A Guide to the Nature Conservancy Projects in North Carolina - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0967502608 ISBN 13: 9780967502601

Inhaltsangabe

A Guide to Nature Conservancy Projects in North Carolina provides natural history information and invaluable travel tips for visiting North Carolina’s most unique wild places, ranging from Bat Cave in the Blue Ridge Mountains to Nags Head Woods on the Outer Banks. The guidebook focuses exclusively on natural areas that have been protected by The Nature Conservancy, a non-profit conservation organization that has saved more than 476,000 acres in North Carolina.

Tourists and travelers can easily carry this portable guidebook in their glove compartment or backpack. Written for hikers, birders, paddlers, wildflower lovers, nature photographers, and armchair travelers, the book describes the most exceptional natural areas in each of North Carolina’s geographical regions: the southern Appalachians, piedmont, coastal plain, and coast.

All of the areas featured in the book are open to the public. The sites include state parks, game lands, national wildlife refuges, or national forests, and Nature Conservancy preserves that are accessible through The Nature Conservancy’s extensive field trip program. Each description includes an overview of the ecological features of the natural area, highlights about the conservation history of the project, ownership and access information, and directions to the site.

The book features photographs by well-known nature photographers, including Jeff Lepore, Jack Dermid, Carl Galie, Bill Lea, Harold E. Malde, Jay Kranyik, Michael Halminski, Derrik Hamrick, and Ken Taylor. The guidebook also includes a colorful foldout map of North Carolina based on an original watercolor by artist Mike Reagan.

A Guide to Nature Conservancy Projects in North Carolina features nationally significant Nature Conservancy preserves and projects, including:

Panthertown Valley – Located in Nantahala National Forest, Panthertown is a treat for hikers, offering spectacular open vistas and miles of trails on old logging roads. Anglers will relish the 20 miles of native trout streams.

Black River Preserve – The guidebook contains detailed directions to the best canoeing spots on this blackwater river that harbors the oldest trees in eastern North America – a stand of 1,700-year-old bald cypress.

Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge – Home to a thriving population of federally endangered red wolves, this 151,000-acre refuge offers excellent wildlife viewing opportunities for paddlers and birders alike.

Staff from The Nature Conservancy and the N.C. Natural Heritage Program wrote and edited the book.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Margaret Fields and Ida Phillips Lynch are the authors of A Guide to Nature Conservancy Projects in North Carolina.

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

Nags Head Woods Ecological Preserve
Dare County
Size: 1,092 acres

If you re looking for something other than your typical walk on the beach when you go to the northern Outer Banks, a trip to Nags Head Woods is in order. Nags Head Woods is considered one of the best remaining examples of a mid-Atlantic maritime forest with deciduous hardwoods. This pine and hardwood forest harbors trees up to 500 years old and contains an extensive system of dunes, interdune ponds, and wetlands.

The forest's great natural diversity is due to the fact that it draws water from an extensive freshwater aquifer and is sheltered by ancient dunes. Two of the largest active sand dunes on the East Coast, Run Hill and Jockey's Ridge, run along the northern and southern borders of the preserve, respectively. This book includes a description of Jockey's Ridge State Park. Rising up to 100 feet, these dunes constantly move and change shape as the prevailing northeasterly winds blow sand into the forest, marsh, and sound.

The preserve is an important nesting area for more than 50 species of birds, including green heron, wood duck, red-shouldered hawk, clapper rail, ruby-throated hummingbird, pileated woodpecker, prothonotary warbler, and summer tanager. The freshwater ponds are inhabited by turtles and salamanders and support a great diversity of floating aquatic plant life, including the rare water violet. An extensive marsh system bordering Roanoke Sound on the western side of the preserve supports a wealth of
wildlife, including river otter, muskrat, egrets, herons, and many species of migratory waterfowl.

Conservation Highlights: Congress designated Nags Head Woods a National Natural Landmark in 1974. When The Nature Conservancy opened an office in North Carolina in 1977, protecting the forest become one of the chapter's first priorities. Between 1978 and 1986 the Conservancy acquired about 420 acres in the northern section of the forest, including land generously donated by John and Rhoda Calfee and Diane St. Clair. The Conservancy also began leasing 350 acres of municipal property from the Town of Nags Head.

In 1992, the Conservancy and the Town of Nags Head jointly acquired an additional 389 acres in the forest from Resolution Trust Corporation. In 1997, the Town of Nags Head agreed to dedicate nearly 300 acres of Nags Head
Woods as a permanent conservation area under the State Nature Preserves Act.

In addition, the Town of Kill Devil Hills signed a Memorandum of Understanding with The Nature Conservancy, placing another 100 acres in the forest under cooperative management. Working with the towns and the Friends of Nags Head Woods, The Nature Conservancy has succeeded in protecting this fragile ecosystem, establishing a visitors' center and a variety of summer programs, and overseeing many research, monitoring, and educational programs.

Hiking/Birding/Kayaking/Visitors' Center/Parking

Ownership & Access

Nags Head Woods Ecological Preserve

701 West Ocean Acres Drive

Kill Devil Hills, NC 27948

(252) 441-2525

This preserve is open to the public from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday and on Saturday during the summer. Please register at the visitors' center.

Friends of Nags Head Woods is a non-profit membership group which supports Nags Head Woods. Information about this group can be obtained from the preserve office.

Directions: To visit the preserve take US 158 to Kill Devil Hills. Turn west near Mile Post 9 1/2 on Ocean Acres Drive and drive through a residential subdivision for a mile until you reach the forest and the visitors' center. Trail maps and guides are available at the visitors' center.

Topographical Maps: Manteo and Roanoke Island NE

Details zur Ausgabe

• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0967502608
• ISBN 13: 9780967502601
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Nicht verfügbar