Land Trust Adds to Carteret Preserve

The N.C. Coastal Land Trust purchased 50 acres from the East Carolina Council of Boy Scouts of America for its Gales Creek Nature Preserve at Camp Sam Hatcher, between Cape Carteret and Morehead City in Carteret County. The nature preserve is now more than 250 acres.

The property is next to the Croatan National Forest. It features longleaf pine sand hills, savannas and wetlands that are home to a host of unusual plants and animals, like the endangered red-cockaded woodpeckers, and a scenic area for docking kayaks.

The purchase was funded by a grant through the N.C. Environmental Enhancement grant program. The boy scouts retain the title to about 70 acres at the camp for primitive camping, hiking and studying nature.

The N.C. Coastal Land Trust works with landowners to save landscapes at the coast for the benefit of all North Carolinians. It’s saved more than 60,000 acres of land in the state since 1992.