NEWLY CONSERVED LAND IN DALLAS, NC WILL PROTECT WATER QUALITY, PROVIDE HABITAT FOR RARE NATIVE TREE

Hoyle Creek, located on Stone Preserve in Gaston County, NC.

Gaston County, N.C. – Catawba Lands Conservancy has just permanently protected 6 acres in Dallas, N.C., increasing protections for two streams which flow into the South Fork Catawba River: Hoyle and Little Hoyle Creeks. Partial funding for the purchase came from the Catawba Wateree Water Management Group.

The newly protected property, known as the Stone Preserve, expands the existing Jack Moore Preserve to more than 100 acres of conserved habitat for wildlife. The property is also a state-designated Natural Heritage site.

“Adding acres to existing protected areas is one of the criteria we use when conserving a property. We know that building wildlife corridors and protections along waterways are both critical to protecting the ecosystem as a whole,” says Amanda Byrum, Land Conservation Director for the Conservancy.

The property also provides habitat for the rare bigleaf magnolia tree. The bigleaf magnolia has the largest simple leaf of any native tree in North America, growing up to 3 feet in length and a foot wide. While native to the southeastern U.S., it is found rarely in the wild. The Greater Charlotte region is one of the few places where stands of the tree are found.

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