■ mmSk. 



i ^\ beautiful river that runs for 50 miles 

 ~and defines three coastal counties would 

 hardly seem able to keep itself a secret. 



Yet, during decades of explosive 

 development all around, the White Oak River 

 has made its way to the sea in largely 

 undiscovered splendor. 



"It really is an overlooked little jewel," 

 says FrankTursi, the N.C. Coastal Federation's 

 Cape Lookout Coastkeeper. "Its anonymity is 

 its savior, in that the White Oak is not 

 assaulted like so many of our rivers have been." 



Those who thank the White Oak for their 

 livelihoods or their leisure praise it as 

 uncommonly pretty and productive. Until \ 

 recently, though, little was heard.about the' " " 

 driver away from its banks that, for long 

 stretches, appear untouched and timeless. \ * 

 ■ . : ■ Oyershadowed by two of North 

 Carolina's mightiest waterways — the Cape j 

 • Fear and the Neuse — the White Oak 

 comprises one of the state's smallest river 

 basins. As a slender blackwater stream, it 

 dividesjones and Onslow counties in its upper 

 reaches. Bound for Bogue Inlet, it widens 

 dramatically as it mingles with the saltwater 

 tide near Stella, marking the Onslow-Carteret 

 county line from there to the Atlantic. The 

 river and its streams tally 1 32 miles of running 

 water, and 1 2,050 estuarine acres. 



The lower river is legend for its oysters, 

 plump and plentiful, and abundant clams. 

 On Hunters Creek, a 200-year-old sawdust 

 pile testifies to the river's logging legacy. 

 Limestone marl, evidence of an ancient 

 ocean, is mined near Belgrade, and White 

 Oak water has made several old quarries into 

 fishing lakes. 



Although its high banks in places belie it, 

 the river is contained in the coastal plain. Its 

 varied shoreline is dressed in palmettos, pines, 

 freshwater and saltwater marshes, rare tidal 

 red cedar forests and centuries-old cypress 

 trees. A day on the river might bring a glimpse 

 of an anhinga drying its wings, a diamondback 

 terrapin or other seldom-seen species. 



LOOKED JEWEL 



BYJULIE ANN POWERS 

 PHOTOS BY 

 SCOTT D.TAYLOR 



THE SECRET IS OUT 



With much to offer a world clamoring 

 for waterfront property, word is getting out 

 about the White Oak. 



"As these other places start to develop, 

 attention turns more and more to what once 

 were out-of the-way places," says Tursi. 'The 

 White Oak is certainly a target and needs to 

 be protected." 



In its basin, country churches still stand 

 sentinel over a rural landscape. Small farms 

 offer eggs for sale with hand-lettered 

 placards beside quiet roads. But new houses 

 are appearing among the pretty pastures 

 where goats graze, and slick signs announce 

 future subdivisions. Though Swansboro 

 remains a small town at 1 ,426 people, the 

 river's only major population center grew by 

 46 percent between 1980 and 2000. 



The recent widening of N.C. 24 around 

 Swansboro is the biggest portent to possible 

 change. The highway itself affects the river's 

 flow and water quality. It also could usher 

 more people and pavement to many 

 undeveloped acres, should public sewer and 

 water follow. 



"If not done carefully, it could be bad 

 news," says Tursi. 



What presently makes the White Oak 

 remarkable for so much of its length also 

 ensures some preservation. Public wood- 

 lands cover a lot of its basin. Its headwaters 

 rise from a pocosin in the hush of Hofmann 

 Forest, a 78,000-acre demonstration forest 

 used by North Carolina State University's 

 College of Natural Resources. Croatan 

 National Forest occupies 1 61 ,000 acres to 

 its east. A state duck impoundment and 770 

 acres between Swansboro and Stella, 

 purchased by the Coastal Federation, also 

 preclude development. 



Though surrounded by trees, an oak is 

 not the river's namesake. According to old 

 maps, White Oak evolved from "Weetock" 

 or "Weitock," the name of an Indian tribe. 



Using the same propulsion as early 

 Native Americans, canoeists and kayakers 

 can paddle canopied streams, mysterious 

 swamps and marshes or vast saltwater 

 expanses — all within a relatively few miles. 



Whatever waters they favor, paddlers agree 

 the White Oak is enchanting. 



"It's one of the prettiest rivers I've 

 canoed," says Elmer Eddy, who has canoed 

 many rivers in his 83 years. "It's a unique and 

 different river." 



Thanks to Eddy, known as the "White 

 Oak River Trash Man," the river is unblem- 

 ished by beer cans and other rubbish. Eddy 

 led the Stewards of the White Oak River Basin 

 in a two-year effort to clean up White Oak 

 waters, and pronounced the river litter-free 

 last fall. 



Since he moved to Swansboro from 

 Raleigh three years ago, Eddy has paddled 

 every navigable mile of the White Oak and the 

 streams that feed it. His expedition to the 

 headwaters last year found enormous cypress 

 trees, up to 25 feet around, that have thrived 

 in apparent secrecy for centuries. 



"They are a sight to behold," he says. 

 "One of them, you can stand right inside it." 



Any day on his beloved White Oak 

 brings wonders, he says — deer grazing, 

 herons wading, alligators slumbering. He 

 recalls a magnificent cypress, made more so 

 by the birds adorning it. 



'The whole tree was covered with white 

 egrets. It was a beautiful sight," he says. 



POLLUTION PRESSURES 



Despite its wilderness ambience, built-in 

 protections and a growing army of defenders 

 on several fronts, the river has long been 

 besieged by a common plague of a growing 

 population. Storm water runoff contamina- 

 tion has prompted the state to close 3,300 of 

 the 8,500 acres of the White Oak's 

 shellfishing waters. 



The culprit is a high level of bacteria 

 found in human and animal waste. Nature 

 has its own devices to manage "fecal 

 coliform." Vegetation and marshes slow the 

 flow of rainwater so sunlight and saltwater 

 can kill the organisms. But cleared and paved 

 surfaces send too much fresh water into 

 estuaries too fast, making for more bacteria 

 in the water than is safe for shellfish 

 consumption. 



Continued 



COASTWATCH 13 



