|
|
RALEIGH, N.C. (Nov. 19, 2004) – Through a joint effort between the Piedmont Land Conservancy (PLC) and the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, Surry County gained its first public game land this fall, the Mitchell River Game Land. The 1,716-acre game land is located in western Surry County, incorporating a portion of Little Mountain and more than nine miles of Mitchell River tributaries, including Mill Creek. The conservation of this parcel will provide important wildlife habitat, recreation, scenic vistas and water quality protection for the headwater tributaries of the Mitchell River, a state-designated Outstanding Resource Water. The Commission will manage the property for wildlife, water quality and public access. The Mitchell River Game Land is currently open for hunting and fishing as a three-day-per-week game land, with hunting allowed on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays of the applicable seasons. Sportsmen can find more information in the 2004-2005 editions of the Hunting and Fishing Maps for North Carolina Game Lands and the Inland Fishing, Hunting and Trapping Regulations Digest or by calling (919) 662-4323. The site was identified as a high priority for protection in the Mitchell River Watershed Protection Plan, developed in 2000, and became available in October 2003. In partnership with the Mitchell River Coalition, PLC acquired the property in January 2004. PLC used two state funding sources to make the $2.7 million purchase — the Clean Water Management Trust Fund and the Ecosystem Enhancement Program. The transfer to the Commission occurred this month. “This project demonstrates how public private partnerships pay off for all of our citizens. In this case, the Mitchell River Coalition, PLC, EEP, CWMTF and the Commission have worked together and the payoff to our citizens is cleaner water, investment in our economy through both highway improvements and public recreation and protection of a special place to be enjoyed by our communities today and future generations,” said Charles Brummitt, the PLC’s executive director. The Piedmont Land Conservancy is a grassroots land trust dedicated to protecting natural and scenic lands, farms, and green spaces to enrich the quality of life for Piedmont communities and future generations. To date, PLC has protected approximately 10,500 acres at 75 locations across its nine-county region of Alamance, Caswell, Forsyth, Guilford, Randolph, Rockingham, Stokes, Surry and Yadkin counties. With the permanent protection of the Mitchell River Game Land property, PLC has helped protect 6,199 acres within the Mitchell River Watershed, approximately 10 percent of the watershed. More information about PLC’s efforts to protect farms, rivers, forests, wildlife habitat, urban greenways and parks and how the public can support these conservation efforts is on the Web at www.piedmontland.org, or by calling (336) 691-0088.
|