345 Acres of Working Farmland Permanently Protected in Chatham County's Rocky River Watershed

PITTSBORO, N.C. - Jan. 7, 2015 - PRLog -- Triangle Land Conservancy (http://www.triangleland.org/) has further protected water quality and natural diversity within the Rocky River watershed by conserving 345 more acres of working farmland and forest on the Bonlee-Tick Creek property in Chatham County with three new permanent conservation easements.

The conservation easements protect approximately 7,130 feet of Tick Creek, a major tributary to the Rocky River classified as an impaired waterway under the State’s 303d listing, and 7,550 feet of Tick Creek tributaries. Home to nine mussel species, including three species of state concern and a federal species of concern, the Carolina creekshell (Villosa vaughaniana), the nationally significant Upper Rocky River Aquatic Habitat Natural Heritage Area (http://www.rockyriverchatham.org/files/RRHF-Mar3-2013web.pdf) also overlaps with the newly conserved property. Stream buffers will be required along Tick Creek and its tributaries within the easement areas, restricting future timber harvesting and agricultural activities to further safeguard water quality.

“The Rocky River and its tributaries are an extraordinarily beautiful and biologically important area, less than an hour from the heart of the Triangle. Given the rapid growth in nearby parts of Chatham County, these conservation victories here are all the more important,” notes TLC’s Executive Director Chad Jemison. “The Rocky River area is renowned for its important natural lands along the creeks and the free flowing, cool water streams that run for over 30 miles, providing important habitat for dozens of rare plants and animals including  the federally endangered Cape Fear Shiner.”

Working closely with landowner Bobby Branch, TLC has now protected almost 500 acres of the Bonlee-Tick Creek property which is about ten miles south of Siler City in western Chatham County. TLC has focused its conservation efforts in Chatham County, having already acquired easements on 12 Chatham family farms, including most recently the Andrews Farm and Lindley Farm in December 2013. Other TLC-protected lands located in this area include the Winter Farm, Sheppard Farm, Seilkop Forestland, Robinson Forest and the Condoret Nature Preserve.

“Bobby Branch has been a great partner to work with to protect his land,” adds TLC Associate Director of Conservation Bo Howes. “This project is a fitting example of how private conservation efforts benefit from the federal enhanced conservation tax incentive recently renewed by the US Congress.”

As a former dairy, the property has been used primarily for agricultural purposes with some areas of woodland as well as an old gravel quarry. Mr. Branch is in the process of reclaiming the pasture from early succession forest and plans to maintain a herd of cattle on the property. The conservation easements allow for farming and forest management, but extinguish all mining rights on the protected property.