Updated at 11 a.m. Friday, Aug. 29, to include link for public comment.

The Trump administration’s move to repeal a federal rule that prohibits logging within large swaths of U.S. national forests would strip protections for tens of thousands of acres of public lands in North Carolina.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced earlier this summer the department’s intentions to rescind the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, one the administration calls outdated, saying it restricts the Forest Service from being able to properly manage for fire risk, and that it suppresses the country’s economic development in the forestry sector.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Wednesday that it will publish the notice in the Federal Register on Friday, beginning a public comment period on the potential environmental effects that ends Sept. 19.

“For nearly 25 years, the Roadless Rule has frustrated land managers and served as a barrier to action – prohibiting road construction, which has limited wildfire suppression and active forest management,” Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz said in a release. “The forests we know today are not the same as the forests of 2001. They are dangerously overstocked and increasingly threatened by drought, mortality, insect-borne disease, and wildfire. It’s time to return land management decisions where they belong – with local Forest Service experts who best understand their forests and communities.”

Lifting the rule, commonly referred to as the “Roadless Rule,” would align with President Trump’s initiatives to expand U.S. timber production and boost energy production on federal lands.

In North Carolina alone, more than 170,000 acres of the National Forest System are designated “roadless areas” under the rule.

Logging, mining, energy development, and road construction are, with a few exceptions, largely prohibited in these areas because they have been identified as possessing at least some of a number of natural features the forest service classifies as “roadless area characteristics.”

Those include attributes such as high-quality or undisturbed soil and water, diverse plant and animal communities, habitat for threatened and endangered species and species dependent on large, undisturbed areas of land, recreation, and traditional cultural properties and sacred sites.

In all, there are more than 58 million acres of inventoried roadless areas in the national forest system, one that includes 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands covering more than 190 million acres in 43 states, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico.

More than 1.2 million acres of national forestland fall within North Carolina’s borders.

The two largest national forests, Nantahala and Pisgah, make up an overwhelming majority of those lands in the state’s mountain region. Uwharrie National Forest, the smallest in the state, sits in the south-central part of the state.

And then there’s the Croatan National Forest, one the Forest Service refers to as the “only true coastal forest in the East.”

The 160,000-acre forest is bordered on three sides by tidal rivers and Bogue Sound. The land there is peppered with pine forests, saltwater estuaries, bogs, swamps and pocosin.

Within those swamps lies all of the more than 20,000 roadless acres designated in the Croatan, which means those areas are not conducive to road construction, according to Adam Rondeau, public affairs officer for the National Forest Service in North Carolina. 

“Whether it’s next month, or 10 years from now, the moment something of value is worth extracting from that forest, roads will be built, pocosin or no,” Erin Carey, state conservation policy director of the North Carolina Chapter of the Sierra Club, said in an email response to Coastal Review. “The only way to ensure the Croatan is protected for future generations is to keep the Roadless Rule in place.”

Environment North Carolina Research & Policy Center Advocate Emily Mason in a statement Wednesday urged that national forests be naturally maintained.

“It is more important to protect these areas than to get a little more wood or to build one more mine or one more road,” she said. “Let’s keep our wild forests wild.”

During a telephone interview last week, Carey said the Croatan is a place of escape for residents who live in the region around it.

“The folks in that region have a very close connection to that forest, at least the ones I’ve worked with, and I think the idea of their forest being cut in two will motivate folks in the area to try and stand up and protect it,” she said.

The Sierra Club has launched a campaign of sorts to inform the public of the administration’s aim and what’s at stake if the rule is rescinded – the fragmentation of natural habitat, the prospect of fewer open, wild areas for people to enjoy, and the harvest of land that is increasingly crucial in combating the effects of global warming.

“Americans love their national forests,” Carey said. “They love their parks. They love these open spaces and they’re very protective of them. That is what’s at risk is the ability for not only us, but for future generations to be able to wander out into the wild and really experience wilderness and experience wildness.”

She also argues that national forests offer a line of defense against floods.

“In the coastal plain, we’re experiencing a lot of flooding and we’ve developed so much land that the water can’t sink in, and the water does sink in (in) forests,” Carey said. “Trees hold water. Trees hold carbon. So, the idea that we can go into these forests and cut roads and cut down trees is just, it’s horrifying for me on a personal level, but also it just doesn’t make any sense from a public safety standpoint, from an economic standpoint, from a habitat-preservation standpoint.”

In her June announcement, Rollins argued that revoking the rule will open “a new era of consistency and sustainability for our nation’s forests.”

Nearly 30 million acres of inventoried roadless areas in the forest service system are in areas at high or very high risk of wildlife, according to the USDA.

“Rescinding this rule will allow this land to be managed at the local forest level, with more flexibility to take swift action to reduce wildfire risk and help protect surrounding communities and infrastructure,” according to an agency release.

But some question how the Forest Service, which already faces a lengthy backlog in maintaining existing roads within the forest system, will be able to adequately manage additional roads.

Limited resources, aging infrastructure and increased public use have delayed the Forest Service in regularly maintaining its roads, bridges, buildings and dams. The agency faces an estimated $8.6 billion in deferred maintenance costs.

Critics of the plan to erase the rule also point out that more roads could lead to more fires.

Nearly 85% of wildland fires in the U.S. are caused by humans, according to the Forest Service.

“Easier access to these places is not going to prevent fires,” Carey said. “It’s probably going to make it worse. In fact, fires are 90% more likely to be started within a half-mile of a road, so we probably should not be punching roads into places where we don’t want fire.”

Sooner than two months after announcing plans to rescind the Roadless Rule, Rollins issued a memorandum directing the Forest Service to prioritize energy projects on national forestlands based on output per acre.

“America has the resources and ingenuity to power our future without depending on foreign adversaries,” Rollins said in an Aug. 21 statement. “Under this memorandum, we are putting America First, ensuring that every acre of federally managed land is used wisely, balancing the needs for energy security with our responsibility to safeguard natural resources. We will no longer allow foreign-made solar panels or inefficient energy projects to undermine our national security.”

Environmental groups argue that paving the way for oil and gas production on national forestlands would unnecessarily put rich, biologically diverse forest areas at risk and create the potential for pollution and oil spills.

Sierra Club North Carolina‘s Croatan Group has several outreach events planned for this spring.

The environmental organization is to host an Earth Day celebration this week at Carteret Community College, as well as two hikes to see carnivorous plants on nationally protected lands, and a talk on native plants in early May.

Earth Day Learn and Play is scheduled for 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday in the Bryant Student Center on the Morehead City campus. There will be hands-on activities and information booths, a time to “talk trash,” review native plants, and view the living shoreline.

Talks are scheduled on the hour during the Earth Day program, starting with “Wind Energy in NC” at 11 a.m., “Rooftop Solar 101” at noon, “Solar Users’ Experiences” at 1 p.m. and “Training the Workforce of Tomorrow” will close out the day at 2 p.m. Visit the Sierra Club’s website for a full schedule. The college’s Energy and Conservation Committee is partnering with the Croatan Sierra Club on the event.

The nonprofit group is offering the first of two walks to see carnivorous plants in the Croatan National Forest from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, April 26. The second walk is from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, May 24, both starting off N.C. Highway 24 in the Newport area.

“This area is dominated by pocosin bogs and large tracts of well maintained longleaf pine forests and savannas, an ecosystem that once covered millions of acres of the Southeast but has now nearly disappeared because development, logging and fire suppression,” organizers said.

The trip will consist of short, easy walks from various parking sites.

Attendees will be able to see at least 13 species of carnivorous plants, including the Venus flytrap, a variety heaths, orchids and other rare wildflowers, “We are holding two such excursions a month apart, as we expect to find different suites of wildflowers in bloom each time,” such as pitcher plants, organizers continued.

There is no cost to participate but participants must sign a waiver. Participants should wear long pants and substantial footwear. Nonmembers are welcome to join the walks. To register, contact Ralph Tramontano at rrtramon@gmail.com. Specific instructions on how to get to the first site will be given to participants when they sign up.

Gardeners wanting to incorporate native plants will have a chance to learn how from a master gardener starting at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 6, at the Unitarian Universalist Church at 2900 Bridges St. in Morehead City.

During “The Power of Native Plants,” Carol Peoples is to talk about how to create a more welcoming habitat for birds, butterflies and bees. in addition to being a master gardener in Carteret County, Peoples is a co-leader of the Central Coastal Plain Chapter of the North Carolina Native Plant Society and serves with the Coastal Landscapes Initiative, a public-private collaboration led by North Carolina Sea Grant.

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Smoke rises in the pines Monday in a section of the Croatan National Forest after a prescribed burn of 561 acres in the area of Nine-Foot Road and Millis Swamp Road near Newport. The U.S. Forest Service also prescribed a burn of 499 acres off U.S. Highway 70, Hibbs Road and Shaver Road, near Newport. This controlled application of fire is to diminish fuel for wildfires and restore natural ecosystems. Note posted signs and watch for firefighters and personnel in the area. Helicopters assist during the burns, so drone use is prohibited. Photo: Dylan Ray

A project to repair and improve around 100 acres of recreation sites in Croatan National Forest now has the go-ahead.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service released the final decision last week for the Neuse River recreation sites project following public comment and objection periods, which took place in the fall of 2023.

The final decision authorizes the Croatan Ranger District to begin at Fisher’s Landing, Flanners Beach, Pine Cliff, and Siddie Fields recreation sites projects that include the removal of riprap and work to control erosion, stabilize the bank, upgrade restrooms, make trails and walkways safer and add group sites.

Croatan District Ranger Ron Hudson expressed optimism about where the project is headed.

“We are all thrilled to see these projects moving forward and building on the recovery we’ve already accomplished. The work will take time, but these sites will be incredible for our visitors and generations to come,” Hudson said in a statement.

The project also addresses ecological damage caused during Hurricane Florence and will increase the resiliency of the shorelines along the Neuse River. Adaptive approaches for the living shoreline stabilization include recreating a more gradual slope for safety and stability as well as planting native plants that offer stability.

In September 2018, Hurricane Florence caused catastrophic damage throughout the Croatan National Forest and the surrounding area, officials said. High winds, flooding, and a large storm surge eroded the Neuse River shoreline, toppled trees, and damaged infrastructure. The erosion created unstable cliff faces and the recreation sites were closed for public safety.

This project is the largest so far for the newly established North Carolina Disaster Assistance Recovery Team called DART. This group of U.S. Forest Service employees is dedicated to streamlining recovery projects and preparing for potential disasters on the National Forests.

“This project and this team are a big shift in how we respond after disasters. We’re ready at all times, and we’re not just thinking about repairs back to the status quo or old standards. We’re thinking about how we can build resilience into recovery,” said Jenifer Bunty, a DART spokesperson.

The final environmental assessment and decision notice for the Neuse River project are available online.

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Aquatic vegetation appears to form a pleased expression on the water’s surface as viewed from above the Patsy Pond Nature Trail in the Croatan National Forest near Newport. The trails that are accessed from N.C. Highway 24 include lengths from 0.75 to 1.9 miles and are open from dawn to dusk. The small ponds here are fed by groundwater and often surrounded by carnivorous plants such as bladderwort and sundew. Photo: Dylan Ray

The Carteret County Wildlife Club and the Mountains-to-Sea Trail are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Neusiok Trail Sept. 30 with hikes, guest speakers and lunch.

In cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service, the Carteret County Wildlife Club built and helps maintain the Neusiok Trail, a more than 20-mile trail from the sandy beach on the Neuse River to a salt marsh on the Newport River. The Neusiok Trail, which is through the Croatan National Forest, is part of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail. The 1,175-mile trail connects the Great Smoky Mountains to the Outer Banks.

Beginning the celebration is a Walk on the Neusiok Trail with Wildlife and Conservation Biologist Manley Fuller to learn about the different forest habitats. Register online for this 2.5 mile walk that begins at 7:45 a.m.

Walk on the Neusiok Trail with Wildlife Conservation Biologist Deanna Noble to learn about the different forest habitats. Register online for this 2.5-mile walk that begins at 8:15 a.m.

Walk on the Neusiok Trail with Coastal Ecologist John Altman to explore the environmental impact on the trail. Register online for this 1.5 mile walk that begins at 9:15 a.m.

For the luncheon, guest speakers will begin at 11:30 a.m. followed by lunch around 12:15 p.m. Registration for lunch closes Sept. 10. Donations to the club will be accepted onsite.

Three trail improvement projects in eastern North Carolina have been awarded about $260,000 in grants through the state’s Recreational Trails Program.

The North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources announced Thursday the 17 statewide awards totaling $1.6 million for new trail construction, river access, boardwalk extension, trail rehabilitation, surface enhancement, and expansion.  

“Trails promote healthy living, improve quality of life, and boost the economy,” said Department of Natural and Cultural Resources Secretary D. Reid Wilson. “As we celebrate 2023 as the Year of the Trail in North Carolina, it’s wonderful to see projects funded from Cape Carteret to Asheville that will serve residents and visitors whether they enjoy hiking, climbing, paddling, mountain biking, or all of the above.”

The North Carolina Coastal Federation has been awarded $62,283 to build wooden walkways on the hiking trail at its new facility, the Center for Coastal Protection and Restoration, a representative said. The center will be constructed on a 77-acre site between N.C. 24 and Bogue Sound in Carteret County, along with a county park and boat ramp. The Coastal Federation publishes Coastal Review.

The town of Cape Carteret was awarded $100,000 to construct a section of its multi-use trail. The existing multi-use trail is around 2.4 miles along N.C. 58, N.C. 24, and Taylor Notion Road. Once complete, the trail is expected to be about a 3.5-mile loop in the center of town.

Cape Carteret Town Manager Frank Rush told Coastal Review that the town is pleased to be awarded the grant, and appreciates the support from the Recreational Trails program.

The grant, he explained in an email, will be used to finish a segment along Taylor Notion Road, and to augment other funds in completing the final milelong segment along Taylor Notion Road and N.C. 58 later this summer and fall.

The U.S. Forest Service has been awarded $99,968 for surfacing enhancement for the more than 20-mile Neusiok Trail through Croatan National Forest. Towns near the trail are Havelock, Newport, Morehead City and Beaufort.

The N.C. Trails Committee also awarded funds to larger projects in the western part of the state, and smaller safety and education grants were awarded to nonprofit organizations such as the Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail and Latinos Aventureros for trail maintenance and outdoor training. A full list of recipients can be found on the website.

The Recreational Trails Program is administered by the Division of Parks and Recreation’s State Trails Program, a part of DNCR. It is a federal grant program using Department of Transportation funds designed to help states provide and maintain recreational trails for both motorized and non-motorized recreational trail use.

The U.S. Forest Service is proposing new fees at two sites in the Croatan National Forest.

The proposed fees would be for entry to the Cedar Point day-use area at the recreation site on the White Oak River in Carteret County and the Flanners Beach day-use area on the Neuse River in Craven County. Officials are proposing $5 a day or $30 for an annual pass for each site.

The goal of the proposed fees is to establish a consistent fee approach for the National Forests in North Carolina and to improve visitor experiences through site upgrades paid for by the collected fees, officials said.

Public comments are being accepted through Aug. 22 and can be made online at the recreation fee proposal mapping tool, by phone at 828-257-4256, by email to SM.FS.NFsNCfees@usda.gov, or by mail to ATTN: Recreation Fee Proposals, 160A Zillicoa St., Asheville, NC 28801. Public comment period began Friday.

“The Croatan National Forest provides an amazing diversity of outdoor recreational opportunities, including access to water, campgrounds, trails, and day-use areas,” Ron Hudson, District Ranger on the Croatan Ranger District, said in a statement.

The fee would be waived for visitors that have paid for a campsite at either Cedar Point or Flanners Beach campgrounds during their stay. The full suite of interagency passes would be honored.

After public comment is over, Forest Service officials are to review feedback then present the fee proposals to the Southern Region Recreation Resource Advisory Committee.

In 2004, Congress passed the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act, which allows the Forest Service to retain funds collected at certain recreation sites and use the proceeds locally to operate, maintain and improve the sites. Under the act, all new fees and any fee changes must be proposed to and approved by a citizen’s advisory committee.

For more information visit www.fs.usda.gov/goto/nfsnc/recfeeproposals.

Croatan National Forest officials are proposing a project to address Hurricane Florence damage to recreational sites on the Neuse River and are seeking comment from the public.

The Croatan Ranger District has proposed the Neuse River Recreation Sites Project that would repair and enhance around 100 acres of Flanners Beach, Fisher’s Landing, Pine Cliff and Siddie Fields recreation sites in Craven County.

The 2018 hurricane caused high winds, flooding and a large storm surge that eroded the Neuse River shoreline, toppled trees and damaged infrastructure. The recreation areas were closed immediately to address public safety concerns.

The Croatan Ranger District is preparing an environmental assessment to look at ways to stabilize the Neuse River shoreline erosion from Hurricane Florence to ensure public safety while meeting Croatan National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan, or forest plan, preferred conditions and objectives for increasing recreation opportunities.

The project calls for adaptive approaches such as site-specific living shoreline stabilization techniques including but not limited to gradual slope finishing engineered for safety and stability, and phased native ecosystem revegetation. Amenities at Flanners Beach, Fisher’s Landing, Pine Cliff, and Siddie Fields recreation sites would be repaired, replaced and enhanced as appropriate.

The proposed action and scoping documentation can be found on the project website. Officials will accept public comment for 30 days beginning Nov. 29.

Submit comments in writing by email to sm.fs.R8nccrocom@usda.gov, by fax to 252-638-5628 or hand delivered to the Croatan Ranger District at 141 E. Fisher Ave., New Bern, N.C. 28560. Business hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday, excluding holidays. Include “Neuse River Recreation Sites” in the subject line of your email or fax. Electronic comments may be uploaded as Microsoft Word documents, PDFs, rich text format, text or html files.

Written comments should include a name and address, comments or thoughts on the proposed action with supporting reasons, and a signature or other means of identification verification. For organizations, a signature or other means of identification verification must be provided for the individual authorized to represent your organization.

In accordance with regulations, all comments received, including those submitted electronically, will be placed in the project file, will become a matter of public record, and will be available for public inspection. Anonymous comments will be accepted and considered but the agency will not be able to provide the respondent with subsequent environmental documents.

Contact Victoria Payne, Hurricane Recovery NEPA Planner, at victoria.payne@usda.gov for questions.

President Trump on Tuesday signed into law a bipartisan bill that will tap energy revenues to address a $12 billion backlog of maintenance projects on federal lands, including more than $459 million in national parks in North Carolina.

Introduced in 2019 by the late Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., the Great American Outdoors Act also makes funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund permanent. Earlier this year, the Trump administration had proposed significant cuts to the fund.

Republican 3^rd District Congressman Greg Murphy voted for the bill, which the House passed July 22.

Murphy’s office noted in a press release in July that Cape Hatteras National Seashore will receive $49,834,106, and Cape Lookout National Seashore will receive $27,718,515 as a result of the legislation.

The Land and Water Conservation Fund supports national forests, refuges and parks, including the Croatan National Forest, Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, Cedar Island National Wildlife Refuge, Currituck National Wildlife Refuge, Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, Mackay Island National Wildlife Refuge, Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge, Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge, Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Swan Quarter National Wildlife Refuge, Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Cape Lookout National Seashore, the Fort Raleigh National Historic Site and the Wright Brothers National Memorial.

The bill establishes the National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund to support deferred maintenance projects on federal lands. For the next five years, an amount equal to half of energy development revenues from oil, gas, coal and alternative or renewable energy development on federal lands and waters is to be deposited into the fund, up to $1.9 billion for any year.

The fund must be used for priority deferred maintenance projects in specified systems that are administered by the National Park Service, the Forest Service, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management and the Bureau of Indian Education.

Interior Secretary David L. Bernhardt announced Tuesday that entrance fees paid by those visiting lands managed by the department would be waived Wednesday. Bernhardt also announced that Aug. 4 will be designated “Great American Outdoors Day,” a fee-free day each year to commemorate the signing of the act. Fees such as camping and cabin rentals and others will remain in effect.

The U.S. Forest Service is set to conduct two prescribed fires Monday in the Croatan National Forest.

About 1,282 acres off of Hunters Creek Road near the community of Kuhns and 1,977 acres off of Millis Road near the communities of Ocean and western Newport, near the Patsy Pond Nature Trail, are to be burned.

Consideration for firefighter and public safety is the highest priority, the Forest Service said. While no roads or trails will be closed, the public should be aware of the potential for smoke in the area along with firefighter traffic.

Because a helicopter will be assisting with both burn operations, officials discourage using drones in the area to avoid interfering with burn operations. All aerial firefighting operations must cease when a drone is sighted because of the potential for a mid-air collision.

The Croatan National Forest is one of four national forests in the state. Named for the Croatan Indian Tribe, the Croatan National Forest’s 160,000 acres are bordered on three sides by the Neuse and White Oak rivers and the Bogue Sound, which is part of the Atlantic Intercoastal Waterway.

For more information, contact the Croatan National Forest at 252-638-5628

HARLOWE — Gene Huntsman had to check the weather forecast before he’d agree to a date for an interview about his impending induction into the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, North Carolina’s top civilian honor.

“The first rule of retirement is not to do anything that interferes with fishing,” said the retired National Marine Fisheries Service biologist. “OK. Wednesday looks good. North wind, and maybe thunderstorms.”

It worked out just as planned; it was foggy, misty and cool that Wednesday morning, and Gene and Susan, his wife and fellow honoree, sat amiably and chatted happily for 90 minutes. But presumably, the weather won’t dictate whether the Huntsmans will show up for their induction ceremony, which is Sunday at 3 p.m. at The Train Depot in Morehead City. One thing is certain: they won’t have any trouble getting there, no matter what obstacles might be in the path; they are, in every sense of the word, trailblazers, and that’s precisely why they got nominated for the award by the Carteret County Wildlife Club and approved by Gov. Pat McCrory.

Bob Simpson, longtime club member and family friend, and for decades the state’s premier outdoor writer at the Raleigh News & Observer, put it this way in his nomination letter:

“Possibly the best known of their accomplishments would be their heroic efforts establishing the nationally recognized Neusiok hiking trail, 22-plus miles of public pathway pushing through seemingly impenetrable wilderness regions.”

Neusiok Trail

The trail, which runs from the Neuse River to the Newport River in the Croatan National Forest, was recently recognized by the state as an outstanding segment of the Mountains-to-the-Sea Trail.

“Consider for a moment the effort required to find and create over 22 miles of trail,” Simpson continued in his letter, “convince associates to explore, mark and clear a pathway through dense forest laden with fallen trees, rotting logs, dead branches, dense entanglements of thorn-laden devils claw, assortments of vine, while being limited to the use of hand ax, saws and machetes, while relying on spinal and leg muscles and mud-laden, failing feet, while exploring potential routes through dark, dense forest, wading creeks, skirting swamp, seeking higher grounds, followed by the toting of timbers and bridging material before the actual  construction could  begin.”

Seated in their rustic home on a seven-acre plot of woods adjacent to the Croatan National Forest near Clubfoot Creek in Harlowe in Craven County, the Huntsmans insisted they weren’t heroic, but grudgingly acknowledged that the task was as difficult, in many places, as Simpson indicated.

“We mostly used machetes to hack through at first, and it was very slow going, very tough,” Susan recalled of the beginning of the effort, back in the early 1970s.

“We’d send Mary (Bob Simpson’s wife) out ahead with a compass reading and a flag attached to a tall stick, and she’d walk until we couldn’t see her, and then we’d chop to the flag, and then we’d do it again, and again.” Gene said.

Sometimes, Susan added, “We’d blow bugles to stay in touch. We did anything that worked.”

Susan often carried cooking supplies and food for miles to feed the hungry volunteer workers.

They and other Carteret Wildlife Club members toted lumber, thousands and thousands of two-by-sixes, for long stretches to form a stable path through the wettest areas.

They got grants from the state and from the American Hiking Association. They sought and received donations. It was a consuming passion. They convinced the forest service it was a worthy thing, necessary, important.

When bridges were needed to cross streams in areas too remote to get the lumber in by foot, the Huntsmans and the club somehow convinced the Marine Corps to fly tons of boards in by helicopter.

“They thought we were crazy when we asked them to do that,” Gene said. “They said, ‘No, no, no.’ But we talked to a colonel and eventually they agreed, and we are forever grateful.”

It took about five years, until 1976, to get the trail mostly complete, and the Huntsmans credit the National Forest Service for its cooperation and help. They also remember, however, when the forest service burned a couple of the shelters the club had built for hikers who wanted to rest or even spend the night.

“They were doing a controlled burn and they forgot they were there,” Gene recalled. “Whoops.

But they bought what we needed to rebuild them.”

Raving Success

Almost from its first opening, the Neusiok was a raving success. Susan said there are log books in the shelter signed by folks from all over the world, particularly Canada and Germany. Almost all are highly complimentary.

“It’s really a winter hiking trail,” Gene said. “When it’s too cold to do the Appalachian Trail, people come here. And it’s a great trail. It goes through every type of coastal habitat imaginable: salt marshes, cypress swamps, longleaf pine forests and pocosins. You can do the whole thing at once, but most don’t. It’s challenging, but not impossible for casual hikers. You can do a segment, just a nice afternoon in the forest. And the three shelters are spread out so you can just do one segment at a time. You don’t have to carry your whole house on your back.”

There is a source of water and a place to have a fire at each shelter.

The idea for the trail started, Gene said, when the son of a friend asked him about the best places to hike in the eastern part of the state. As members of the wildlife club since 1970, the Huntsman knew something about local trails.

“I remember I told him there were lots of nice logging roads to walk in the Croatan,” Gene said. “And he told me he didn’t want to walk on roads, he wanted to hike trails. And that’s when I realized that I didn’t think I’d been around a national forest that didn’t have hiking trails. So the club got involved and we started working with the forest service.”

The members did not, he said, have enough sense to think it was impossible. And it wasn’t. One of the goals was, of course, to simply provide a great trail in a national forest that badly needed one. But the ulterior motive, Gene admits, was always to get people out in the woods, to learn to appreciate them as the club members did, and to value them and the conservation values that are instilled simply by being in nature.

“That’s the real reason, in a nutshell,” he said.

Love of Nature

The Huntsmans came by this quest, well, naturally. Gene grew up in East St. Louis, on the Illinois side, and recalls spending lots of time outdoors as a boy, particularly after his father bought a farm in 1948. The family lived there for a time, and Gene’s love for the outdoors was forever cemented.

Susan was born and raised in England, where her family lived on 13 acres, and she was always fascinated by nature and drawn to the ocean.

They met while undergraduate students at Cornell University, Gene studying fisheries biology, Sue studying biochemistry. They got married in 1963. From there, both went to Iowa State University, where Gene earned his masters and Ph.D. in fishery biology. Susan got her Ph.D. in botany there.

But they knew they didn’t want to stay in Iowa. Gene recalls measuring, one winter, the ground frozen 36 inches deep. The toilet stopped working. It was not pleasant, even for grad students, who generally are accustomed to relative deprivation.

Eventually, they made their way to the University of Miami, where they studied marine biology at what is now the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences. Florida wasn’t right for the couple either. Gene calls it boring. The weather was always the same, and it took too long to get anywhere else from Miami.

Gene had read The Old Man and the Boy, a classic Robert Ruark novel, first published in 1957, about growing up in the Southport area of North Carolina. Ruark, a journalist, author and hunter, made North Carolina seem like a good place to call home for outdoorsy types. The Huntsmans looked for jobs at the marine labs near Beaufort.

Gene ended up at NMFS on Pivers Island in Beaufort in 1967, working in its menhaden program and later heading up crucial reef fish work that eventually led to national efforts to save stocks of fish like snapper and grouper. Susan landed first at the Duke Marine Lab nearby, working with renowned oceanographer Richard Barber. Eventually, she moved to the NMFS lab. She specialized in trace metals in phytoplankton, the building block of much marine life. She’s also retired.

Ford “Bud” Cross, a former NMFS-Beaufort Lab director and a close friend, said the Huntsmans’ honors are richly deserved, even based only on the work they did at the lab.

Groundbreaking Work

Gene’s reef fish work was groundbreaking for the management of the species, Cross said. He combined surveys of head boats and recreational and commercial fishermen with analytics and fisheries population models. It had never been done before, Cross said, and has since been used by regional fisheries managers to develop plans to preserve and enhance the commercially and recreationally valuable species.

Susan, Cross said, did equally groundbreaking work to characterize the chemical speciation – when it’s toxic and when it’s not – of heavy metals in the water, such as copper. The idea was to determine the effects on phytoplankton and other marine organisms. “It was and is very important work that really changed the thinking,” he said.

Gene and Susan, 75 and 74 respectively, have lived in their Harlowe home since 1969. They have a couple of horses, lots of chickens, a year-round garden and two dogs, Pybr, a Welsh Springer spaniel, and Cadger, a Gordon setter. Both run happily outside but settle down peacefully at their owners’ sides in the house. It’s a picture of woodsy tranquility, with guns and all the other accoutrements of outdoor life on shelves and in nooks and crannies everywhere one looks.

Susan said Gene – true to his penchant for checking the weather before scheduling any lengthy indoor activity – can’t stand to be inside or any length of time. “He’s always in the garden, always, if he’s not out fishing or hunting,” she said.

Hunting remains one of Gene’s great joys. He likes woodcock hunting. It’s a challenge, he said, in part because they’re tiny birds. Susan isn’t so fond of eating them, though. But hunting is a big part of what led him and others in the Carteret County Wildlife Club to embark on creation of yet another Croatan National Forest hiking trail, the Weetock.

It’s basically a circle, close to 11 miles long. It begins (or ends) on N.C. 58 just south of the Hillfield Road, heads west for almost two miles on low bluffs along Hunters Creek, then proceeds mostly north, somewhat paralleling the White Oak River, for more than five miles to Haywood Landing. The last (or first) section traverses bluffs above Holston Creek about 3.5 miles east to the junction of N.C. 58 and the Haywood Landing Road.

It’s an area where Gene frequently hunted, and that’s when the idea hit him. “It’s much more open, not as dense as the Neusiok, and it was easy to envision a trail there,” Gene said. “Plus, it’s in an area that’s really growing in population, and there was a lot of demand for a trail.”

Again, too, there was that philosophical goal of simply getting people out in the woods, in nature’s glory, and to encourage them to be good stewards.

Gene still hikes, but he concedes he’s not quite as limber as he once was, and he also says he’s never been one of those “carry your house on your back” hikers. He’s always been more about making that possible, in the Croatan, for those who desire to take advantage of the opportunity.

He and Susan are still involved in the wildlife club, which also promotes hunting safety, and stay quite busy on their stunningly beautiful property.

Fun Life

It’s been a fun life, lived to the fullest, and while both defer credit for their accomplishments to the many who have helped, Gene and Susan both ended the interview with a quiet, partial retraction of their statements, at the outset of the talk, that they didn’t really know what they had done to deserve induction into the Order of the Long Leaf Pine. It’s an honor previously bestowed upon their great friend, Simpson.

“We certainly couldn’t have done any of this alone, by any means,” Gene said. “But I will say I’m proud that we all got it done.”

Simpson, in his nomination, also noted that the Huntsmans’ contributions to the state, nation and people also “include scores of other philanthropic works, including organizing the building and distribution of various forms of bird houses, including wood duck, owl and bluebird nesting sites, insect-devouring bat houses by the score, constructed by and sold at cost (and in demand) by assorted conservation organizations, garden clubs, scouting groups and individuals.

“Unselfish, honest, generous to a fault, selected as non-compensated consultants to several national and regional educational and conservation organizations, the Huntsmans have proven themselves among the most unselfish assets within this state and nation,” Simpson concluded.

To Learn More

• Order of the Longleaf Pine
• Carteret Wildlife Club
• Neusiok Trail
• Weetock Trail

Bumping along a sandy Forest Service road camouflaged with a thick layer of pine needles, I find myself under towering longleaf pines deep in the Croatan National Forest.

I am riding in a government pickup truck along with two National Forest Service wildlife biologists who have agreed to let me tag along and observe them banding endangered red-cockaded woodpecker chicks.

As we travel under the shade of the trees, I am consciously containing my excitement by casually asking a number of questions about this wood chipping bird. The enthusiasm of the biologists suggested that this didn’t seem to be just another ho-hum “got to band the birds” day. They seem to truly have a passion for the job that has them working on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.

Since the birds work all day and don’t get a day off, they could care less about the human weekend. Thus, the biologists must adjust to the schedule of the birds.

The truck came to a stop near a pine with an obvious woodpecker opening glittering with a fresh coat of oozing resin. As soon as I opened the door, I could hear a high-pitched squeaking sound and the confused look on my face caused Jason Forbes, biological technician, to say, “That’s the chicks.”

The sound reminded me of a wheel in serious need of oil. But in this case, the only thing that would stop this squeaking was more food. The demanding chicks were hungry and quite vocal about it. Right on cue, an adult red-cockaded arrived with a spider firmly in its bill.

Earlier this spring, Forbes and Rachelle Powell, a wildlife biologist, spent countless hours trekking through the Croatan searching for and documenting active red-cockaded cavity trees. These birds will hammer out a number of cavities in living longleaf pine trees to create roosting and nesting sites for their colony. Living trees are selected for cavity construction because the injured area will cause the tree to ooze a thick sticky film of resin around the cavity and down the trunk of the tree. The amount and duration of resin production of the longleaf is superior to other pines. This layer of fresh resin discourages predators such as black rat snakes from scaling the tree and entering the nest cavity in search of eggs or chicks.

A red-cockaded woodpecker perches in its resin-coated longleaf pine nest. Photo credit: Sam Bland

Drilling out a roosting or nesting cavity is tough work; it might take the adult birds over a year just to tunnel into the soft heartwood. The large older longleaf trees are ideal because the heartwood no longer produces resin and is usually easier to chip out due to decay. The cavity must also be free of the sticky resin that can easily trap the chicks and fowl the feathers of the adults. It is here in the heartwood that they will open up a chamber that will serve as a nesting site and eventual nursery for the chicks.

A colony of red-cockaded woodpeckers consists of a mating pair and the male offspring from previous years. Female offspring usually disperse to colonize other clusters. The older male offspring are called “helper birds” and they will help tend to the new chicks during the nesting period.

The area where the colony cavity trees are clustered is called, well, a cluster. Powell has documented around 100 of these clusters in the Croatan.

In mid-April, the female lays three to five eggs in the roosting cavity. After 10-12 days, the chicks will peck their way out of the eggs. This brief incubation period is one of the quickest of all birds, and it shows. The chicks do not pop out of the shell all cute and fuzzy; they are tiny, featherless, alien-looking creatures. Talk about falling out of the ugly tree; they fell all the way from the top. The scientific term for this type of development is called altricial.

These vulnerable chicks are born naked with their eyes still closed and they rely on their parents for warmth and food. The parents and helper birds will gather any insect, such as grubs, moths and spiders, which live among the scaly bark of the pine trees to fatten up the chicks. A little over three weeks later, the chicks are outfitted with a striking coat of feathers and are ready to fledge.

USFWS Wildlife Biologist Rachelle Powell bands a red-cockaded woodpecker chick to track the movements of the local nests. Photo credit: Sam Bland

The vast open old growth longleaf pine forests that once dominated much of the North Carolina coastal plain provided the specific habitat conditions necessary for the survival of the red-cockaded woodpecker. Beginning in colonial times, the longleaf was harvested to provide the products necessary to support a growing nation. The appetite for longleaf timber continued and now only a small fraction, three percent, of mature longleaf forest now exists.

The fate of the longleaf pine also holds the fate of the red-cockaded woodpecker. Throughout its range, it is estimated that red-cockades have declined 97 percent since the first European settlers came ashore.

This small bird was listed as endangered and received protection under the federal Endangered Species Act in 1973. In 1985, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service developed the Red-cockaded Woodpecker Recovery Plan to give this little bird a chance for survival.

Red-cockaded woodpeckers are picky. Not only do they need the longleaf pine forest, they need it just right. They require mature stands that are open and void of hardwood trees for both nesting and feeding. Usually, nature does a great job in creating this perfect habitat; however, sometimes nature needs a little help.

The Forest Service will conduct low-intensity controlled burns of the longleaf forests to prevent the domination of hardwood trees that would create a dense forest undesirable for nesting and feeding. In some areas, timber thinning practices are used to also achieve the same results. Since the construction of nesting and roosting cavities necessary for a successful colony might take years for the woodpeckers to hammer out, the forest service will install little bird condos, called artificial cavities, in mature longleaf trees. The biologists are also banding and monitoring the birds to establish population trends, which will provide scientific documentation that will hopefully someday lead to the delisting of the red-cockaded as an endangered species.

Powell scales the tree to collect the chicks for banding. Photo credit: Sam Bland

Back in the forest, Powell dons her climbing safety gear and scampers 25 feet up to a nesting cavity opening with the agility of a squirrel. Within seconds she lassoes a chick and gingerly pulls it out of the nest. A second chick is retrieved and Powell is back on the ground as Jason prepares the jewelry the chicks will soon wear.

Powell coats her hands with a layer of corn meal to prevent any resin she may have on her hands from sticking to the chicks. The two biologists quickly apply the bands to the squirming blobs of flesh and record the bird’s weight.

Banding the birds will help the biologists to identify individual birds to learn where they are and where they are going. This will allow them to concentrate habitat improvement practices along the corridors where the birds are active. The whole process took only a few minutes, and Powell quickly has the chicks back in the nest. It wasn’t long before the parents and helper birds were arriving with a room service delivery of spiders.

During 2012, Powell and Forbes documented 71 active red-cockaded clusters, of these, 70 were considered an active breeding group with a male and female. From these groups, 129 chicks were banded; the biologists are now out in the woods looking to see how many of these chicks fledged from the nest. As they survey the chicks, the biologists will also record other adult red-cockaded banding information. This year they learned that a female banded in the Croatan in 2008 is now successfully breeding in the Holly Shelter Game Lands in Pender County.

I stayed in the forest as the biologists headed off to another section of the Croatan National Forest to check on a few more cavity trees. As the sound of the truck faded away, the songs of the forest filled the air and the red-cockaded continued its quest for survival.

Smoke from a fire in the Croatan National Forest looms over the White Oak River. The smoke was an inconvenience to most, but the fire means survival for the longleaf pine forest. Photo: Sam Bland

By Brad Rich and Frank Tursi

A version of this story first appeared in the Tideland News

SWANSBORO — For a longleaf pine forest like the Croatan National Forest, fire is the common cure for illness. Fire is to the longleaf forest what rain is to a rainforest and tides are to a salt marsh. Take away fire and the longleaf forest will perish.

So while smoke from the Croatan wildfire has caused problems in the area and fighting the fire has been expensive, biologists are far from unhappy about the effects.

In fact, Rachelle Powell, the forest biologist, said the fire is happening in a “wilderness” area that officials were in the process of seeking permission to burn.

The fire started on June 14 in a permitted “prescribed burn” area, which is burned every two or three years, Powell said. But it jumped into the wilderness area, pushed by stronger than expected winds on June 17, and has now blackened more than 21,000 acres.

Ideally, Powell said, the National Forest Service would like to burn even wilderness areas every few years, both to reduce wildfire fuel and for the ecological benefits, but that’s prohibited by Congress.

“We’ve been working on changing that, but it’s a long process and we want to make sure we do it right when we can do it,” Powell said.

Fire and Longleafs

Historically, frequent, yet low-intensity fires started by lightning strikes burned every three to 10 years to maintain the Southern longleaf forest. Native Americans and then European settlers also set fires to flush game and clear land. Thus molded, the longleaf forest is made up of plants and animals that are tolerant of and dependent on fire. Biologists like Powell call it a “fire climax community.”

“Almost the whole forest is a fire-dependent ecology,” she said. “People don’t realize it, but each year we successfully burn thousands of acres. It’s necessary.”

Burning promotes seed germination, flowering, or re-sprouting of fire-adapted native plants and generally improves wildlife habitat. Regular burns improve the quality and quantity of plants, nuts and fruit for wildlife. New shrub, herb and grass sprouts capture the quick flush of nutrients into the soil after a fire and are often more nutritious and palatable than older plants. Insects, food for many animals, also increase rapidly after most fires. Burning also helps to control pests, such as bark beetles, and diseases on seedlings.

Flames consume other trees that would out-compete longleaf pines. Photo: Sam Bland

No inhabitant of the forest is more immune to the scorching effects of fire and more dependent on it for survival than the stately longleaf. The tree’s thick bark and copious resin protect it from all but the hottest fires. The seedlings spend much of their energy in their first few years growing a deep taproot to better survive a fire. They look more like bushy candles at this stage, their branches a wiry tangle of long needles that protect the terminal bud from fire.

It can take a longleaf 150 years to reach full height. Because they don’t grow very fast, young pines would soon find themselves in the shade of other, faster-growing trees. Denied of sunlight, the seedlings would be doomed. Those other trees, though, must eventually face the flames. Most will be consumed, and the longleaf forest will thus go on.

The Land of the Longleaf

A canopy of longleaf and the park-like wiregrass savannah below it once stretched from Raleigh to the coast. The pine forest then covered maybe as much as 60 million acres of the Southeast coastal plain.

The tree was such a defining characteristic of the state that it got top billing in the official state toast:

Here’s to the land of the longleaf pine
The summer land were the sun doth shine..

New land uses, starting in the late 1800s, triggered changes to the great longleaf forest of the Southeast. Large swaths of forest were cleared for farm fields and pastures, for roads and highway interchanges, for subdivisions and strip malls. The forest became fragmented as we began heeding Smokey’s advice to put out all forest fires.

Experts estimate that about 2 percent remains of the great Southern longleaf forest. That remnant needs fire to survive. Forest managers use these “prescribed burn” to mimic a natural fire over a small area.

The Croatan fire is in region of the forest that hasn’t burned in at least 15 years, so lots of fuel – undergrowth and vegetative debris – has built up. That last wildfire in the area, Powell said, was almost exactly the same size as this one, maybe even slightly larger.

“I’m not an expert, but dendrologists … will tell you that from looking (at tree rings) over 300 years – since settlement – you’ll see that it generally happens every three years or so, sometimes up to 10 years,” Powell said. “In this case – 15 years, at least – I guess we just were lucky.”

The Greening of the Croatan

Some of the grasses and understory vegetation will be back – not noticeably different than before – within a week after the fire is out, Powell said. Other vegetation will take longer to come back, but it will return.

If the dry weather continues, the process might be somewhat slower than would normally be expected, she said, but a year from now, no one is likely to see any difference, except for scars on the trees.

“The plants in the forest have evolved over time to this ecology,” Powell said. “The fire is healthy for the forest.”

The fire, she added, has had no negative effect on animals within the forest. “We haven’t seen one dead animal,” Powell said. “These animals – bears and deer and others– are also well-adapted to fire-dependent ecology. When they smell smoke or see flames, they just move away for a while but come right back.”

This story is provided courtesy of the Tideland News, a weekly newspaper in Swansboro. Coastal Review Online is partnering with the Tideland News to provide readers with more stories of coastal interest. 

MAYSVILLE — The sun is low, creating long shadows of the tall mature pine trees as I drive along a wide, dusty, gravel road known simply as FS 1105. The road started out paved off N.C. 58 just south of this small town in Jones County and was announced only by a small green street sign that read “Catfish Lake Road.”

This 962-acre lake is a small part of the 16,000-acre Croatan National Forest that stretches into parts of Craven, Jones and Carteret counties.  A kettle of turkey vultures swirled high in the sky, gliding in lazy circles over my destination, Catfish Lake.

As I make my way down the road, I meet several vehicles that are traveling much too fast on the loose gravel road bed. As they passed, a thick rooster tail plume of white dust creates an artificial fog that obstructs my visibility for a few seconds. The first section of gravel road is bordered by stands of fire-resistant longleaf pine trees. The trees were once an important source of turpentine, tar, rosin and pitch  and heartwood lumber for building boats and houses.

The ground underneath these trees is scorched black from a recent “controlled burn” of the brushy undergrowth and leaves, pines needles and branches on the ground. The U.S. Forest Service, which manages the Croatan, uses these burns as part of its efforts to restore the longleaf ecosystem. The fires mimic the natural forest fires that lightning ignited for centuries. They prevent the accumulation of thick layers of leaves and branches on the ground that could lead to devastating forest fires.

A low-intensity “controlled” fire is also so vital to the survival of the longleaf pine ecosystem that forest rangers set them about every three years. Burning off the ground cover allows the pine seeds to reach the sandy soil, absorb nutrients and establish a tap root. The fires also open up the forest floor and eliminate competing vegetation that would otherwise shade out the young pine trees.

This is perfect habitat for the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker that has taken up residence in the forest. This is the only woodpecker that chisels out a nesting cavity in a live tree, patiently drilling away for up to two years to complete the cavity. Since the tree is still alive, sticky sap oozes from the wounded tree creating a protective barrier that discourages predators such as black snakes from entering the nest. In 2011, forest rangers catalogued 68 nesting pairs of these rare birds. They also discovered that the woodpeckers have their work cut out for them to establish new nesting cavities, since 38 cavity trees were brought down last year during Hurricane Irene.

The smoke from controlled burn curls above the shore of Catfish Lake. Photo: Sam Bland

Scorched by a controlled fire, this longleaf pine forest will soon bud with new life. Photo: Sam Bland

From the road there is no indication that a fairly large lake lies just a few hundred yards to the north.  The tall pines no longer dominate, but the pocosin shrubs are so dense that they obscure any glimpse of the water. To actually find the lake, I turn onto a dirt road identified only with a thin fiberglass post marked “NC4.”  Thin chocolaty dust clouds billow up behind my truck as I slowly bump along wondering if this is the road to the lake.  A parade of butterflies escorts me along the open road corridor; cloudless sulfurs, palamedes swallowtails and eastern tiger swallowtail butterflies are busy looking for nectar-producing flowers or scouting out a safe place to hunker down for the night.

I finally come across a small opening in the vegetation and see the lake. It’s much bigger than expected. This access spot is already occupied by a vehicle and a family tending to their fishing poles. As I continue down the road I notice a short path that opens up with a larger view of the lake and room for more than a few vehicles to park. A group of young men are tentatively minding their fishing poles and seem more interested in why I am intruding on their hangout. I get out of my truck and put them at ease with small talk about the beautiful evening and the obligatory “catching anything” question. They quickly ignore me as I gaze out upon the calm smooth surface of the lake.

Tiny ripples well up on the shore and reveal water that is the color of strong tea. The water has been darkened with suspended decaying peat particles, called tannins, stirred up from the organic bottom of the lake. Very little aquatic vegetation and plankton can survive in this lake since sunlight can’t penetrate the brown water. However, some plankton does exist; two new species of single-celled plankton from Catfish Lake were recently described by researchers. It is thought that these two new species may have adapted to the dark acidic water that prevents other algae from growing.

Fishermen try their luck. Fishing isn’t very good in Catfish Lake beacause of the lake’s high concentration of tannins. Photo: Sam Bland.

Catfish Lake is one of over 500,000 elliptical-shaped lakes that pepper the East Coast from Florida to New Jersey and possess unique characteristics to be classified as Carolina bay lakes. The formation of these lakes has ignited passionate debate among geologists, scientists and biologists. Theories range from up- welling of artesian springs, peat burning by Native Americans, dams created by giant beavers and dust devils.  Some contend that when the coastal plain was once covered by the ocean, these depressions were scoured out by submarine currents or thousands of spawning fish. Spurred by an aerial photo in 1933, one popular theory was that the lakes were created by comet fragments that slammed into the Earth. Here’s the fanciful account of this cosmic event that appeared in Harper’s Weekly that year:

The comet plunged down with a hiss that shook the mountains, with a crackle that opened the sky. Beneath the down plunging piston of star, compressed air gathered. Its might equaled and then exceeded that of the great star itself. It burst the comet nucleus. It pushed outward a scorching wind that must have shoved the waters upon the European shores, and on land leveled three hundred foot pines, spreading them radially outward like matches in a box. The comet struck, sending debris skyward, curtaining the east, darkening the west. Writhing clouds of steam swirled with writhing clouds of earth. For ten minutes there was a continuous bombardment, and the earth heaved and shook. For 500 miles around the focal spot of 190,000 square miles, the furnace snuffed out every form of life.

It is not really known how these lakes formed, but out of the 19 theories, I like the one involving giant beavers the best.

Endangered red-cockaded woodpeckers dig their nests in the live pine trees surrounding Catfish Lake. The sap that oozes from the wound deters predators. Photo: Sam Bland

Further down the dirt road I find a third access spot, it too already has occupants. Three friendly young Marines are earnestly trying to catch fish and report that they have indeed pulled in some very small catfish and bullheads that they released. The chemistry of this lake does not allow for a diversity of fish, other than catfish, a few yellow perch and bluegill. This is not a fisherman’s paradise, thus, Catfish Lake does not attract a crowd. People may also avoid the lake because it is reported to be a relocation site for delinquent alligators.

The entire area around Catfish is a natural delight, and the longleaf pines and woodpeckers are just a start. Insectivorous plants such as Venus fly traps, sundews and pitcher plants share the ground with three different species of rattle snakes. Black bear, mink and raccoons roam about while prothonotary warblers, wild turkey, indigo buntings and Swainson’s warblers are sought after by avid bird watchers.

This remote isolated boggy wilderness may seem devoid of life at first, but spend a little time here and you’ll find yourself wanting to go back.