THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, January 7, 1995 TAG: 9501070224
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: By SCOTT HARPER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 62 lines
A retired Portsmouth surgeon and his wife have donated 76 acres of rare bottomland forest - described as one of the finest and most pristine of its kind in the nation - to the Nature Conservancy for permanent protection.
The property, valued at $345,000, is the swampy home to wood ducks, otters and egrets on the Blackwater River in Southampton County. The tract also contains several of the largest and oldest trees in Virginia.
Some of the bald cypress trees that tower over the tract are estimated to be 800 years old. Their trunks, scarred black by lightning strikes, have been measured to be as wide as 8 feet in diameter, say experts who have studied the site.
``It's a real treasure, one of the most awe-inspiring places I've ever seen in the state,'' said Tom Rawinski, a vegetation ecologist for the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation.
Dr. Arthur A. Kirk and his wife, Marie, wanted to give the land to the state. But the tract was deemed too small by state officials, who then directed the Kirks to the Nature Conservancy, a group that holds 200,000 acres in Virginia and more than 1 million acres nationwide.
In return for the gift, the Kirks will receive a large tax deduction. But their real motive had nothing to do with money.
``My dad wanted to make sure everything stayed the way it is,'' said Ann Kirk, a daughter and lawyer who helped secure the deal. ``Maybe they were worried what we'd do with it. But they just wanted it preserved. They've always loved the big trees.''
The donation comes on the heels of another significant gift to the Nature Conservancy. Both were handed over just after Christmas.
In one of the largest gifts of the year, a family gave 729 acres of forest and wetlands along the Rappahannock River to the Nature Conservancy, said Rob Riordan, a spokesman for the conservancy in Charlottesville.
``While that was a big one in size, the Blackwater site is one of the most ecologically important we've received,'' Riordan said.
The property will be named the Blackwater River Preserve, Riordan said, and will be used for research, limited canoe trips and as an example to other landowners who may want to help build a larger sanctuary.
There is little development pressure in the immediate area, although timbering has become a budding trade, given the large cypress trees and other hardwoods that thrive in the swampy soil.
The tract represents the 28th nature preserve held by the Nature Conservancy in Virginia. ILLUSTRATION: Staff Map
The gift: 76 acres of bottomland forest, home to bald cypress trees,
wood ducks, otters and egrets
The donor: Retired Portsmouth surgeon, Arthur Kirk and his wife,
Marie
The recipient: The Nature Conservancy
Value: $345,000
KEYWORDS: NATURE CONSERVANCY LAND DONATION by CNB