The North Carolina Coastal Land Trust has transferred the Pasquotank River Preserve in Camden County to the state for the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission to manage.
The 303.5-acre property lies along 1.7 miles of the Pasquotank River, a blackwater system within the Pasquotank River basin, and part of the Albemarle-Pamlico Estuarine System. The preserve neighbors the commission’s North River Land Game.
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Turning the 300-plus acres over to the commission will facilitate long-term coordinated conservation management of both properties, the Coastal Land Trust said.
“We’re proud to see the Pasquotank River Preserve become part of North Carolina’s public conservation lands,” Coastal Land Trust Executive Director Harrison Marks said in a statement. “This transfer ensures lasting protection for vital wetlands, wildlife habitat, and water quality in the Pasquotank River basin.”
The nonprofit purchased the property in March 2008 with funding provided by what is now called the North Carolina Land and Water Fund.
“The Pasquotank River Preserve lies within a North Carolina State Ecosystem Enhancement Program’s Targeted Local Watershed and is considered to be a wetland of exceptional significance by the North Carolina Division of Coastal Management,” the press release states. “The Preserve is also located adjacent to the Whitehall Shores Hardwood Forest State Significant Natural Heritage Area and southeast of the Shipyard Landing Natural Area, also a State Significant Natural Heritage Area.”
The nonprofit organization said that it has focused on conserving fish and wildlife as well as protecting the property’s extensive forested riparian buffer and bottomland hardwood forest from commercial logging and major soil-disturbing activities.
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“This property protects important wildlife habitat beneficial to game species and for species of concern like the prothonotary and black-throated green warblers, and provides an opportunity to the public for hunting, fishing, and other wildlife-associated recreation,” Commission’s Land Acquisition Specialist Crystal Cockman said in a release. “Thanks also to the NC Clean Water Management Trust Fund which helped provide funds for North Carolina Coastal Land Trust to acquire the tract originally. This is a great addition to our game land program.”
Coastal Review will not publish Thursday and Friday in observation of the Thanksgiving holiday.
