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photo by: Sönke Johnsen (click to enlarge)
ENO RIVER ASSOCIATION PROTECTS 179 ACRES AT THE CONFLUENCE OF THE EAST AND WEST FORKS OF THE ENO RIVER IN ORANGE COUNTY
January 4, 2008
The Eno River Association purchased 179 acres of beautiful rural land in Orange County from two adjacent landowners. The properties are located along the West Fork and East Fork Eno to the point where they join to form the Eno River. With frontage along 3.9 miles of stream forming the headwaters of the Eno River, scenic views, and outstanding plant and wildlife habitat qualities, the purchase represents an important acquisition for the Eno River Association.
The anchor of the property is a 110-acre farm, surrounded by water on three sides, which has been in Jo Stollings’ family for four generations. In an industrious fashion typical to Orange County farmers, the family used the property to produce a number of different crops including corn and hay, but primarily they raised cattle. In recent years, the farm has been leased for hay production. When it came time for Jo to sell her property, she hoped there was a way to keep it in the undeveloped condition she loved, and so she contacted the Association. “I couldn’t imagine seeing the property developed,” she says, “Knowing that the Eno River Association shares my goals of protecting the history and natural features of my family’s farm made a hard decision a lot easier.” The property is now in a mixture of woodland and field, with hardwood forests coming down to the banks of the East and West Forks of the Eno. Across the West Fork Eno, we have also worked with Ed and Elaine Penny to acquire 69 acres adjacent to the Stollings property. The Pennys sold the land to the Association at a significant bargain price, helping to make the entire project possible. This land is all in hardwood forest and provides a 300-foot buffer along the West Fork Eno and its tributary, Mile Branch. |
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The entire 179-acre property is valuable from an ecological and resource protection standpoint. The NC Natural Heritage Program has designated the area as a Nationally Significant Natural Heritage Area, due in part to the occurrence of rare mussels, including the state endangered Atlantic pigtoe and the state threatened Creeper. The property is upstream of the drinking water intakes for the communities of Hillsborough, Durham and Raleigh. Its forested buffers will protect against nutrient and sediment inputs to the region’s drinking water as well as help to regulate water quantity, an acute concern for our area right now. Holly Reid, President of the Eno River Association, describes a unique ridgetop on the property where one can hear the flow of the east and west forks of the Eno simultaneously. “I think the extreme drought conditions we have been experiencing these last few months have made us all more aware of how precious our water resources are. This property has a remarkable amount of river frontage that will now be protected. For this, and all of the other educational and ecological benefits of land conservation, the Association’s work is so important.” In addition to its health and environmental qualities, the site also contains the remnants of Smith’s Mill, which operated in the mid-19th century.
Located in a part of Orange County that is seeing transition from its primarily agricultural use to 10-acre lot development, the Association is particularly excited about protecting such a uniquely situated tract of land. Robin Jacobs, Executive Director of the Association, said, “As our entire region is growing and sprawling into the countryside, we are recognizing more and more the importance of protecting the rural nature of the land around our towns, in addition to the important natural resources that are found there.”
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This project was truly a joint effort, with a number of generous partners participating. The Clean Water Management Trust Fund, Orange County, and the City of Raleigh, through the Upper Neuse Clean Water Initiative, all contributed significant funding to the purchase. Following the final resolution of support by the Orange County Board of Commissioners, Chair Barry Jacobs said, “The purchase of the Eno Confluence Property, to which the county contributed funds and staff support, is a key acquisition for conservation purposes. We are pleased the Eno River Association has broadened its efforts to embrace the upper Eno, and look forward to similar joint efforts to protect this precious resource.” In addition to the funding partners, The Conservation Fund provided short term financing so that the Association could close in 2007, while still finalizing the grant contracts. |
The Association will hold the tracts as open space and will be developing a management plan over the next year that will include reforestation of some low-lying fields, continued agricultural use, as well as limited public access. Eno River Association has been working on land and water quality conservation in the Eno River Basin for over 40 years. We were instrumental in the creation of the Eno River State Park in the early 1970s and continue to actively work to expand park holdings and other protected areas throughout the Eno River basin. In total, our efforts have resulted in more than 5,500 acres of protected land in the watershed. For more information about the Association's conservation activities contact the Association Office at (919) 620-9099 or by email at land@enoriver.org. |
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