are found near Rocky Point where a mixed hardwood composition stands out 

 in contrast to the typical loblolly or pond pine forest, and to lesser 

 extent, the red cedar woodlands along the mainland fringe adjacent to 

 the tidal marshes. In the latter case, these woodlands are found on 

 calcareous substrates-- Indian middens, or more recently, dredged material 

 islands along the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. Except for the coastal 

 and corridor development along US 17, vegetation and land use in Pender 

 County may be visualized as a giant "V" , in which the arms of the "V" are 

 comprised of swamps and woodlands along the Cape Fear/Black System to the 

 left and the Northeast Cape Fear/Angola-Holly Shelter Bays System to the 

 right, and separated by a broad wedge-shaped agricultural area. 



To inventory these diverse habitats for natural areas and endangered 

 and threatened species first necessitated a county-wide reconnaissance. 

 In late April, 1981 a rapid inspection of the county from as many of the 

 secondary and primary roads as possible was undertaken. Brief side trips, 

 consisting of walks of a few hundred yards were taken at selected points, 

 often in creek bottoms, or in upland woods. Secondly, a planned survey 

 of localities which had previously been recorded by Natural Heritage personnel 

 and provided to us in the format of computer printout of known stations 

 for endangered/threatened species, or unique biotic communities was 

 performed. Thirdly, a survey of bottomlands, marshes, and the barrier 

 islands was conducted by boat. As a tentative list of potential natural 

 areas began to emerge, aerial inspection was completed. Altogether, the 

 Pender County Natural Areas Inventory included 49 field days: 38 by ground, 

 9 by water, and 2 by air. Road mileage totalled slightly less than 3,700 mi. 



The inventory results reflect a bias toward occurrences of endangered 

 species and large areas of contiguous undisturbed lands. Perhaps the 

 chief fault of the study is that is was too broad — that more attention 

 should have been focused on specific areas or types of areas. A glaring 

 shortcoming is that certain areas are biologically significant, but as 

 a result of constraints of this contract, may have unintentionally been 

 excluded. Therefore, we wish to point out the following areas in need 

 of further investigation: 



(1) Cape Fear River Swamp of Brunswick, Columbus, and Pender 

 Counties 



(2) Roan Island 



(3) Larkins Cypress Grove, Bladen and Pender Counties (This 

 remarkable cypress stand of old-growth trees was found 

 late in the study. It is possibly the oldest extant timber 

 stand in Pender County. Buttresses of trees are sometimes 

 15-20 ft thick,- DBH, or diameter above the buttress enlargement 

 is usually 3 ft, but on some individuals reaches 6-8 ft.) 



(4) Pender lea Game Lands 



(5) Mooretown Ponds, an area of sinkholes north of Northeast 

 Cape Fear River 



(6) Holly Shelter savannas 



(7) Saltmarshes 



(8) Angola Bay, Pender and Duplin Counties 



(9) Maple Hill area 



