
DATE: Sunday, November 2, 1997              TAG: 9710290404

SECTION: CAROLINA COAST          PAGE: 6    EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: COVER STORY 

SOURCE: BY JERRY CRONIN, CORRESPONDENT 

                                            LENGTH:  167 lines

NAGS HEAD WOODS IS WORTH EXPLORING MARITIME FOREST SHELTERS FLORA AND FAUNA ALONG COAST

IT'S ALWAYS NICE to tell an environmental story with a happy ending - or in this case a happy beginning. Such is the tale of Nags Head Woods Nature Preserve, part of an expanding conservation area extending from the Town of Nags Head to Kill Devil Hills.

With considerable foresight and effort, the Nature Conservancy, the towns of Nags Head and Kill Devil Hills and the state of North Carolina have grown what started out as a small preserve into a vast collection of properties that are managed to maintain a unique ecosystem.

The future is looking even brighter with the state's recent acquisition of a nondescript dune called Run Hill.

Unlike majestic Jockey's Ridge, Run Hill sits back off the main road. It's not a launching spot for hang gliders or a high, sweeping panorama for hikers. In fact, it had been slated for use as a source of sand for construction projects.

But its preservation is crucial, for Run Hill stands as a silent sentinel safeguarding the northern end of the complex. Without Run Hill, Nags Head Woods Nature Preserve would be exposed to harsh nor'easters, and scientists could very well be studying its death instead of its life.

Nags Head Woods is classified as a maritime forest - the name scientists give to a woodland area near the ocean. Here, species of plants and animals usually found inland have developed a foothold near the harsh nautical environment.

While humans - vacationers and permanent residents alike - have the means to leave the Outer Banks when nature unleashes her fury, the local flora and fauna are captives of their environment. Which is why they have dug their roots into areas that offer natural protection from the elements.

The Nags Head Woods preserve is sheltered by Jockey's Ridge to the south and Run Hill to the north. Add a ridge on the eastern boundary and you have a bowl-shaped area open to the west. Over the centuries, this bowl has accumulated soil and vegetation and developed into the forest we see today. In fact, Nags Head Woods is among the most diverse in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Scientists who study the effects of wind on the shape of the land are fascinated by the forest and its protecting dunes and ridges.

Karen Havholm, an eolian geologist from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, has been studying the dune complexes on the Outer Banks for several years. About twice a year she leads an expedition of students from the mainland to study the movement of sand.

Havholm believes the system we now see is the result of a great series of ``parabolic'' dunes that moved across this section of the Outer Banks hundreds of years ago. The dunes were fed by sediment from what is now the Roanoke River as it emptied into the ocean through an inlet just north of where Nags Head Woods is now located. One after another, the great crescent-shaped dunes moved across the island.

According to Jeff Smith DeBlieu, director of Nags Head Woods, as each dune advanced, it matured. Its outer tips, containing less sand than the rest of the dune, gradually began to move more slowly and become vegetated. That process continued until the entire dune had become a distended, greatly exaggerated parabola, covered first with grasses, then with other species of plants. Then apparently another great dune would begin to advance, overtaking the one before and repeating the maturation process.

One of Havholm's experiments is dating the age of the dunes. Using a process called thermoluminescence, she figures out the last time particles of sand were exposed to the sun. By taking samples at different depths, she can tell how long the sand has been there.

The preserve is highly complex, made up of many small ecosystems. There are saltwater and freshwater environments, wetland and upland areas. As you walk along the trails you will find dry deciduous forests, swamp forests, freshwater marshes, brackish areas and freshwater ponds.

The islands of the Outer Banks sit on bubbles of fresh water that float atop salt water seeping in from the ocean. In the Nags Head Woods area, the ponds are the upper part of this freshwater aquifer, creating magical places where freshwater wetland species are in close proximity to dry uplands vegetation. These ponds are an important part of the forest ecosystem, providing fresh water for a variety of plants and animals.

Marshes on the sound side are a mixture of fresh and salt water. The sweet water can be found where the wetland areas first come down from the forest. As you get closer to the sound, the salt content goes up until you reach a regular salt marsh.

Another distinction of the preserve is that it sits at the southern end of the range for some Northern species and the northern end of the range for some Southern species.

Visitors can see both Northern bayberry and Southern wax myrtle while hiking through a network of more than five miles of maintained trails. This is one of the few places in the world where you will see beech trees, a Northern species, festooned with Spanish moss, normally associated with steamy Southern nights.

The green anole, a small lizard living at the northern end of its range, makes its home here. So do river otters and canebreak rattlers. There have been sightings of a bobcat and evidence, including tracks on Jockey's Ridge, that bears have lumbered through from time to time.

As you walk through the paths of the preserve, you sometimes run across the remains of a homestead. Homes were typically built on the side facing the Albemarle Sound, which was considered the ``front'' of the island, as no one in his right mind would want to live exposed to the elements on the Atlantic side.

About a dozen families lived in the area that now makes up the preserve. They practiced selective logging - a smart person does not cut down the windbreak or what's holding the soil in place. As a result you can see some pretty old trees along some of the trails.

The maritime forests are an example of a new model of environmental cooperation taking hold throughout the country. Conservation groups, such as the Nature Conservancy, are joining with private citizens and governments to combine resources and preserve natural areas. The joint efforts are seen as good for the environment and good for local economies. Preserving natural open space can improve the quality of life and make a community more attractive to visitors and potential residents.

In the case of Nags Head Woods, the Nature Conservancy started the ball rolling with the purchase of the first property in 1978. During the next decade, the area was expanded piecemeal, with the purchase of 50 acres here and 60 acres there until it grew to about 400 acres.

Further expansion occurred in innovative and effective ways. The Town of Nags Head owned an adjacent 300-acre area that it used as a watershed, protecting a huge pond that is part of the local water supply system. Seeing the preserve as a compatible use, it leased the property to the Nature Conservancy, holding on to the development rights in the event a better development-oriented use could be found. This summer, town officials dedicated the property to the state with a permanent conservation easement.

In 1992, the Nature Conservancy and the Town of Nags Head made history by obtaining the first conservation-oriented land transfer from the Resolution Trust Company. The RTC was set up to dispose of properties of savings and loan institutions shut down by the federal government during the S&L scandal. Slated for development were 389 acres, but when the cash ran out and the bank could not provide additional financing, the property was taken over by the RTC. The bridges and pathways that visitors enjoy today had been installed for the housing development that never happened.

As the towns and the state got further involved, more properties were added. Kill Devil Hills contributed 100 acres in 1997 and the state's purchase of 300 acres of Run Hill added significantly, bringing the total acreage up to around 1,100. When you add in the 400 protected acres that make up Jockey's Ridge, you have a pretty sizeable complex.

There are two other state-maintained forests on the Outer Banks - Kitty Hawk Woods and Buxton Woods. DeBlieu's dream is to combine them into one conservation complex and change The Friends of Nags Head Woods to The Friends of Maritime Forest. MEMO: The Nags Head Woods area is a community project. A benefit auction

and 5-K run are held each May. Last year's auction at the Sanderling

netted $40,000 to support the preserve. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos by DREW WILSON

Volunteer David Leake of Southern Shores points out rare bird

species that are among the animals protected by the Nags Head Woods

Preserve.

Graphic

HOW TO SEE IT

What: Nags Head Woods is a rare maritime forest with 5 miles of

self-guided hiking trails. The preserve is an oasis on the Outer

Banks, with a mature hardwood forest, ancient dunes, freshwater

ponds and a marsh. Numerous bird species, including songbirds and

wading birds inhabit the preserve, as well as river otters, reptiles