The Land Trust is excited to announce the completion of a 215-acre conservation easement on a special property in Moore County through a unique partnership with Edwards Wood Products. For our first ever conservation partnership with a timber company, The LandTrust worked with Edwards to preserve a property known as “Shadow Lake.” Edwards Wood Products purchased the site from the Mac Baker family a few years ago. As one condition of the sale, they made a promise to the family that they would conserve the site. They were hoping to work with the NC Forest Service to protect the site with a conservation easement, but the easement program they were developing never materialized. The LandTrust has a relationship with Edwards because we have property that adjoins them in other counties, but this is the first time we have partnered with them on a conservation project.
This unique property is located right on the fault line between the Piedmont and Sandhills, and as a result has a diversity of forest and wildlife habitat. The property has nearly 6,000 feet of riverfrontage on the Little River, which is fed by four tributaries also found on the site. As a result, wetlands and water and related wildlife abound here. The site is comprised mainly of mixed hardwood and pine forest, with some really large and tall pine trees, particularly in areas around Shadow Lake. Other conservation lands nearby include the Eastwood Preserve owned by the NC Plant Conservation Program, several conservation easements held by The Sandhills Area Land Trust, as well as several hundred acres of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service safe harbor agreements. Special thanks to the Conservation Trust for N.C. for providing mini-grant funding to help with this important project.
