Building on 30 Years of Success
Remarks from the Annual Celebration
September 24, 2022
By Jesica Blake, Associate Director
Today we celebrate 30 years of great work the Coastal Land Trust has accomplished: 31 counties, 85,000 acres and millions of connections to the land that is forever protected.
From the first project, just 11 acres of undeveloped land in New Hanover County, to our largest conservation easement, a whopping 6,442 acres in Brunswick County, the Coastal Land Trust has protected:
• undeveloped barrier islands that provide habitat and protection from coastal storms
• nature parks open to the public in Brunswick, Craven, Hyde, New Hanover, Onslow and Pender counties
• biodiverse, natural heritage sites like the Waccamaw River and Meherrin River preserves
• working family farms and forests, like the one protected by the Hewett Family on the Lockwood Folly River
The property we are gathered on today, Old Town, is one of the Coastal Land Trust’s earliest projects. The 765-acre conservation easement was donated by the McRae family in 1999. Not only was this a stand-alone win for conservation, but it also laid the groundwork for protection of many of the other properties along the west bank of the lower Cape Fear River. Thanks to Nelson and his family for being leaders in our conservation work, and for being part of the more than 15,000 acres the Coastal Land Trust has protected along the Cape Fear River and Town Creek.
Speaking of leaders in conservation, I must recognize the original author in the story of the Coastal Land Trust, Camilla Herlevich. Camilla founded the Coastal Land Trust in 1992 and retired in January of 2021 after growing the organization into the successful, regional conservation organization it is today. Since her retirement, she has enjoyed a much-deserved break and the organizations has continued its important conservation work.
In just the past year we:
• Purchased 265 acres in Bladen County with more than a mile of frontage on the Cape Fear River and transferred it to Wildlife Resources Commission to be part of their gamelands
• Transferred 350 acres in Craven County to the US Forest Service to become part of the Croatan National Forest. The Coastal Land Trust expanded a National Forest this year!
• Received donated conservation easements from the Outer Banks Conservationists Inc. on Island Farm on Roanoke Island containing the historic 1845 Etheredge Homeplace, and parcels surrounding the Currituck Lighthouse in historic Corolla Village
• Purchased three miles of frontage along the Chowan River and Keel Creek in Bertie and Hertford counties
• Purchased 105 acres along Brices Creek that will become a Craven County nature park in the coming years
• Have stewarded the land by monitoring, and by actively conducting management activities such as controlled burns and removal of invasives on some of our preserves
• Expanded the beloved Springer’s Point Preserve on Ocracoke Island, creating more trails and more inclusive signage
• Broke ground and have made great progress on the restoration of Reaves Chapel
And, the year ahead will be as busy as ever because Land Protection Specialist Janice Allen submitted $8 million in grants this fall for land projects that were all approved!
In an ever-changing world of uncertainty, I can confidently say that the conservation work of the Coastal Land Trust will continue, year after year, success after success, project after project. Through pandemics, and hurricanes, and leadership transitions, the staff works hard day in and day out to accomplish the mission: to save the lands you love along the coast.
