Growing the Croatan
The Coastal Land Trust (NCCLT) has protected more than 8,000 acres of land buffering the Croatan National Forest.
The Croatan National Forest
Located across portions of Craven, Carteret, and Jones Counties, the Croatan National Forest (Croatan) is a bastion of natural heritage in North Carolina, and its 160,000 acres represents one of the largest protected areas of wildlands in the coastal plain. Consisting of pine forests, estuaries, swamps, pocosins, and major waterways, the Croatan provides an expanse of crucial habitat for a wide array of flora and fauna. For more information on the Croatan National Forest including recreation areas, hiking trails, and access points, visit the USFS web page on the Croatan National Forest.
A Biological Stronghold
For a select few species in North Carolina, the long-term protection of habitat within the Croatan has enabled populations to persist that otherwise may have experienced significant fragmentation and decline.
Longleaf Pine (Pinus palustris)
Once the predominant forest type in the southeast, longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) forests covered approximately 90 million acres from Virginia to Texas. During the colonial period, longleaf pines were heavily harvested to build ships and railroads and although thought to be an inexhaustible resource at the time, were almost depleted entirely by the early 20 th Century. Because longleaf pines grow at a much slower rate compared to other species of pines and require frequent fire to control encroaching midstory trees, over time the timber industry replaced longleaf pines with faster growing species like loblolly pine (Pinus taeda). Overharvesting, fire suppression, and the timber industry’s prioritization of faster growing species have ultimately led to the dramatic decline of longleaf pine forests to around 5% of the historical distribution. However, state, federal, and non-profit conservation organizations are working to restore longleaf pine forests across the southeastern and Gulf coastal plains through acquisition, planting, timber thinning, invasive species removal, and prescribed burns, and by doing so, are ensuring the survival of the many species that depend on healthy longleaf pine forests.
Red-Cockaded Woodpecker (Dryobates borealis)
The federally endangered Red-Cockaded Woodpecker (Dryobates borealis; formerly Picoides borealis), or “RCW,” is a species dependent on mature longleaf pine trees (Pinus palustris) for nesting cavities. RCWs have experienced a staggering population decline of approximately 99% throughout their historical range since the time of European colonization - a decline that is directly correlated with the destruction and fragmentation of longleaf pine habitat during the same time period. Using anywhere from 75 to 200 acres of foraging habitat per breeding group, RCW populations require a large area of connected habitat to support a multitude of these “groups” and to promote genetic diversity within the larger population. Currently, the Croatan supports one of the largest populations of RCWs in North Carolina.
RCW Restoration Efforts
Because it can take multiple years for adult RCWs to excavate a new nesting cavity in a living pine tree - compared to other species of woodpeckers that excavate cavities in dead trees or snags - they prefer to nest in old growth longleaf pine trees and often those infected with red heart disease. Red heart disease is a fungal infection that attacks and softens the inner heartwood, making it much easier to excavate a nesting cavity. However, due to historical timber harvest and slower growth rates, old growth longleaf pine trees are not always available. Therefore, in an effort to assist RCW populations in recolonizing longleaf pine forests that have been managed and restored, wildlife biologists have constructed artificial cavities that can be placed within slightly younger longleaf pine trees (see photos below). Providing these constructed cavities for migrating RCW breeding groups increases the likelihood that they will successfully recolonize restored areas, allowing for more individuals to thrive within the region.
Venus Flytrap (Dionaea muscipula)
Endemic to the coastal Carolinas, the Venus flytrap is widely known for its unique evolutionary adaptation to supplement an existence in nutrient poor soils by trapping and digesting live insects. The Venus flytrap typically inhabits forested areas composed of moist acidic soils with little understory to allow plenty of sunlight needed for these diminutive plants to thrive. Healthy longleaf pine forests, particularly longleaf pine savannas, provide ideal habitat.
Similar to the Red-cockaded Woodpecker, Venus flytraps are also threatened by habitat deterioration and loss due to fire suppression, conversion to agriculture or intense silviculture, and development. In fact, Venus flytrap populations have declined significantly enough that in 2016, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was petitioned to list the Venus flytrap as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Ultimately, it was determined that the current status of the species did not meet the definition of threatened or endangered under the ESA. Nonetheless, protection and proper management of Venus flytrap habitat remains crucial for the long-term survival of this iconic coastal plant.
Managing The Landscape
To achieve the most desirable habitat for RCWs and Venus flytraps, and to maintain the ecological health of longleaf pine forests, there must be frequent fire exposure. As noted above, fire suppression has played a role in the decline of all three of the above-mentioned species. Without frequent fire, longleaf pine forests are transformed from open park-like stands to mixed pine-hardwood forests with encroaching mid-story, completely changing the forest structure and assemblage, and resulting in habitat that is much less suitable for the species dependent on them.
Prescribed burns are not only beneficial for maintaining ecological integrity and desirable habitat but also play a role in climate change resiliency for surrounding communities as well. Prescribed or controlled burning of pine forests can help reduce fuel loads (pine needles, grasses, and other woody materials) buffering communities nearby from uncontrolled wildfires – a phenomenon occurring at a much higher frequency due to increased temperatures and changing climatic conditions.
In April of 2023, a wildfire, referred to as the Great Lakes Fire, ripped through the Croatan growing from 7,000 acres to more than 32,000 acres over the span of two days. The Great Lakes Fire started near Great Lake and gradually moved north toward New Bern, primarily driven by wind. Areas of the Croatan that had been burned in recent years through the U.S. Forest Service’s prescribed burn program acted to slow the spread of this wildfire and provided a crucial buffer to neighboring cities, towns, and residential areas. Through timber thinning and prescribed burns, the Coastal Land Trust has worked to uphold this standard of land management on several preserves adjacent to the Croatan including the Bern Preserve, a 923-acre tract situated between the northern boundary of the Croatan and residential area of Brice's Creek. By committing to and implementing best land management practices, the Coastal Land Trust has further buffered and protected those residential areas from the future threat of wildfires.
The Coastal Land Trust's Commitment to the Croatan
In 2018, the Coastal Land Trust received $7.3 million in settlement funds from litigation brought against the NC Department of Transportation (NCDOT) by The Sierra Club over NCDOT’s proposed U.S. 70 Havelock Bypass that would cut through a portion of the Croatan. As a part of the settlement agreement, these funds were to be used to acquire land that is in or around the Croatan that protects, preserves, or enhances RCW habitat, or that includes longleaf pine forest. To date, the Coastal Land Trust has used these settlement funds to protect 3,951 acres in and around the Croatan. In addition to acquisition projects that have been completed using the Croatan settlement funds, the Coastal Land Trust has protected another 4,272 acres of land using other state, federal, and private funding sources for a total of 8,223 acres protected within the Croatan National Forest District boundary (See map below).
Here's a closer look at a few of the Coastal Land Trust's conservation projects around the Croatan National Forest
The Work Continues
The Coastal Land Trust will continue to seek opportunities to protect and manage wild spaces in proximity to the Croatan National Forest, and other existing protected lands across eastern North Carolina, in the pursuit of connecting wildlife habitat, restoring native species, and increasing resiliency to the future impacts of climate change.
We Need Your Help!
If you are interested in supporting the Coastal Land Trust or would like more information on our efforts, please visit our website at www.CoastalLandTrust.org or contact us at our Wilmington office !
About the Coastal Land Trust
The Coastal Land Trust (NCCLT) is a non-profit conservation organization with a mission to enrich the coastal communities of our state through conservation of natural areas and working landscapes, education, and the promotion of good land stewardship in our coastal communities.
Since 1992, NCCLT has protected more than 90,000 acres of land throughout the coastal plain of North Carolina, more than 8,000 acres of which are lands expanding and buffering the Croatan National Forest.
Thank You!
Many thanks to all the landowners and partners who have helped the Coastal Land Trust protect and manage land around the Croatan National Forest and continue to provide support for conservation projects across North Carolina's coastal plain including:
Bass Pro Shops, Craven County Community Foundation, Craven County Recreation and Parks Department, The Harold H. Bate Foundation, Inc., Mr. and Mrs. Fred Stanback, The Nature Conservancy, N.C. Coastal Federation, N.C. Environmental Enhancement Program, N.C. Land & Water Fund, N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, The Sierra Club, U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities, U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, and Weyerhaeuser Company
Resources and biological information
- Red-cockaded woodpecker:
- Longleaf pine:
- https://www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Plants-and-Fungi/Longleaf-Pine
- The Longleaf Alliance home page: https://longleafalliance.org/