The Open Space Institute and the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission announced the permanent protection of the Big Swamp tract—a sprawling 2,519-acre landscape in Robeson County.
Before this deal, the county only had one small 256-acre game tract. Now, the state is adding more than twenty miles of streams and vital wetlands to its public lands system.
Once owned by the Butters Lumber Company for over a century, the land will now open for hiking, birdwatching, seasonal hunting, and fishing. It also sits right next to Camp Island, which was recently returned to the Lumbee Tribe for stewardship.
The project was made possible by more than $1.8 million in grants from Ducks Unlimited, the North Carolina Land and Water Fund, and the Enviva Forest Conservation Fund.
