract is adjacent, and the 1,456-acre Turkey Quarter Island tract, which the Coastal Land Trust purchased and transferred to the state in 2009. With this new acquisition, the Neuse River Game Lands will comprise 5,607 acres total in two locations.
Major funding for the acquisition of this property came from the North Carolina Clean Water Management Trust Fund and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s North American Wetlands Conservation Act grant program. North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission also contributed funding for the acquisition.
This acquisition was also made possible by generous local grants to the Coastal Land Trust from the Harold H. Bate Foundation, Inc. of New Bern, NC and the Richard Chapman Cleve Fund, a component fund of the North Carolina Community Foundation, upon recommendation by the Board of Directors of its affiliate, the Craven County Community Foundation.
