Urges protections for
other threatened natural areas statewide
Raleigh—Environment North Carolina applauded Gov. Easley, Sen. Walter Dalton, and other
state leaders for their recent agreement to purchase and permanently protect
Chimney Rock Park, the 1000-acre centerpiece of Hickory Nut Gorge in Rutherford
County. The park’s future had been
uncertain since its current owners reluctantly announced last year that that
would sell the property, a privately-run park for more than 100 years.
Forged by Hickory Creek and
the Broad River, Hickory Nut Gorge in Western North Carolina boasts 13 species of rare wildlife, including the
crevice salamander, and 37 rare plant types, including an array of brilliantly-colored
wildflowers. For years, the spectacular
vistas and ecological wonder of the Gorge’s Chimney Rock and Hickory Nut Falls
have attracted hikers, rock-climbers, botanists, and other nature-lovers from
the across the state and across the globe.
The state’s agreement to purchase Chimney Rock will help form what
conservationists believe will be North Carolina’s premier state park.
But there is, of course, still
a great deal to be done for the protection of the state’s natural areas. In Hickory Nut Gorge alone, conservation
groups have identified as much as 1,000 additional acres that need permanent
protection. And across the state,
hundreds of well-loved green spaces, from Topsail Island’s Serenity Point to an area next to Morrow Mountain State
Park in the
Uwharries, remain under intense development pressures.
Environment North Carolina called on the state legislature and the Governor to
support the recommendations of the Land and Water Conservation Study
Commission, which has called for an additional $1 billion over the next five
years to go towards the protection of the state’s most important natural areas.
