Return to North Carolina's Assessment of Need (draft)
Description of Forest Legacy Area and Important Environmental Values
Extremely productive sites and soils for high quality hardwood production also produce high quality habitat for wild turkey, white-tailed deer, and many non-game species. This FLA contains some of the highest quality waters in the region, and both the striped bass recovery program and viable runs of anadromous fish species (e.g., white and hickory shad) depend on high quality water protected by forests in this FLA. The FLA includes the headwaters drainages of the Tar River, which are noted for populations of freshwater mussels. Potential exists for development of eco-tourism, as significant expansion of natural heritage presence and exising conservation easements is possible in the Lower Roanoke.
Including the Swift Creek and Fishing
Creek watersheds in the west, The Tar and Lower Roanoke is centered on
Martin County and includes adjacent portions of Bertie, Edgecomb, Franklin,
Halifax, Nash, Pitt, Warren, and Washington counties. Sub-basins
of the Roanoke River and the Tar Pamlico include the following: Roanoke
River sub-basins: 03-02-08 below US 258; 03-02-09 and 3-02-10; Tar River
sub-basins: 03-03-01, 03-03-02, 03-03-04.
Current and Future Conversion Pressures
Residential development in Beaufort,
Martin, and Pitt counties poses the significant threat to large forested
tracts. Highgrading and short-term harvesting practices are degrading
the quality of stands currently in timber production.
Goals and Objectives of FLA for Public Benefit
Connect and maintain large contiguous blocks of working forests to buffer reserved forest lands and wildlife refuge areas.
Protect water quality for endangered freshwater mussel populations.
Enhance protection of Nutrient Sensitive Waters in the Tar-Pamlico River Basin and protect water quality of the Roanoke River.
Restore forest integrity by reversing
long-term high-grading history, reintroducing declining oak species,
green ash, and cypress/tupelo, which are aggressively being
replaced by sweetgum/red maple.
Potential Partnering Entities
North Carolina Coastal Land Trust
North Carolina Division of Forest
Resources
North Carolina Division of Parks
and Recreation
North Carolina Wildlife Resources
Commission
USDI Fish and Wildlife Service
Boundary Description
The boundary follows US1 north from the
Wake County line to US1ís intersection with US158.
East along US158 to the boundary of the
Chowan River Basin.
Southeast along Roanoke River sub-basins
boundaries 03-02-08 and 03-02-09 to US17.
North on US 17 to the boundary of Roanoke
sub-basin 03-02-10.
South along the sub-basin 03-02-10 and
03-02-09 boundary to US64.
West along US64 to the Martin County line.
North along the Martin County line to
the Seaboard Coast Line RR in Halifax County.
South along the Seaboard Coast Line RR
to US64.
West along US64 to the Wake County line.
Northwest along the Wake County line to
US1.
Figure B-4. Tar
and Lower Roanoke Forest Legacy Area.