LEFT TO RIGHT: A ferry heads for Ocracoke Island where tourists and residents enjoy the natural attraction of Springer's Point. The gravesite of Samuel Jones, and his horse I key D., 

 underway to remove the invasive vine to improve the health of the maritime forest. Philip Howard pauses at Teach's Hole, Blackbeard's favorite anchorage. An unspoiled soundside 



Until recently, the privately owned parcel 

 seemed out of reach to conservation groups and 

 islanders alike, says Camilla Herlevich, NCCLT 

 executive director. 



But thanks to a $2 million grant from the 

 North Carolina Clean Water Management Trust 

 Fund, NCCLT purchased Springer's Point about 

 two years ago. Since then, land trust officials and 

 members of the Ocracoke Preservation Society 

 have worked to raise additional money for 

 management expenses, education materials and a 

 stewardship endowment program. 



"Springer's Point is one of our oldest files, 

 dating back more than a decade when Walker 

 Golder of Audubon NC first took me there to 

 observe the ibis rookery along the Old Slough 

 marsh," says Herlevich. "Everyone — from 

 Auduboners to Ocracokers to kayakers — loves 

 this special place because of its rich natural 

 history and its ties to our colorful past." 



SMALL TRACT, BIG BENEFITS 



With just 31 acres, the Springer's Point 

 Nature Preserve may seem small compared 

 to other NCCLT acquisitions that encompass 

 thousands of acres, acknowledges Leigh Leidy, 

 who heads the land trust's Kill Devil Hills office. 



But, its sheer biodiversity underscores 

 the preserve's ecological importance, she says. 

 For starters, biologists from the state's natural 

 heritage program deemed Springer's Point "a 

 natural heritage area of statewide significance." 



And for good reason. The tract boasts two 

 types of maritime forests: an evergreen maritime 



forest and a tidal red cedar forest. 



The red cedar forest, which runs along the 

 brackish marsh of Old Slough, is rare in coastal 

 North Carolina, occurring in only seven locations, 

 Leidy explains. 



"As you walk into the canopy of large trees 

 on the southwestern comer of the preserve, you 

 enter an evergreen maritime forest," she adds. 

 This one is dominated by centuries-old live oaks 

 and loblolly pines. Its understory includes red 

 bay, yaupon holly and wax myrtle. 



'To have two types of maritime forests so 

 close together is rare indeed," Leidy says. 



The protection of these stable maritime 

 forests, which have helped anchor the barrier 

 island's shifting sands for centuries, has 

 ecological benefits beyond village boundaries. 

 Springer's Point forests are adjacent to the 

 maritime shrub forest that hugs the narrow finger 

 of Ocracoke Island jutting north to Hatteras. 

 Except for individual properties within the historic 

 village, the island is owned by the U.S. National 

 Park Service and is managed as part of the Cape 

 Hatteras National Seashore. 



The biodiversity of Springer's Point also 

 includes a salt marsh along the margins of Old 

 Slough and the Pamlico Sound. A variety of 

 grasses range from most salt-tolerant cordgrasses 

 in the tidal areas to more diverse grass species in 

 the higher, drier or freshwater areas. 



Together, the wet and dry grass areas, 

 along with the forests, provide habitat for myriad 

 aquatic and land animals. White ibis nest in 

 colonies with herons and egrets in shrubs, small 



trees and on the ground. Migratory and native 

 songbirds nest in ancient trees. 



The diamondback terrapin, the only strictly 

 brackish water turtle in North Carolina, feasts 

 on abundant snails, mollusks, worms and crabs 

 found in the marshes. The diamondback is 

 considered a species of special concern in North 

 Carolina, but has shown some signs of increasing 

 numbers in recent years. 



Taken as a whole, the 31 acres pack quite a 

 punch as a hard-working coastal ecosystem that 

 contributes to the health of the Pamlico Sound, 

 which wraps its western boundary, Leidy says. 



FACT AND FICTION 



The natural resources of Springer's Point 

 are matched by cultural and historic values. 



"Springer's Point is an important piece 

 of land from a naturalist's point of view and a 

 fascinating part of island history," says Philip 

 Howard, owner of The Village Craftsmen. He can 

 trace his family history to an ancestor who owned 

 all of Ocracoke Island, and still another who 

 owned Springer's Point — each for short periods 

 of time. 



Howard is a natural storyteller who shares 

 island history with visitors at the Ocracoke 

 Preservation Society Museum and during walking 

 tours. "Most don't know the early history of 

 Springer's Point. A navigable, deep-water channel 

 passes close to the southwest shoreline. It was 

 in this area that some of the first permanent 

 residents built homes," he says. 



As early as 1 71 5 a colonial assembly 



28 Coastwatch I Early Summer 2006 



www. ncseagrant. org 



