The N.C. Coastal Land Trust has purchased 302 acres of forested land along Mill Creek in Carteret County near Newport.
The trust will manage the property, which includes longleaf pine forest, pocosin and brackish marsh wetlands, all of which are home to a variety of wildlife. The property is adjacent to the Croatan National Forest and features 2,400 feet of creek frontage. Mill Creek is a tributary of Newport River and designated as state shellfish waters.
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In addition to its conservation value, the property provides a buffer for the military flight path that leads to the main runways at the Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point. Development here, or installation of tall structures such as towers or wind turbines, would be incompatible with military air traffic, officials say. The Mill Creek project is the 20th Coastal Land Trust property acquired to help buffer Marine Corps installations at the coast since 2006.
Janice Allen, trust deputy director, said the projects add up to more than 8,000 acres of land that buffer the Marine Corps’ bombing range, main base and outlying landing fields from incompatible development that could affect training.
The trust bought the property from Doug and Carolyn Brady of Beaufort. Weyerhaeuser sold the trust mineral rights to the tract.
