60 



11. Ovnership type by percent area: Public 100^ 



12. Number of owners: one 



13- Name of owner and supervisor: USDA, Forest Service 



Mr. Lynn Young, District Ranger 



Croatan National Forest 



i+35 Thurman Rd. 



New Bern, N.C. 2856O 



919/638-5628 



lU. Use of natural area: Current uses are low-intensity ones. This is 



managed timberland, but the most recent harvest was a select cut over 

 10 years ago. The tract is prescribed burned every 2-3 years. Other 

 low-intensity uses are hunting (deer and quail), bird-watching and 

 nature study (wildflowers ) . 



15. Use of surrounding land: 



a) Agricultural land (pine plantations) 



b) Wildland - 80^ 



16. Management Problem Description Impact 



20f» 



Need for fire management 



significant 

 feature 



Effort 



continual 



management 



essential 



IT. 

 18. 



19. 

 20. 

 21. 



Preservation status: Public land, not recognized as a natural area. 



Regulatory protections in force: We know of only one - the Endangered 

 Species Act, but we do not know the exact acreage of the tract to which 

 it applies. There are several red-cocka.ded woodpecker (federally 

 endangered species) cavity trees in the eastern third of the tract, 

 so at least some of the tract is critical habitat for that species. 



Attitude of owner or custodian toward preservation: See section 21. 



Threats: See section 21. 



Management and preservation recommenda'cion: The preservation of this 

 area is related to: 



a) maintenance of present vegetational structure, which includes 

 a sparse stand of canopy height pines, a sparse growth of understory 

 and shrub layer vegetation, and a thick graminoid ground cover. This 

 structure would be altered drastically by clearcutting (some select 

 cutting may not be harmful, but see c. below), and/or absence of regular 

 ground fires. Ground fires greatly increase the height and density of 

 the Aristida stricta cover. Regular ground fires also decrease the 

 probability of a crown fire which would alter the structure of the 

 area. Maintenance of the distinctive plant structure is essential for 

 red-cockaded woodpeckers (federally endangered) and Bachman's sparrows 

 (threatened in North Carolina). 



