FOURTH CONSERVATION PROJECT NEAR THE CROATAN COMPLETED!
The Coastal Land Trust, which received $7.3 million in April 2018 as part of the Havelock bypass settlement, has completed its fourth conservation project in two years using a portion of these funds. The property, which was purchased from Bate Land Company, L.P., is almost 350 acres, and is located on County Line Road near New Bern. The land is surrounded on three sides by the 160,000-acre Croatan National Forest, and hosts pine forest and ephemeral ponds lined with cypress and hardwoods. With an existing residential subdivision east of the property, and a nearby golf course development poised to expand, the conservation of this land provides a much-needed buffer for the Croatan.
The Havelock bypass settlement resulted from a challenge by the Sierra Club to the N.C. Department of Transportation’s proposed routing of U.S. 70 Havelock Bypass through the Croatan National Forest. As part of the settlement, the parties entered into an agreement with the Coastal Land Trust which provided $7.3M, including funds to be used to purchase lands located within the proclamation boundary of the Croatan National Forest.
“Having funds in hand from the Havelock bypass settlement continues to be a key factor in securing property for conservation,” said Janice Allen, Director of Land Protection for the Coastal Land Trust. “Our conservation work in the region is being greatly accelerated due to the availability of these capital funds.”
The Coastal Land Trust hopes to eventually transfer the Bate property to the U.S. Forest Service to be managed as part of the Croatan National Forest. [ed note: this was accomplished in Spring 2022.]
“The Sierra Club is thrilled to see funds from the Havelock bypass settlement used by the Coastal Land Trust to conserve a property with unique conservation values and valuable wildlife habitat that’s connected to the Croatan National Forest,” said Cassie Gavin, Senior Director of Government Relations for the Sierra Club’s North Carolina Chapter, in Raleigh, NC.
“Bate Land Company has a long history of forest land stewardship in eastern North Carolina. We are pleased that the North Carolina Coastal Land Trust assisted us with identifying the unique characteristics of the Laura Williams Tract. This purchase will insure continued preservation of the Bate forest legacy in Craven County,” said Marvin B. (“Benny”) Mullinix, Jr. Manager of Bate Land Company, in New Bern, NC.
The Coastal Land Trust’s previous purchases using funds from the Havelock Bypass Settlement include 1) a 113-acre tract of longleaf added to Gales Creek Preserve at Camp Sam Hatcher along a scenic tidal creek that empties into Bogue Sound near Newport, completed in November 2018; 2) a 182-acre tract of pond pine woodland, pocosin, and bottomland hardwood forest along a tributary of the Trent River in Craven County, purchased in May 2019; and 3) almost 250 acres of the spectacular Island Creek natural area in Jones County, its rare marl forest renowned by botanists throughout the state, purchased in August 2019.
