Landowner Case Study: The Kuenzlers

Summary

• Project: Kuenzler Wildlife Habitat Preserve
• Landowners: Dr. Edward and Jutta Kuenzler
• Transaction: Forever Wild Conservation Easement
• Acres: 154
• County: Orange
• Conservation Values for TLC: Stream buffer, water quality protection, wetland restoration
• Landowner Goals Met: Desire to protect, enhance, and share the land, and encourage others to be passionate about nature

Background

If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right. This principle certainly applies to land protection, and perhaps no landowners better illustrate its application than the Kuenzlers and their Wildlife Habitat Preserve. After purchasing 154 acres of forest and farmland in southwest Orange County, on Collins Creek, in the 1960s, Dr. Edward Kuenzler and his wife, Jutta, proceeded to shower the land with love and attention.

Jutta Kuenzler, left, and her daughter, Doreen, on their family land.

Dr. Kuenzler, a wetland ecology professor at UNC, inventoried the plants and animals living on the land, identifying as many as 400 species; dabbled in farming, raising Black Angus cattle; and began to implement an ambitious conservation plan that included restoring wetland habitat. The Kuenzlers were firmly committed to keeping the land wild, which would, says Jutta, "allow nature to live, develop, and be free, and serve as example for everyone to help preserve wildlife."

The Strategy

The Kuenzlers were just as attentive and deliberate in arranging for their land to be protected, tinkering with the details of a conservation easement, and working with a number of different public agencies that became involved with their preserve, including the Natural Resources Conservation Service, which administers the federal wetlands program, and the Orange County Soil and Water Conservation District.

Unfortunately, Dr. Kuenzler passed away in August 2001, before the conservation projects and easement could be completed. Committed to protecting the land, Mrs. Kuenzler, and her daughter, Doreen, decided to carry on the work to preserve the property and finish restoring the wetland. In December of that year, Jutta Kuenzler finalized the conservation easement with TLC, a process that had begun in the mid-1990s. The Kuenzlers' vision was realized.

"I am grateful for all the help we received in restoring and preserving our property," Mrs. Kuenzler says. "It makes it possible for all the animals and plants to stay where they belong."

The Results

Today, the Kuenzler Wildlife Habitat Preserve is a fully restored wetland wildlife refuge for migratory birds, amphibians, reptiles, and local flora. The property hosts visits from school children and others interested in learning about the wetland restoration process, encouraging others to be passionate about nature.

The easement also provides about 1.1 miles of stream buffer on Collins Creek, helping to protect water quality.