Nature Conservancy buys 2,297 acres to complete protection of North River shoreline

The headwaters of the North River winds between Currituck and Camden counties before it widens out west of Grandy. [photo courtesy Margaret Fields/TNC]

The Nature Conservancy has closed on a 2,297-acre tract on the North River in Camden County.

The $1.45 million acquisition completes the protection of both sides of the North River shoreline in Currituck and Camden Counties, from where Indiantown Creek becomes the North River near Coinjock to the Albemarle Sound.

The property includes more than 200 acres of peatland Atlantic white cedar forest.

“This is a remarkably wild place,” says the Conservancy’s Director of Conservation Resources Fred Annand, who negotiated the transaction. “Atlantic White Cedar was once a dominant coastal plain tree species in the mid-Atlantic. Today they are rare and imperiled. This was the largest unprotected Atlantic white cedar forest in North Carolina. I’m pleased to say that’s no longer the case.”

North River


[Video courtesy Margaret Fields/TNC]

Despite its name Atlantic white cedar, which is also known as Juniper, isn’t a true cedar. The cone-shaped evergreen trees belong to the cypress family. They are browsed by white-tailed deer and provide important habitat for songbirds. They are valuable habitat for many neotropical songbirds including Wayne’s Black-Throated Warbler, which has been found on the North River property. This cedar is considered globally threatened—occupying just two percent of its original range after two centuries of widespread intensive harvest.

Atlantic white cedar grow in and help build peat, which is a major carbon sink. “As we look at a changing climate, it is important that we protect peatlands to the fullest extent,” says TNC’s Albemarle Pamlico Program Director Brian Boutin. “Keeping this area forested keeps carbon in the ground and out of the atmosphere where it will contribute to climate change.”

Protecting the property is also important to the local economy. It is part of Camden County’s Blue Water Trail System, which is outlined in the county’s Gateway to the Wild: A Blueprint for Enhancing the Enjoyment, Use, and Economic Impact of Key Natural Areas.

With this new acquisition, the Conservancy has protected more than 10,000 acres on the North River. Most of that has been transferred to the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission and is managed as public game lands.

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