Feb. 10, the officers who conducted the 

 public hearing prepared to wholeheart- 

 edly recommend approval. But at the 

 meeting, Steve Tedder, chief of the 

 Division of Environmental Manage- 

 ment's Water Quality Section, advised 

 the commissioners to table the issue. 

 Tedder says the data collected in the 

 ORW research has not been proven 

 consistent with new information 

 gathered by the division in a basinwide 

 study of the Cape Fear watershed. The 

 issue may resurface at the commission's 

 regular meeting in April. 



their names are Maybelle," says Claire. 



In the evenings, the two watch the 

 aerial antics of leatherwinged bats div- 

 ing for mosquitoes. They've observed 

 a treeful of transient cormorants and 

 even spied an anhinga. They also 

 eavesdrop on the low conversations 

 of great homed owls. 



"They discuss things all night 

 long," says Claire. "They've created 

 new policies, I believe." 



Maybe the birds are contemplating 

 their future in this idyllic setting. Claire 

 knows that she and Red are lucky to be 



one of the few permanent residents of 

 the Black's banks. And they hope the 

 river can withstand the relentless pres- 

 sures it will surely face. 



"It would be such a shame for it to 

 be polluted," she says. "But we're prac- 

 tical. It's only a matter of time." 



NOTE: It's been more than four years, 

 and the Black River is still awaiting its 

 coronation as outstanding resource 

 waters. The day before the proposal 

 was to be presented to the Environmen- 

 tal Management Commission for a vote 



Cypresses 



Robert Francis 

 (1901-1987) 



noon they 

 talk of evening and 

 at evening 

 Of night, but what 

 they say at night 

 Is a dark secret. 



Somebody long ago 

 called them the trees 

 of Death and 

 they have never 

 forgotten. 

 The name 

 enchants them. 



Always an 

 attitude of 

 solitude to point 

 the paradox 

 of standing 

 Alone together. 



How many years 

 they have been 

 teaching birds 

 In little schools, 

 by little skills, 

 How to be 

 shadows. 



COASTWATCH 9 



