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Hope for Wilson Creek

Landowners Agree To Sell 649 Acres to State

Story by Anna Oakes

A family that owns 649 acres around Wilson Creek in Caldwell County has agreed to sell the land to a public land trust. Photo by Kevin Knight Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina announced this week that it has secured a contract with the Lutz Family Partnership to purchase 649 acres along almost four miles of Wilson Creek in Caldwell County for $7 million.

Surrounded by Pisgah National Forest, the land will be owned by the state of North Carolina and managed by the Wildlife Resources Commission. The deal would guarantee public access to the river, beloved for its crystal-clear trout waters, icy-cold swimming holes, whitewater rapids and important aquatic habitats.

“This is a rare opportunity to forever protect a very long stretch of much-loved Wilson Creek,” said Susie Hamrick Jones, Foothills Conservancy’s executive director, in a press release.

The price, $10,788 per acre, is based on appraisals conducted in December by the N.C. State Property Office. Foothills Conservancy has until the end of 2009 to purchase the tract. To pay for the property, Foothills, a nonprofit land trust based in Morganton, has requested a $4.75 million grant from the N.C. Clean Water Management Trust Fund, and the Wildlife Resources Commission has requested a $2.25 million grant from the N.C. Natural Heritage Trust Fund.

“Very generously, the Lutz family gave us the time that was required,” Jones said. “We’re really happy that we were able to make an offer that they felt represented a fair market purchase.”

The grant requested from the Clean Water Management Trust Fund represents 61 percent of the purchase cost, Jones said. That’s because 61 percent of the tract is within 300 feet of surface waters or in a flood plain, she said.

“It just tells you how much water is on this tract,” she added.

Last year, news of an offer to sell the property to a Florida-based housing developer resulted in a public appeal for conservation.

Archer Group of Jacksonville, Fla., applied for a permit to build 225 houses on the 649-acre tract last summer, promising tax dollars, construction jobs and a local economic boost. Caldwell County Senior Planner Eric Woolridge said the application appeared to be a sound proposal that preserved 70 percent of the land as open space, retained public access and adequately addressed clean water concerns.

But the planned development prompted the Caldwell County Board of Commissioners to impose a yearlong moratorium on development along Wilson Creek, and at a public hearing on that moratorium, a packed house of concerned citizens spoke out against the development. Their concerns included water quality, location of the proposed houses in a flood plain and public access.

The public outcry moved the Archer Group to withdraw its proposal, and the Lutz family allowed the purchase option on the property to expire. That’s when Foothills Conservancy approached the Lutz family about selling the tract to the public. Negotiations between the family and the land trust began last fall, but preparations for the deal began as early as a year ago, Jones said. “Public land acquisitions take time,” she said. “The Lutzes were pleased to know there was an alternative.”

“Our family is humbled by the thought of future generations being able to enjoy the natural beauty and history that Foothills Conservancy is providing with the acquisition of this scenic land,” said Herbert Lutz, managing partner for the Lutz Family Partnership, in the press release. “Our parents, O. P. and Mattie Lutz, never wanted this land to be ravaged again by the likes of a lumber company or anyone that could contribute to catastrophic devastation like the 1940 flood caused in this beautiful area.”

Jones said other landowners in the Wilson Creek corridor have approached Foothills Conservancy about conserving their land for the future.

Ron Beane, vice chair of the Caldwell commissioners, said, “Most of the people who live here have a love for the Wilson Creek area. It’s a very important place to people.” He said he believes preservation of the area outweighs any economic benefits that would have been gained by a development.

“I don’t think the infrastructure was there for the major development that was being proposed,” he said.

Appalachian State anthropology professor Harvard Ayers said the conservation effort preserves the area for archeological study of evidence of prehistoric peoples and for cultural studies of the area’s rural residents.

The one-year moratorium on development around Wilson Creek in Caldwell County expires on June 4. When the commissioners enacted the moratorium, they also formed the Wilson Creek Study Group to study the area and make recommendations on actions the county can take to further protect the Wilson Creek corridor. Beane said the group has met regularly and plans to make recommendations before the moratorium expires.

For more information about Foothills Conservancy, click to www.foothillsconservancy.org.