rich natural diversity of Brunswick County, it is important 

 to note the investigator's cautionary note that he likely 

 overlooked some significant sites. The investigator was 

 instructed not to report extensively on the large expanse 

 of brackish and salt marshes, that fringe most of the county's 

 shoreline and which, for the most part, are ecosystems pro- 

 tected through state and federal regulatory programs. The 

 report does not treat the State-owned portions of Baldhead 

 (Smith) Island in much detail, although parts have since 

 been designated as a National Estuarine Sancturay and reg- 

 istered as a North Carolina Natural Heritage Area. The in- 

 vestigator did not report on the great ecological importance 

 of the 13,850-acre portion of the Green Swamp owned and 

 managed as a sancturay by the North Carolina Nature Conserv- 

 ancy. Therefore, an excerpt from the Green Swamp Nature 

 Preserve inventory and management plan, prepared by Hervey 

 Mclver for the Nature Conservancy, is included in this 

 document. The investigator did not gain access to the 

 Sunny Point Military Ocean Terminal, so we have included an 

 evaluation of certain limesinks on the terminal prepared in 

 1976 by Dr. James F. Parnell, Professor of Biology at the 

 University of North Carolina at Wilmington. Additionally, 

 we have inserted information and figures which locate the 

 principal colonial waterbird nesting sites, heronries, other 

 shorebird breeding habitats, and sea turtle nesting beaches 

 in Brunswick County. 



The Office of Coastal Management, and the Coastal 

 Resources Commission which it serves, implement the Coastal 

 Area Management Act of 1974 (CAMA) . Under this statute, 

 the North Carolina Coastal Management Plan has been prepared 

 and approved. It includes the definition and designation 

 of various Areas of Environmental Concern (AEC). In some 

 cases, AECs coincide with natural areas that are herein 

 recommended for preservation or special management. In 

 some cases, AECs may encompass other areas — such as marsh 

 zone wetlands — which are not extensively treated in this 

 inventory. 



The Natural Heritage Program is most pleased to have 

 had this opportunity to conduct this project for the Office 

 of Coastal Management. The inventory has revealed a number 

 of high quality natural areas that possess natural elements 

 of national and statewide priority and are important parts 

 of North Carolina's natural diversity. Some of the identi- 

 fied sites were previously unknown and undocumented by the 

 state's scientific community. The Natural Heritage Program 

 hopes that these areas will be protected for the benefits 

 of present and future generations of North Carolinians and 

 for the preservation of the state's truly exceptional natural 

 heritage . 



Charles E. Roe, Coordinator 

 N.C. Natural Heritage Program 

 November 18, 1982 



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