Reunion with Nature

Here is what we are attempting to Preserve Along the Yadkin River. If Alcoa gets a new license to operate the Yadkin Project or if a new public trust obtains the license -- Alcoa's 16,000 acres must be preserved.

2012-01-19T13:59:00.000-08:00

The famed Hardaway Site where the first Carolinians (Paleo-Indians), gathered, more than 12,000 years ago, on an Uwharrie ridge overlooking the Yadkin River Valley, just below Alcoa's Narrows Dam in Badin N.C.

The scenic Falls Reservoir property of over 1,000 acres that runs along the entire western side of the reservoir. The eastern side is already protected by the Uwharrie National Forest. Both the Hardaway Site and the Falls Reservoir property must become part of Morrow Mountain State Park.

Some of Alcoa's very scenic land along Badin Lake. It is characteristic of where Uwharrie region outcrops come right to the edge of the Yadkin River.

View of Tuckertown's scenic and typical shoreline from the boat landing off of River Rd.

For more information on land preservation see my article in the Stanly News & Press.

Also you can read my presentation to the Uwharrie Regional Resources Commission.

Who Will Protect the Land Along the Yadkin River?

2010-12-10T18:51:00.000-08:00

Scenic Tuckertown Lake along the Yadkin River just below the High Rock Dam

Since DENR revoked Alcoa’s 401 Water Certification in early Dec. the ability of Alcoa to relicense their four dams appears more in question than ever. Alcoa’s own internal e-mails showed that there are still problems with a shortage of dissolved oxygen below their dams since their power producing turbines are fed water from deep intakes near the bottom of their dams. The lack of dissolved oxygen can stunt and damage the growth of fish and other aquatic species. (Alcoa states that they have been working to resolve this problem.)

Also more than ever Alcoa’s scenic shoreline, uplands and ridgeline properties of approximately 16,000 acres along thirty-eight miles of the Yadkin River are now in great jeopardy of eventually being developed. It appears unlikely that the State of NC will be able to acquire Alcoa’s dams at the super bargain price some have mentioned. If the four Alcoa dams are captured by the State of NC the state will be hard pressed to find sufficient funds. If sufficient funds are found in this recession environment for the four dams what will happen to Alcoa’s land. Will Morrow Mountain State Park not acquire the Falls Reservoir property around to the Hardaway Site? Will Alcoa eventually sell their land to the highest bidder? Will the scenic lands around Tuckertown Lake and the Falls Reservoir be significantly developed within twenty years?

Many pro-Alcoa folks around Badin have long argued that the blockage to Alcoa’s relicensing was partially fueled by regional power brokers who in the long term wanted access to Alcoa’s 16,000 acres for development. (Certainly there are many other reasons elaborated by the Yadkin Riverkeeper and others in Stanly County who want to make cheaper electricity available to attract new businesses to the region.)

Regardless of anyone’s good or bad intentions no major player appears to be engaged anymore about how to preserve and protect Alcoa’s approximately 16,000 acres. In my last post just below I describe the very important land conservation agreement worked out in 2007 by DENR, the Land Trust for Central NC and Alcoa. That agreement will disappear if NC captures Alcoa’s dams.

While the battle intensifies over Alcoa’s relicensing who is sufficiently concerned with the long term purchase and conservation of some of the most scenic, pristine and important land in NC? There is far more to this ongoing battle than just the dams and the water.

Alcoa's Land Protection Plan Along the Yadkin River

2010-11-17T13:52:00.000-08:00

View of Falls Reservoir land to be gifted by Alcoa

As the validity of Alcoa’s 401 Water Quality Certificate, that was issued in 2009 by NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources, is being reviewed in the court room of Administrative Law Judge Joe Webster it is important to revisit Alcoa’s Relicensing Agreement for long-term land protection.

The fight over Alcoa’s relicensing of its four Yadkin River hydroelectric dams continues and the outcome is not certain. However, most everyone wants Alcoa to take full responsibility for cleaning up all pollution created by their Badin aluminum smelting plant. It is essential that NCDENR and the EPA press Alcoa and make sure that Alcoa does all that is environmentally necessary. It is also important for the State of NC to clarify the many water rights issues that involve Alcoa and other corporations like Duke Energy and Progress Energy. Ultimately the water in the rivers of NC belongs to the people of NC.

Many who have been involved with important land conservation efforts in the state remain supportive of Alcoa’s relicensing because of Alcoa’s commitment, if their license is renewed, to help preserve around 6,000 acres of land along the Yadkin River. The most important piece of Alcoa’s land protection agreement is the 1,085 acres they have agreed to gift to Morrow Mt. State Park. This would include their pristine property that runs along the entire length of the secluded Falls Reservoir (already protected on the east side by the Uwharrie National Forest) from Morrow Mt. State Park around to the ancient Paleo-Indian Hardaway site that overlooks Badin Lake just above the Narrows Dam. The long-term protection of this important 1,085 acre tract for the state must be accomplished for many environmental, historic, geological, archeological and eco-tourism reasons.

Other parts of Alcoa’s land protection agreement include their gifting a 270 acre expansion of the Uwharrie National Forest, a 63 acre gift for Eagle Point Nature Preserve in Rowan County and a gift of 14 acres around the Badin Public Recreation Area in Stanly County. So Alcoa has agreed to gift over 1,400 acres along the Yadkin River as part of its relicensing agreement. In addition to those important land gifts Alcoa has also agreed to sale 2,310 acres of land around High Rock Lake and 2,420 acres along Tuckertown Lake to the state of NC for recreation, gamelands and land conservation. The price for these 4,730 basically shoreline aces is $16.2 million or around $3425 per acre. This important land preservation agreement was worked out with the stakeholders and was one of the main reasons they agreed to support Alcoa’s relicensing. It appears that NCDENR with the guidance of Bill Ross and the Land Trust of Central NC were the key players in helping to insure the long-term protection of this approximate 6,000 acres. After this land conservation agreement was announced several years ago Jason Walser, the executive director of the Land Trust of Central NC said: “This agreement represents one of the largest and most important conservation opportunities we have seen in the Southern Piedmont in a generation. We may never see another conservation opportunity of this scale again. What’s truly significant is the quality of the land being offered by Alcoa. The waterfront land possesses incredible ecological value, and nearly all of the proposed land will be available to the public for recreation or hunting.”

The following 27 organizations have expressed support of a new license for Alcoa through their signatures on the formal Relicensing Settlement Agreement for the Yadkin Project.

Alcoa Power Generating Inc. (Alcoa-Yadkin)

American Rivers

Badin Lake Association

Badin Historic Museum

Catawba Indian Nation

City of Albemarle, NC

High Rock Business Owners Group

High Rock Lake Association

Land Trust for Central North Carolina

Montgomery County, NC

The Nature Conservancy (S.C. Chapter)

N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources *

N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission

Pee Dee River Coalition

Piedmont Boat Club

Rowan County, NC

Salisbury/Rowan Association of Realtors

S.C. Coastal Conservation League

S.C. Department of Health & Environmental Control

S.C. Department of Natural Resources

Town of Badin, NC

U.S. Forest Service

Uwharrie Point Community Association

_________________________

As a fairly new resident near Morrow Mt. State Park, as the recent chair of the Guilford County Open Space Committee and as an active supporter of the emerging Haw River State Park I tried my best to describe the above story about Alcoa’s commitment to long-term land protection around the Yadkin River. There are certainly other facts that need to be added to make this story complete. I am aware that other important groups like the Stanly County Commissioners and the Yadkin Riverkeeper oppose the relicensing of Alcoa’s four dams on the Yadkin River. However, for those of us committed to long-term land preservation in NC this is a very unique opportunity that cannot be taken lightly. These 6,000 acres along the Yadkin River are truly extraordinary in every way. I for one hope that the fight over Alcoa’s relicensing does not jeopardize the preservation of this land.

Wildflowers in the Uwharries

2010-03-26T13:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday a lot of wildflowers were popping out from their long winter's rest. Just off the parking lot at the Tot Hill Trailhead for the Birkhead Wilderness Area are lots of Blood Root wildflowers.

Blood Root

Blood Root Flower

Near the banks of the Uwharrie River at Burney Mill Rd. are blooming Trout Lillies and stunning Trillium Cuneatum wildflowers also called Sweet Betsy or Wake Robin.

Trout Lillies

Wake Robin

Jumping Off Rock in the Uwharrie National Forest

2010-03-14T20:04:00.000-07:00

An early spring Mourning Cloak butterfly along the trail.

The northern most “official” section of the Uwharrie Trail begins at the Jumping Off Rock Trailhead. It then runs south for 19 miles to the 24/27 Trailhead that is about 2 miles east of River Rd. on Hwy 24/27. The popular Uwharrie Trail is well marked with white blazes along its many rocky curves, ridges, peaks and valleys.

To get to the Jumping Off Rock Trailhead you turn onto Orphir Rd. off of Hwy 109 in the crossroad community of Uwharrie and head about 5 miles. You will come to Ant Hill Rd. or the road's other name, Flint Hill Rd. If you take that right onto Ant Hill Rd. and go about 2 miles you will see a small parking lot with a rail fence on your right that is the trailhead.

Jumping Off Rock Outcrop

(to enlarge any picture click on the photo)

Barnes Creek below Jumping Off Rock

To find the actual Jumping Off Rock outcrop go about a quarter mile east of the Jumping Off Rock Trailhead on Ant Hill Rd. and you will notice a pull off area on your left that holds a couple of cars. The outcrop juts out about 40 feet above Barnes Creek.

Barnes Creek (last two photos) from across the street from the pull-off for Jumping Off Rock.

Tuckertown Lake and Bringle Ferry Rd.

2010-02-26T20:03:00.000-08:00

High Rock Dam

I was heading today to High Pines Church Rd. near Fiddler’s Creek Rd. in the Uwharrie National Forest to see if I could locate the 290 acre Birkhead property that has been preserved by the Land Trust of Central NC. But I got sidetracked and spent the afternoon wondering around Tuckertown Lake, below the High Rock Lake Dam on the Yadkin River.

Hydro-electric turbine housing on dam

The Yadkin River is still plenty muddy from all of our heavy winter rains that caused significant flooding but I found a few areas where it’s beginning to clear. Often the muddy water from the western sections of the Yadkin gets filter-out in High Rock Lake or Tuckertown Lake while Badin and Tillery stay fairly clear but that sure didn’t happen this winter. Some locals say the water is the muddiest they have ever seen.

There is a short trail from a picnic and fishing area beside the Yadkin Bridge at Bringle Ferry Rd. up and around the High Rock Dam. You can get a real close-up view of the dam, the churning hydro-electric turbines, and a bird’s eye view of the Yadkin as it flows into its Tuckertown basin.

Yadkin/Tuckertown

Some interesting old homes are along and near to Lick Creek Church Rd. where residents took the Bringle Ferry across the Yadkin before there was a bridge and before the dam. Bringle Ferry Rd. runs off of Hwy 8 several miles north of Hwy 49 in the tiny community of Healing Springs in Davidson County.

(Clink on any photo on this blog to enlarge it)

A sitting stone gathers moss

Birkhead Wilderness Area, Tot Hill Trailhead

2010-02-24T20:40:00.000-08:00

Rock outcrops on Coolers Knob

Intertwined beech roots

Talbotts Branch

I remain a homeowner in Greensboro and I am still very active with the Guilford County Open Space Committee but I am spending most of my time in the beautiful Uwharrie National Forest, Morrow Mt. State Park and around the eastern end of the Yadkin River that merges with the Uwharrie River to become the Pee Dee. Fishing and hiking in this region are exceptional and I plan many posts about the attractions, activities and history of this special region of NC.

One of the closest Uwharrie National Forest areas to Greensboro is in Randolph County just outside of Asheboro in the Birkhead Wilderness Area.

To find the Birkhead Wilderness, Tot Hill Trailhead that is part of the Uwharrie National Forest drive down Hwy 220/I-73 South out of Greensboro about 23 miles into Asheboro and take the Hwy 64/Hwy 49 exit off of Hwy 220/I-73. Turn right and head away from Asheboro down Hwy. 49 South (Hwy 64 branches off to the right) for about 6 miles and turn left onto Tot Hill Farm Rd. (You will see a Birkhead Wilderness sign for the Tot Hill Trailhead and another sign directing you to Lassiter Mill Rd. and other Birkhead trailheads.) Go about 2 miles (passing the golf course on your right) and you will see on your right the Tot Hill Trailhead with its small gravel parking lot.

A delightful hike of just over a mile that follows the main white blazed trail takes you along Talbotts Branch and up to the top of Coolers Knob Mountain that is one of the higher Uwharrie peaks at 935 feet.

New 450 Acre Tract Preserved for Guilford County

2009-07-26T06:48:00.000-07:00

The largest single piece of property recommended for preservation by the Guilford County Open Space Committee was approved by the Guilford County Commissioners at their meeting on Thursday July 23rd.

The 450 acre tract, with deeds going back to the 1850's, will be purchased for $2,292,000 with open space bond funds approved by voters in 2004. The bargain price of $5,093 per acre reflected the ongoing real estate recession and the generosity of the owners -- Hines family members and the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro.

This huge new tract will provide important protection for 2 miles of Reedy Fork Creek and help the water quality in the Haw River as the water flows east. Eventually water quality in Lake Jordan should benefit from this project. This tract may become a secondary route for the Mountains-to-Sea Trail and help connect trails from the natural section of Bryan Park to Northeast Park.

The site contains an old cemetery with simple stone markers and some open fields may prove to be ideal for some significant local sustainable farming. The large forest on this property will now be preserved to continue to clean our air.

I will post some pictures soon (I am in the midst of a major move) of this wonderful 450 acre tract that flows in all directions from the intersection of Hines Chapel Rd. and McLeansville Rd.

Saving forests, meadows and wetlands in Guilford County

2009-03-15T16:07:00.000-07:00

The photos above are of an American Toad and a Great Blue Heron shoring up its nest for the spring. Both taken last week on the 250 acre Richardon Tract.

The important work of the Guilford County Open Space Committee was reported on today in a fine article by Taft Wireback in the N&R.

Be sure to note the interactive map of the open space sites.

Not as well organized on the N&R web site is the following important info:

WHAT IS OPEN SPACE? “Land in a predominantly undeveloped condition including forests, wetlands, stream corridors, managed meadows and agricultural areas. Land protected by Guilford County as open space is protected in perpetuity and is suitable for native wildlife and plant habitat; water quality protection; natural resource preservation; passive recreation; trails for non-motorized vehicles; ecologically sustainable agriculture; and scientific or educational uses.” — Adopted by Guilford Open Space Committee, July 2007

BENEFITS OF OPEN SPACE: Protecting water quality, Improving air quality, Reducing flood damage, Enhancing economic development, Creating scenic landscape, Saving habitat for plants and wildlife, Restoring water supplies, both below ground and lakes, streams or rivers, Promoting low-impact recreation, Sustaining local farms and agriculture, Connecting people with nature, Preserving a natural legacy for generations to come.

DID YOU KNOW?
North Carolina once had an abundant agrarian landscape, but its farms are vanishing. The state lost 5,500 farms from 2003 through 2006 totaling 300,000 acres, the size of Cleveland County.

The American Water Works Association says that for every 10 percent increase in acres of forest, a community’s cost for water purification drops 20 percent.

Federal regulators estimate it’s at least 20 times more costly to treat contaminated water than to protect from pollution the watershed that supplies it.

North Carolina has 3,300 miles of streams so polluted they do not meet basic clean water standards.

In studying 14 of North Carolina’s 33 state parks, researchers at N.C. State estimated those 14 parks pump more than $195 million a year into the economy.

Living close to a park is good for home values. Houses close to an urban park gain $800 to $2,000 in value. Living near a larger, more rural park adds as much as $11,300.

Guilford County open-space advocates hope to set aside 100 acres of protected open space for every 1,000 residents. Currently, the county has about half that much.

OPEN SPACE ACROSS N.C.
An increasing number of North Carolina cities and counties are putting aside money for open space and park land. Since 2004, 13 cities and counties have passed 16 open-space referendums with a total value of $335.6 million.

GUILFORD'S $38 MILLION
North Carolina has four trust funds that help counties, cities and nonprofit groups preserve open space for the public. Since 1997, those programs have pumped $37.6 million into Guilford County, most of it within the last year.

The Parks and Recreation Trust Fund has provided $33.5 million, about $26 million earmarked for the new Haw River State Park. Other grants from this trust went to smaller city and county parks run by the county, Greensboro, High Point, Gibsonville, Jamestown, Oak Ridge, Stokesdale and Summerfield.

The Clean Water Management Trust Fund is aimed at helping state and local government prevent water pollution, often by buying land in watershed areas. It has given $2.6 million to Guilford County, Greensboro, the Piedmont Triad Regional Water Authority and the nonprofit Haw River Assembly for such purchases across the county.

The Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund buys conservation easements, where farm families sell development rights for anything other than farming. It provided $508,000 to the nonprofit, Greensboro-based Piedmont Land Conservancy last year for such purposes.

The Natural Heritage Trust Fund enables state agencies to buy important natural areas. It awarded $1 million last year to Haw River State Park for riverfront property near the park’s environmental education center. Sources: Land for Tomorrow, The Trust for Public Land, Guilford County Open Space Committee

Guilford County Open Space Committee

2009-01-04T12:44:00.000-08:00

Thanks to the N&R and Taft Wireback for featuring the Guilford County Open Space Committee in today's 10 Plus column!!

443 Pristine Acres Preserved and Protected

2008-12-11T19:44:00.000-08:00

Tonight at the Guilford County Commissioner’s meeting the commissioners approved the purchase of the 250 acre Richardson tract off of Plainfield Rd. near Church St. for $2.56 million. (Click to enlarge map above.) The broadly supported decision by the commissioners, after one and a half years of hard work by the Guilford County Open Space Committee, ensures completion of our goal to preserve 443 acres of beautiful uplands and very sensitive wetlands that flow directly into Lake Townsend. This major project will protect and improve our water quality and our air quality. This project will provide significant protection for trees, plants, waterfowl and animals. This project helps to sooth the eye and the soul.

The State Of NC agreed on Nov. 4th to purchase the adjoining 193 acre Morton tract. The two tracts combine to preserve 443 acres. The state became very interested because the joint purchase of the two tracts provides most of the route for the Mountains to Sea Trail from the Greensboro Watershed Trials to the Haw River State Park. The Richardson family of Vicks Vaporub fame and the Morton family of Grandfather Mountain fame also gifted a significant part of their property for this major conservation project. To make this deal potentially sweeter the Open Space Committee will apply for a grant of around $1.3 million from NC Clean Water Management Trust Fund.

It was the Guilford County Open Space Committee that conceived and nominated the Haw River State Park in 2001 that now contains around 1500 acres and is growing. In 2006 and 2007 two additional tracts were purchased and preserved by the Open Space Committee and in 2008 we preserved seven new tracts. Not counting our important efforts at the Haw River State Park (that used only state funds) we have now preserved nine tracts of open space in Guilford County that total 725.5 acres. Of the $10 million Open Space Bond Funds approved in 2004 we have now spent (including the Richardson tract) $3.8 million. Over $6 million in funding still remains for additional projects in Guilford County. (Wake County voters overwhelmingly passed an additional $50 million open space bond in 2007 and in Mecklenburg County voters approved an additional $34 million.)

Richardson Tract Photos. See Important Details of Richardson/Morton Project Below

2008-11-15T17:38:00.000-08:00

*Click on photos above to enlarge.

Photos of Morton Tract

2008-11-14T22:26:00.000-08:00

Please note details just below of the Richardson/Morton and Mountains to Sea Project.

(Click on any photo above to enlarge it.)

One Beautiful Project! Richardson/Morton Land Preservation and the Mountains to Sea Trail in Our Backyard

2008-11-13T16:45:00.000-08:00

Back in May the N&R reported on the possible creation of a huge new land conservation project. The Richardson/Morton project created and brokered by the Guilford County Open Space Committee is now very close to becoming a wonderful reality for the citizens of Guilford County.

This project will help protect our community’s water reservoirs, help recharge our groundwater, and provide protection for air purifying trees and plant species. It will protect large beaver ponds, waterfowl and substantial numbers of other wildlife.

Thanks to efforts of all involved the cost for this important project was shared, gifted and reduced by all the players. With a price tag of initially over $6 million the Guilford County part of this will be no more than $2.56 million and possibly with a Clean Water Management Trust Fund grant as little as $1.5 million. We on the Guilford County Open Space Committee urge your strong support for this project and you can help by contacting the county commissioners.

More news articles should follow soon but these are some of the current facts about this project:

· The N.C. Division of Parks, the Guilford County Open Space Committee and the Guilford County Parks & Recreation Commission have all approved our parts of this project. The Board of Guilford County Commissioners at their Dec. 11th meeting at 5:30 p.m. in the Old Court House at 301W. Market St. should give final approval for this project.

· 443 pristine, natural acres of land will be preserved north of Lake Townsend, north just off Plainfield Rd. about one mile west from Church St., west of Spencer Dixon Rd., and running to the back of Northern High School property off of Hwy 150.

· This project will provide much of the land needed to connect our Greensboro Watershed Trails to the Mountains to Sea Trail section running between Greensboro and the Haw River State Park.

· The Morton family (of Grandfather Mountain fame) has agreed to sell, at 25% under the current appraised value, 193 acres at $2.82 million. And the N.C. Council of State just approved on Nov. 4th the purchase of this section of the Mountains to Sea Trail for the N.C. Division of Parks. Thus this entire 193 acre tract will be purchased by the State of N.C.

· The Richardson family (of Vicks Vaporub fame) has agreed to sell, at almost 40% under current appraised value, 250 acres at $2.56 million. This conservation land purchase (and use of this land in part for the Mountains to Sea Trail) will require the use of Guilford County Open Space bond funds that were approved by voters in 2004. And the use of county bond funds requires the approval of the BOCC.

· The Greensboro Parks & Recreation Department has agreed to partner with Guilford County and the State of N.C. to help maintain this section of the Mountains to Sea Trail.

· The Guilford County Open Space Committee will apply for a grant from the N.C. Clean Water Management Trust Fund to reimburse around $1.3 million of the $2.56 million that will be spent by Guilford County for this project. Since the Richardson tract includes significant wetlands along Long Branch that feed into Lake Townsend this is a very realistic possibility. Thus this entire project may only draw down the approved bond funds by around $1.5 million.

**Click on map of Richardson and Morton property and photos above to enlarge. 1st photo of beaver pond on Richardson property, 2nd photo of huge Willow Oak on Morton property and the 3rd photo is of a trail on the Morton property. More photos to follow.

Conserving Land for Everyone in Guilford County

2008-10-31T21:10:00.000-07:00

The Guilford County Open Space Committee with approval of the county commissioners has now preserved six important tracts of land in Guilford County with voter approved open space bonds to help clean our water, recharge our water, improve air quality and preserve plant and animal habitats, etc.

Above are photos from the Bold Moon tract that was approved on 3/6/08. This tract includes just over 20 acres and one-half of the value of the property was gifted by the owners. It abuts Reedy Fork Creek off of Hicone Rd. in Gibsonville. It has huge rock outcrops, some over 18 feet tall. It has a historically significant old carriage path and stream ford. A real gem!

New River Smallmouth Bass

2008-08-08T13:20:00.000-07:00

Several weeks ago I went on a delightful fishing trip on the New River just outside of Sparta. Jack Jezorek was our very knowledge host and Alex Ashton and I were the lucky guests. We barely found the time to discuss our land preservation work with the Guilford County Open Space Committee. Even though I have done a lot of lake, river, sound and backcountry fishing I had never wet a hook in the New River. I came away amazed at the very healthy population of smallmouth bass who cruse along the shady banks and stay tucked away under the many rock shelves waiting for food to float by in the mostly gentle current.

The water had just a little turbidity to keep the bass from being skittish. From either the canoe that held two of us or the kayak the water flow seemed to be perfect for our ten mile float trip on a sunny day without high humidity and with a gentle breeze.

Having spent most of my fishing time on a stable Florida Key’s flats boat or a bass boat this fishing from canoe, and later the kayak, initially felt a little unsteady but the river became a wonderful, embracing companion that pushed many smallmouth bass towards my four inch plastic worm. The canoe and kayak became stable with a little patience and practice.

The banks were alive the entire way with kingfishers, blackbirds, tons of magnificent song birds, duck, geese and at times grazing cattle. A few McMansions seized a high overview and one large development along the river looked like it had recently collided with the falling real estate market but for the most part that ancient river remains in the arms of pastoral landscape and forest.

At the end of the ten miles I had lucked upon around thirty-six bass who were all released back into the waters of the New River a few in the 16” and 17” category. I have at times beaten those numbers but I seldom enjoyed a fishing trip more. I’ll be back on that lovely water again.

Classic Guilford County Dairy Farm Has Been Saved

2008-07-09T10:17:00.000-07:00

Wonderful news that the Gerringer Dairy Farm has been saved from development pressures and that the new conservation easement arranged through the Piedmont Land Conservancy, federal and state farm trust funds will provide money for the farm to remain an active dairy farm into future generations.

The Gerringer project was initiated by the Guilford County Open Space Committee; however, the use of conservation easements for several reasons was not sufficiently supported by the County Commissioners. Conservation easements are a very important tool for land preservation. Basically the Gerringer's are receiving almost 50% of the appraised value of their land because they are agreeing to never develop their property. They will be paid on the front end for the value of their development rights. Such a program is important to help family farms obtain some of their land value without selling their land to developers.

Linville Gorge Trip

2008-06-04T21:34:00.001-07:00

Looking at the 540-million year-old quartzite rock that lies beneath the 745-million-year-old metamorphosed granite rock at the walls of the gorge is an amazing view provided by the unique geological window that is Linville Gorge.

Thanks to a fine new book Exploring the Geology of the Carolinas we have a geology field guide for our state. No doubt it is a treat to view the rocks of Linville Gorge and understand that the supercontinent of "Gondwana (which was made of parts of Africa and South America) collided with Laurentia" (North America) and that collision around 300 million years ago helped to form Linville Gorge.

More about some ancient rocks later but above is a wildflower photo of Blazing Star also called Devil's Bit. The gorge was loaded with Mountain Laurel and Rhododendron in full bloom.

Growing Interest In Land Preservation

2008-05-21T17:36:00.000-07:00

I continue to be amazed at the quality and beauty of properties that have been recommended for preservation to the Guilford County Open Space Committee. Community interest is definitely growing and we are receiving more calls than ever from interested property owners. In many instances these property owners are so eager to preserve their tracts that they are offering them significantly below the appraised value. One recent owner is considering simply gifting their beautiful tract to Guilford County. Direct tax credits from the State of N.C. can provide some important benefits for below market value transactions and for land gifts to the county or state.

It is very impressive to work with property owners with land that has been in their family for several generations. Their commitment to permanently preserve their land becomes more important for them than receiving top dollar from a developer.

We have had two property walks this week that were simply stunning. One near Deep River in South West Guilford County and the other was off of Yanceyville Rd. that backs up to Lake Townsend. It seems like gradually the word is getting out about the work of the Open Space Committee and its very ambitious goal to protect 100 acres of park and open space per 1,000 residents of Guilford County.

In the last inventory of protected land in Guilford County we sadly found “that (only) 4.69% of the total land within Guilford County is currently protected by some form of government ownership or conservation easement. In other words, of the 417,308 total acres of land in Guilford County, 19,565 acres (including 5,308 of surface water) are currently protected."

We are perhaps in our last decade to still have access to important tracts for preservation. Our work over the next ten years is crucial. The $10million Open Space Bond approved in 2004 is the core of our funds for land preservation but we have been able to tag team with state funds and clean water trust funds to help that money go much farther. No doubt another bond will be needed for additional land preservation in several more years.

Indeed This Land is Magical !

2008-05-04T10:31:00.000-07:00

Taft Wireback's N&R article today broke the important story of the Richardson/Morton/Mountains-to-Sea Trail developing project just off of Plainfield Rd. and north of the Lake Towsend Watershed.

This developing project created by the Guilford County Open Space Committee could protect and preserve between 300 to 500 acres of beautiful land. Much like the Haw River State Park Project that was initially conceived by the Guilford County Open Space Committee this project should be significantly funded by the state because this land can be part of the state’s Mountains-to Sea Trail.

The Guilford County part of this possible $5 million project could turn out to be less than $2 million. That $2 million, if approved by the Guilford County Board of Commissioners, would come from already set aside Open Space Bonds that were approved by voters in 2004. The other key to this project is that as much as $1 million from those bond funds could be reimbursed to Guilford County from the Clean Water Management Trust Fund since this purchase would significantly protect the water quality of Lake Townsend.

Also in the early stages it appears that the two key property owners the Morton’s and Richardson’s may be willing to sell their land below the appraised value to make this entire project very attractive for everyone involved.

Like the Haw River State Park it is almost too good to be true! But it is all heading in the right direction with many loose ends coming together.

It will take broad community support and the approval of the Guilford County Parks & Rec. Commission and the Guilford County Commissioners to make this project become a reality.

And by the way while a lot of energy is centered on the northern area of the county the Open Space Committee is actively pursuing other open space projects in the southern parts of Guilford County including properties near Deep River.

Beautiful Open Space Still Exists in Guilford County

2008-04-25T20:39:00.000-07:00

I am a fairly new member of the Guilford County Open Space Committee .

Above are two photos I took yesterday of the Baynes tract, off of Haw River Rd., that is a real gem. It contains a wonderful stream, tumbling water down steep rock formations, high bluffs and great wildlife and wild flowers.

The open space program was proposed by Jack Jezorek, Maxine Dalton, Bill Ross and several other folks in 1999. The Guilford County Board of Commissioners created the Open Space Committee in July of 2000 to act in an oversight role for acquiring open space in Guilford County. In 2004 voters in Guilford County approved a bond fund of $10 million to preserve open space.

Open Space is defined by the committee as "land in a predominantly undeveloped condition, including forests, wetlands, stream corridors, managed meadows and agricultural areas."

Some benefits of Open Space:
Protects water quality
Recharges ground and surface water
Improves air quality
Preserves plant and animal habitats
Offers low-impact recreation (hiking, birding,etc.)
Connects people with nature

The biggest success of the Guilford County Open Space Committee is the Haw River State Park. The Open Space Committee conceived the idea of a state park in Guilford County; officially nominated the Haw River corridor in 2001; and worked with the Guilford delegation to the General Assembly to pass House Bill 1025 for the park in 2003. Significant additional land is still being added to this developing park.

Several wonderful properties (including the Baynes tract above) have been purchased for open space in Guilford County with the selection and recommendation of the Open Space Committee, then with approval of the Guilford County Parks and Recreation Commission and with the final approval of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners.

Information should be available soon on the new, wonderful proposed Morton/Richardson project off of Plainfield Rd. If approved the state funded Mountains-to-Sea Trail should connect through this area and eventually allow hiking from downtown Greensboro to the Haw River State Park.

Swallowtail Butterflies

2008-04-25T19:09:00.000-07:00

I took these pictures of Eastern Tiger Swallowtail males on a hike last week. They were having a puddle party and extracting nutrients from the moist, muddy edge of Lake Townsend. They had just emerged and their color was brilliant.

Barred Owl at our last hike at Lake Brandt

2008-04-17T21:00:00.000-07:00

World's Oldest Living Longleaf Pine Down This Path In Weymouth Woods

2008-04-01T19:46:00.000-07:00

Tree’s warning: Get ready for more dry spells By Taft Wireback
Staff Writer
Saturday, Mar. 22, 2008 3:00 am

Credit: News & Record
Evidence of wet and dry periods is in the growth rings.
GREENSBORO — The world's oldest living longleaf pine has spoken, and it has a disturbing message for residents of the Greensboro, Charlotte and Atlanta metros.

Research involving the ancient North Carolina longleaf suggests that if you think the current drought has been unsettling, just stick around a few decades.

Every century, the southeastern Piedmont from Georgia through the Triad averages one to two monster droughts lasting four years or more, according to the tree and the man who discovered it, UNCG graduate student Jason Ortegren.

That should come as sobering news to parts of the North Carolina Piedmont, including Greensboro, that have seen their water supplies severely tested in the past decade by droughts lasting a year or two.

"So you can imagine the impact a four-plus-year drought would have," said Ortegren, who found the ancient pine last year with UNCG geography professor Paul Knapp. They discovered the tree at Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve near Southern Pines while Ortegren was doing research for his doctoral dissertation, which he is now wrapping up.

Ortegren's tree research did unearth a silver lining, however: The region seems to have a built-in brake that, so far, has protected it from ever reaching conditions like the Great Plains "Dust Bowl" of the 1930s.

Nature's drought brake? Hurricanes and tropical storms that sweep across the region periodically, bearing the gift of abundant rainfall.

"I call them drought busters," Ortegren said.

North Carolina's ancient longleaf dates to at least to 1548. Ortegren and Knapp "cored" the tree, harmlessly removing a small-bore plug from deep within the trunk to disclose the year-by-year weather conditions under which it has lived.

The evidence is displayed in the tree's structure of annual growth rings. In layman's terms, each wide ring represents a year with sufficient or abundant rainfall; a very narrow ring suggests a year of drought.

Ortegren detects a hurricane or powerful tropical storm when he finds a series of multiple, very narrow rings followed by an unusually wide band of yearly growth.

The region suffered one confirmed monster drought in the 20th century, from the early 1920s through 1927, and one borderline bad actor during the mid-'50s. According to Ortegren's tree-ring evidence, droughts of greater than four years also occurred during periods ending in 1699, 1750, 1801, 1819 and 1882.

He has combed the historical record and found reliable reports of tropical storms ending droughts in 1882 and 1927. Longtime Greensboro residents know the city was in bad shape in 1954 until Hurricane Hazel swept through and replenished its depleted water supply.

Ortegren spent weeks meticulously examining the core from the Weymouth Woods longleaf. Then, as part of his doctoral project in UNCG's geography program, he compared its data with that from other very old trees to develop a picture of rainfall and drought from 1690 through 1984.

Ortegren couldn't go back any further in time because not enough trees had lived as long as the Weymouth Woods specimen. He used trees cored and analyzed by other scientists across the Piedmont from Georgia through Virginia.

The number of trees spread across such a large area showed periods of broad-based regional drought in five-year snapshots. He eventually built his case on data from just one of those aged trees, in Georgia, because it best represented the entire group.

But North Carolina's 460-year-old longleaf and data from the other ancient trees gave him the basic information that revealed and verified the long-term trends, Ortegren said.

Tree-ring research is valuable because it can extend some amount of weather knowledge to periods earlier than 1900, when people began compiling records that can be relied upon with scientific precision.

Ortegren found it surprising that his work could be groundbreaking, that this type of research marrying tree data to long-term weather patterns apparently hasn't been done for such a populous region. The aim is to capture patterns that the climate repeats over cycles of decades and centuries so people can get a better idea what the future might bring.

"These are things we need to keep in mind when we're laying out our plans on how to further develop this region," Ortegren said. "We need to think about where our water resources are going to come from in the event one of these severe droughts occurs, which seems like something we can expect."

Ortegren's basic conclusions are valuable in driving home the point that Greensboro is vulnerable to periodic dry spells and must be vigilant about its water supplies, said Allan Williams, the city's director of water resources.

"Our reliable data only goes back to 1928," Williams said of the city's lake records. "We don't really know what happened before that. I think he's putting a scientific and statistically valid imprint on something we've been saying for a number of years."

Ortegren theorizes that through the centuries, the Piedmont's cycles of wet, dry and super dry have been driven by as-yet undefined variations in the El Niño and La Niña phenomena, alternate cycles of warming and cooling in the Pacific Ocean that influence how much rainfall the Southeast gets.

The Holy Grail for Ortegren is to reach a point where scientists can define that unknown wrinkle, some telltale event or alignment of stars that provides an early warning the region is about to experience a monster drought.

But just knowing what has happened repeatedly in the past is a start toward understanding the future, Ortegren said. So residents can take heart that El Niño and La Niña seem to insulate them from droughts of desert-making intensity.

"But we don't seem to be safe from the recurrence of the four-year-plus drought," he said. "And that still could have a devastating impact."

Contact Taft Wireback at 373-7100 or taft.wireback@news-record.com

Pilot Mountain Trip

2008-04-01T19:28:00.001-07:00

The drive into Pilot Mountain from Stokes County helps keep this entire trip very scenic from start to finish.

Uwharrie Mountains

2008-02-21T15:52:00.001-08:00

On Saturday, Feb. 16th we made a wonderful journey to the Uwharrie Mountains. The trip starts becoming really scenic as we turned off Hwy. 49 a little west of Asheboro onto Bombay School Rd. After a few more turns the ancient Uwharries, perhaps the oldest range in the U.S., begin to show their battered shoulders.

The Uwharrie Mountains may have originated around 500 million years ago with peaks higher than 20,000 ft. Today they try hard to reach 1,000 ft. above sea level. Some newer evidence indicates that the Uwharrie Mountains were probably connected to a super continent and broke away from what is now Africa. They, along with much of what is now the Eastern section of the U.S., gradually slammed into and formed North America.

The Uwharrie Mountains became a national forest in 1961 during the administration of President Kennedy. These mountains and especially their unique deposits of rhyolite, fine grained volcanic rock that made excellent spearpoints and tools, became very important to Native Americans around 9,000 B.C. Ancient Indian tools from Morrow Mountain rhyolite deposits have been found from Maine to Florida.

Dr. Kron's Medical Office, Greenhouse and House at Morrow Mt. State Park

2008-02-20T19:51:00.000-08:00

Low Water Bridge in the Uwharries

2008-02-20T19:28:00.000-08:00

Pisgah Covered Bridge in the Uwharries

2008-02-20T19:21:00.000-08:00