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surrounding swamp forest is achieved. Natural area registration by 

 the landmanager , First Colony Farms, should be encouraged. 



22. Rating (County perspective): 



1) X high priority 



2) medium priority 



3) low priority 



State Natural Heritage rating: regional (mediiam) significance. 



23. Prose statement of site significance. 



The Atlantic white cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides ) is found in 

 the Northeastern Tidewater, Sandhill, and Southeastern Coastal 

 Plain regions of North Carolina. It is a beautiful tree that grows 

 perfectly straight. Its bark is reddish-brown and somewhat flaky 

 while the foliage is a deep bluish-green and has the characteristic 

 cedar fragrance. The tree is found in swamp forests and pocosins 

 where it may occur as a minor component of the community or in some 

 instances may form pure stands that contain only Atlantic white 

 cedar. It is these pure stands that constitute the community type 

 known as the Atlantic white cedar forest. Such forests are in 

 extreme jeopardy in North Carolina. The lesser threat to their 

 existence is the occurrence of fire. Like many conifers the 

 Atlantic white cedar will not sprout from the root crown or bole. 

 When a fire moves through a young dense stand the foliage provides 

 fuel and the stand is completely destroyed. The much greater 

 threat to the Atlantic white cedar forest is logging. The light 

 colored fragrant wood is very durable and therefore valuable for a 

 number of uses. Dense stands that contain only the single species 

 are economical to harvest so stands are usually cut long before the 

 trees ever reach full maturity. Approximately 2900 acres of 

 Atlantic white cedar forest have been cut in the vicinity of Frying 

 Pan Lake in the la.st few years making the one small area described 

 in this report the only relatively mature high density stand that 

 remains in Tyrrell County. Some such stands should be saved. Our 

 understanding of the factors that control the location of these 

 forests and the successional dynamics of developing stands is 

 relatively poor. Only with the preservation of some stands will we 

 ever have the opportunity to answer these questions. 



24. Natural Characteristics Summary 



a. Vegetation-Biotic Community Summary 



Community type: Camaecyparis thyoides / Nyssa sylvatica / 

 Clethra alnifolia -mixed shrubs 



Community cover type: Chamaecyparis thyoides 



General habitat feature: Atlantic white cedar swamp forest 



Average tree height: 60 feet 



Estimated age of canopy trees: 60 years 



