THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, March 15, 1995 TAG: 9503150444
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY BETTY MITCHELL GRAY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RALEIGH LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines
A bill that would add Run Hill, a 70-foot-tall sand dune that borders Nags Head Woods, to the state park system cleared its first hurdle in the General Assembly Tuesday.
The bill was endorsed with only two dissenting votes after about 45 minutes of debate by a Senate panel studying agriculture and natural resource issues. The bill is sponsored by Sen. Charlie Albertson, a Duplin County Democrat.
Run Hill is in the home county of Senate leader Marc Basnight, a Manteo Democrat, and the measure is expected to be approved by the Senate with little opposition. The bill may face closer scrutiny when it reaches the House.
Proponents said the move will help preserve the sand dune, a valuable Outer Banks natural area, and will protect Nags Head Woods, one of the few remaining maritime forests on the state's coast, from intrusion from saltwater.
Opponents questioned whether it is wise to add lands to the state park system at a time when the state has trouble paying for upkeep of its existing parks.
``We have parks here today that are lacking in funds,'' said Sen. Don W. East, D-Surry. ``Due to the fact that we're not doing a good job of keeping up with what we've got, I'm going to have to vote against this bill.''
The bill would authorize the state to buy the dune and follow through with an agreement reached late last year among The Nature Conservancy, the Dare County Board of Education and the town of Kill Devil Hills.
For the past two years, Conservancy staff members have been meeting privately with the school board and the town to identify options for providing adequate space to expand the local schools without destroying the dune. Under the agreement, the Dare County school board will sell about 43 acres it owns on Run Hill to The Nature Conservancy and will use funds from that transaction to buy a 21.1-acre tract from Kill Devil Hills and a nearby eight-acre tract from the Conservancy.
Kill Devil Hills will sell about 47 acres it owns on Run Hill to the Conservancy, placing the entire dune in conservation ownership.
The bill before the state legislature authorizes the state to buy the property from The Nature Conservancy and add it to the state park system as a satellite natural area to Jockey's Ridge State Park.
The agreement among The Nature Conservancy, the schoolboard and the town of Kill Devil Hills stipulates that the transaction occur before July 31.
Besides protecting Run Hill, the agreement clears the way for the school board to plan for a new high school on a site it has identified as ideal for such a building, according to Katherine D. Skinner, executive director of The Nature Conservancy.
Run Hill is one of the last remaining examples of a large, active sand dune formation on the state's coast and has geological and biological resources of statewide significance, she said.
``Run Hill and Jockey's Ridge are the ecological boundary of Nags Head Woods,'' said Skinner. ``They protect the maritime forest from the salt spray. These sand dunes are why you have the freshwater natural area that is the maritime forest.'' ILLUSTRATION: Protection for an ecosystem
[Color Photo]
DREW C. WILSON
Staff
Run Hill, a southeastwardly moving natural sand dune, encroaches on
the maritime forest of the Nags Head Woods Ecological Preserve. If
the legislature approves, a complex series of purchases and sales
would put the dune in the hands of The Nature Conservancy; the
county would end up with land to use for expanding local schools.
by CNB