Bryan Properties makes major conservation donation in North Durham

History and nature come together at Horton Grove

Largest donation ever to Triangle Land Conservancy

Published July 2005

(Near Bahama, NC) – In the shadow of what was in its day the largest plantation in the state, Bryan Properties, Inc., on June 17 donated 355 acres of northern Durham County woodlands to Triangle Land Conservancy.

This is the second phase of a three-part donation. Combined with a 239-acre donation in December 2004, the Horton Grove Preserve now totals 594 acres. An additional donation of 76 acres anticipated in 2006 will complete the 670-acre conservation project that protects water quality in Falls Lake, enhances a protected natural area and preserves an important wildlife corridor.

The Horton Grove Preserve represents the largest land donation made to Triangle Land Conservancy (TLC) in the organization’s 22 year history. It is the second largest property owned by the land trust that serves Durham, Orange, Wake, Chatham, Lee and Johnston counties.

“By conserving the Horton Grove land, TLC takes a small step toward protecting the water quality of Falls Lake,” said TLC executive director Kevin Brice. “Thousands of people in our region rely on Falls Lake for clean drinking water, and protecting the quality of that water through land conservation is a high priority for Triangle Land Conservancy.”

“We are delighted to be a part of this significant preservation of streams and woodlands,” said D.R. Bryan, president of Bryan Properties. “TLC was both diligent and skillful in helping us find a way to make this possible. We believe it will bring important environmental benefits to Treyburn and northern Durham, and to water quality for our region.”

Bryan, his partners John Coley and Jim Earnhardt, and six other investor partners participated in the donation. Bryan Properties began working in north Durham in April of 2003 when it purchased 2,000 acres in the Treyburn area. Horton Grove was part of this purchase.

Prior to the 355-acre donation, Bryan Properties sold conservation easements on 307 acres within the property to the NC Ecosystem Enhancement Program (EEP). Those easements provide more than five miles of streams that feed into Falls Lake an extra layer of protection from future development. The easements, for which EEP paid $1.8 million, were a critical part of the conservation project, leveraging the donation of 670 acres valued at $7.8 million (a four-to-one ratio).

Brief History
Horton Grove sits nestled in the northeast corner of Durham County, tucked in between Lake Michie, the Flat River and the Little River Reservoir. The name is handed down from William Horton and his family, yeoman farmers who settled there on 320 acres in the mid-1700s.

The land later became part of the Stagville Plantation owned by Richard Bennehan. Over time, Bennehan and his son-in-law, Duncan Cameron, merged operations, creating the largest plantation complex in the state with 30,000 acres and more than 900 slaves. Part of that history has been preserved at Historic Stagville, a North Carolina State Historic Site encompassing 71 acres and numerous buildings, including the 18th century Bennehan House. Other historic buildings – slave quarters and a timber frame barn built prior to the Civil War – are owned by the state and preserved on another portion of the Horton Grove tract.

The Land
The donated land lies adjacent to the Falls Lake buffer on the lower Flat River. More than five miles of small streams feed into the lower Flat and from there into Falls Lake. The land also includes a large portion of the Lake Michie Slopes natural heritage site, a large hardwood forest tract that provides homes for many species, including wild turkey, pileated woodpecker and falcate orangetip butterfly, that require the deep forest that is disappearing so rapidly in our region.

In addition to protecting water quality in Falls Lake, the project enhances the protection of the Lake Michie Slopes natural heritage site and builds on a wildlife corridor connecting protected lands along the Flat River, Lake Michie, Falls Lake and the Little River Reservoir.

“Durham’s Little River conservation plan identified the wildlife corridor between the Little River Reservoir and Lake Michie,” said Jeff Masten, TLC’s director of conservation strategies. “The groundwork for conservation laid by Durham County in that plan was instrumental in bringing the NC Ecosystem Enhancement Program on board the project. Local and county governments with active conservation programs play a significant role in the success of private conservation initiatives like the Horton Grove Preserve.”

TLC will develop a management plan for Horton Grove Preserve over the next year. Because there is no developed trail system on the property, public access will be limited to TLC-guided outings until the management plan is in place. An outing will be scheduled for Fall 2005 (tba).

Copyright © 2006-2008, Triangle Land Conservancy Last updated on 11/22/2006.