
	Triangle Land Conservancy 1101 Haynes Street Suite 205 Raleigh, NC 27604 919.833.3662

Lower Haw River conservation expands

State buys first land for State Natural Area since 2003

TLC and the Haw River Assembly (HRA) have partnered to help conserve 40 acres on the Haw River in Chatham County. The tract on the west side of the Haw River near Bynum was acquired on August 25 by another conservation partner, the NC Division of State Parks, with the assistance of TLC and HRA.

The land is now part of the Lower Haw River State Natural Area, created in 2003 when TLC helped the state buy from Duke University more than 1,000 land and river acres between Bynum and US 64. In the intervening years, TLC has negotiated on behalf of the state to add land to the state natural area in Chatham County. This is the first project to close.

Not to be left out of the partnership punch, the NC Clean Water Management Trust Fund (CWMTF) and the NC Parks and Recreation Trust Fund (PRTF) paid for the purchase. CWMTF paid $155,000 of the $195,822 sale price, with PRTF covering the remaining $40,000.

In the partnership, the Bynum-based Haw River Assembly established the relationship with the seller and secured the purchase option. TLC took over from there, performing the due diligence and legal work and securing the funding from the state trust funds.

The 40-acre Stevens tract lies on the Haw just upstream of the 15-501 bridge, on the Pittsboro side of the river. Pittsboro’s drinking water supply intake, which sits on a small inholding of the property adjacent to the Bynum dam, will benefit from the protective buffer this never-to-be-developed property now provides. The property features a mixed hardwood forest and protects 4,373 feet of Haw River frontage and provides another 1,887 feet of stream buffer on Brooks Branch.

The Haw River in this area has been identified as a nationally significant aquatic habitat and the riverbank lands as a natural area of state significance. Both designations relate to providing habitat for rare native plants and animals. As an addition to the Lower Haw River State Natural Area, public trails are possible on this tract.