WILMINGTON, N.C. (AP) — Some 5,400 acres of land along Salters Creek in eastern North Carolina is now protected from development because conservationists and the military worked together.
The North Carolina Coastal Land Trust said in a news release Monday that it bought the Carteret County land from The Trustees of the Sailors' Snug Harbor in New York City, a nonprofit corporation.
Partners in the purchase include the state Wildlife Resources Commission, the U.S. Marine Corps and eight other organizations and funders.
The Department of Defense paid for a restrictive easement for the property. The easement prohibits incompatible development that could compromise the safety of training flights over the property.
The tract features estuarine marsh, pocosin and longleaf pine forest, and it provides habitat for 23 rare plant and animal species.