Heritage Society Member Bill Burlingame Makes Generous Gifts

Bill Burlingame’s unique homeplace at the base of Pickards Mountain between Chapel Hill and Hillsborough is perfectly suited to this history buff and outdoor enthusiast.  The house was created by joining three log cabins and sits on a slope near a sprawling ancient oak.  The slope runs down to Morgan Creek and the site of the historic Pickard’s Mill.  The remnants of the gristmill, including a massive stone dam and the mill’s headrace and tailrace, can still be seen on the property and neighboring land. 

The largest tract of chestnut oak forest remaining in Orange County cloaks 783-foot Pickards Mountain, which is considered one of the most important natural areas in the county.  The headwaters of Cane and Morgan creeks spring from this isolated knob and its mature forest links the two stream corridors, providing a pathway for wildlife such as wild turkey, bobcat and pileated woodpecker. 

A TLC member since 1995, Burlingame says he has “witnessed many changes in the landscape and ecology in the 30 years that I’ve lived on this property.  There were no deer south of I-85 until 15 years ago and now they’re plentiful.  I can hear coyotes yipping and howling at night, maybe 200 feet from my house.  And I’m seeing wild turkeys.  There’s a general return of the native wildlife over the last two decades or so.”

Bill Burlingame in front of the Pickard's Mill dam.

Burlingame’s appreciation for the environment began in a childhood spent in a remote part of Washington in the San Juan Islands.  “We didn’t have any power or running water,” he recalls.  “My family lived 100 yards from an undeveloped channel on Puget Sound and we spent a lot of time outdoors.  So I developed an appreciation for and an affinity with nature from a young age that became an enduring part of my personality.  Saving and preserving nature is a critical value to me."

Burlingame’s extensive professional experiences include serving as Director of the Adolescent Unit at John Umstead Hospital in Butner, North Carolina, for 26 years, and professorships at both UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke University.

In August of 2000, Burlingame contacted TLC and expressed his interest in donating a conservation easement on his property.  His motives were straightforward:  “I want to leave a legacy of some sort of the things that are important to me,” he says.  “I’ve spent my professional life treating children and it would be consistent to create a small legacy for them and their children.”

Burlingame worked with the TLC staff to design an agreement that would satisfy the goals of all the parties.  “Working with TLC to craft this easement was a very positive experience,” he says.  “While respecting the basic integrity of the easement, they worked with me to build in things that were important to me, such as being able to continue mowing, building trails that respect historic wagon roads and making special provisions to allow for archaeological research by qualified professionals." Burlingame says that recently discovered data indicate that the Great Indian Trading Path crossed his property and forded Morgan Creek below his residence.   

In December of 2001, Burlingame and TLC signed an agreement in which he donated a “Forever Wild” conservation easement to the organization on 26 acres of his property.  A forever wild easement specifies that the “the property’s natural areas are not actively managed, except for allowing natural activities to occur and allowing the landowner to make modifications that are agreed upon in the easement document,” says Jeff Masten, director of conservation strategies at TLC. 

The remains of Pickard's Mill on Morgan Creek. 

A number of Burlingame’s neighbors have also entered into conservation agreements with TLC and other agencies (including Bob and Chris Nutter’s easements at Maple View Farm and Charles and Barbara Keith’s easements on Pickards Mountain) so that today much of this significant natural area is protected from development. 

In 2001, Burlingame informed TLC staff that he had made yet another generous investment in conservation by naming the land trust a beneficiary in his will.  “My motivation in doing this was similar to my motivation for donating the easement,” he explains.  “It’s just part of my personal vision that I not only want to preserve this piece of land but I also want contribute to TLC’s work overall.” 

Burlingame admires TLC’s creative approach to conservation.  “I believe the organization is appropriately opportunistic in the most positive sense of the word,” he says.  “TLC is able to seize opportunities when land becomes available and sometimes they are able to do this on behalf of other entities who ultimately become the caretakers of the property.  I think the organization is very imaginative and creative in ways that multiply the impact of its conservation work.”

We thank Dr. Burlingame for his wonderful contributions to both the history and the future of the Triangle landscape.   

The Heritage Society honors people who have included TLC in their estate plans. You can name TLC a beneficiary in your will by donating cash, stocks, bonds, specific assets or a share of your remaining estate or by naming TLC as a beneficiary of a retirement plan or insurance policy. Your financial advisor can provide guidance on how such a gift can help you meet your financial goals. If you have already included TLC in your estate plans, please let us know so we can thank you and properly acknowledge your gift.

For more information, please contact Tracy Joseph, Director of Development, at 919-833-3662, ext.115 or tracy@tlc-nc.org.

 

Copyright © 2006-2008, Triangle Land Conservancy Last updated on 01/04/2008.