NAGS HEAD WOODS



Nags Head Woods

Ecological Preserve

Fiscal 2002 Annual Report

For the Town of Nags Head

May 1, 2002

[pic]

Nags Head Woods Ecological Preserve

Annual Report

May 1, 2002

( overview

Since February 2001, The Nature Conservancy has been undergoing a major international reorganization that is changing the way we pursue our mission around the world. Some of these changes will be simple. Some will be profound. Some will have no impact locally. Some will change our work at Nags Head Woods in significant ways. But as these organization-wide changes begin to be implemented in North Carolina, I am convinced – both as a Conservancy employee and as a citizen who cares deeply for the Outer Banks, Nags Head Woods and our community – that ultimately the changes will be beneficial and that The Nature Conservancy's ability to conserve Nags Head Woods and other important natural systems across the barrier island landscape will be stronger and more effective than ever.

In the meantime, we continue to pursue our conservation mission at Nags Head Woods. Over the past year we have made progress on a number of fronts – including developing a fire response plan for the forest and bordering residential areas; designing new interpretive signs along several trails; continuing our efforts to eliminate the invasive weed Phragmites australis from an important wetland area; managing the deer population; and working with the Town to purchase an additional 50 acres in the woods and to place that land in conservation management.

Due partly to our reorganization – and partly to the fact that construction bids came in much higher than expected – the Conservancy has decided to refrain at this time from renovating the former Outer Banks Medical Center for use as a Conservation Learning Center. The Nags Head Woods Advisory Board and Conservancy staff are continuing to evaluate the future of our programs at Nags Head Woods. Until that process is complete, we wish to retain our lease on the facility. We recognize the importance of involving our local partners in this evaluation process. We also realize that the Town would like to see the issue resolved as expeditiously as possible. With this report I extend a formal invitation to you to join us in a dialogue about our work in this community.

tnc reorganization – In 1995, the Conservancy's late president John Sawhill issued a challenge to the organization to devise a new strategic vision to ensure that we were working as effectively as possible to conserve the Earth's biological diversity. Some of the best minds in the Conservancy, including North Carolina Director of Science and Stewardship Sam Pearsall, worked together for more than a year to evaluate the state of biodiversity conservation around the world and the Conservancy's effectiveness in pursuing its mission. Out of that process a new approach to conservation gradually emerged that came to be known as Conservation by Design.

This new approach, Conservation by Design, entails systematically identifying regions, landscapes and ecosystems that contain the full range of the Earth's natural diversity and then working at the most effective scale possible, and with the highest leverage tools, to achieve tangible, lasting and measurable conservation results.

In North Carolina this new approach has required us to conduct extensive evaluations and design comprehensive conservation plans for each of the state's three ecoregions – the Southern Blue Ridge Mountains, the Piedmont and the Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain. As part of our planning process, we used data from scientific inventories to map key landscapes[1] within each ecoregion, to identify the paramount threats to natural systems and processes within each landscape and to begin the hard work of developing and implementing high-leverage strategies to eliminate or reduce those threats. Similar processes were begun in all 50 states as well as the 28 foreign countries where the Conservancy now works. The priorities identified in these Ecoregional Plans are the priorities that will drive The Nature Conservancy around the world.

In addition, we evaluated how well we have been achieving our conservation goals – that is, whether we were actually focusing on the most important priorities identified in our Ecoregional Plans – and, beyond that, whether we were taking the necessary steps to abate threats in effective, measurable ways. The results were not entirely encouraging.

In North Carolina, for instance, 57 high-priority landscapes were identified that should receive our focused attention. Yet we found that we were actively pursuing conservation strategies in only 17 of those landscapes. In only one landscape had we put in place a monitoring program to determine whether we were succeeding in our efforts. Findings were similar throughout the organization; if anything, because the North Carolina Chapter is widely regarded as one of the Conservancy's best, the results may have been more discouraging elsewhere.

|North Carolina Ecoregional Conservation |

| |Southern Blue Ridge |Piedmont |Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain |

|Number of landscapes in | | | |

|Ecoregional Plan |27 |15 |15 |

|Number of landscapes where TNC is | | | |

|active |5 |2 |10 |

|Number of landscapes with a | | | |

|Conservation Plan |1 |2 |8 |

|Number of landscapes with a | | | |

|monitoring program |0 |0 |1 |

Faced with such findings, which have been emerging over the past 12 months from a series of internal reviews, the Conservancy chose to restructure virtually every aspect of its operation: administration, finance, marketing, human resources, science, legal affairs, communications, external relations and conservation programs. The reorganization is ongoing and will not be completed until 2003. Its purpose is to assure that we do not squander our resources but rather focus them on the highest priority conservation targets using the most effective strategies.

For Nags Head Woods this will mean scaling back some programs in order to redirect resources to other projects in the state. We will continue our day-to-day stewardship of the forest and will meet all our management obligations. However, at least for the time being we will reduce our community outreach program and eliminate our formal conservation education program.

While this is certainly a reduction in services, it is also a "regrouping." We are reducing our commitment neither to Nags Head Woods nor to the Outer Banks. Our commitment is as strong and deep as ever. But given the urgent conservation needs facing the Conservancy at a global scale, it is necessary that we rethink the way we work locally. We are now gathering our resources, reorganizing our forces, developing new plans – regrouping to tackle conservation issues not only at Nags Head Woods but, in the future, across the entire Outer Banks/Albemarle-Pamlico Landscape.

As we do this, we are calling on those who love Nags Head Woods, those who have worked so hard to conserve the forest, those who are proud of the truly original and creative partnership that has been built between the Conservancy and the Towns of Nags Head and Kill Devil Hills – we are calling on you to work with us again to make this regrouping succeed. Good things have been accomplished in the conservation of Nags Head Woods, and good things can continue. Although The Nature Conservancy must, at least for time being, redirect some of its resources to other conservation programs – and focus in the future on the larger landscape in which Nags Head Woods is nestled – that does not mean that the conservation of Nags Head Woods cannot continue. It can – and should.

We are all more powerful than we were 25 years ago when the Nags Head Woods project began. The Conservancy, the Town and the conservation community all have more resources and a deeper understanding of the issues that face us. In addition, the conservation of Nags Head Woods is a value that is now deeply embedded in and supported by the local community. We need our friends and partners in the local community to regard themselves as "empowered" to move forward with this project. This is a model the Conservancy frequently uses in other parts of the world: going into a community, working closely with community leaders to identify and conserve an important natural area and then turning over responsibility for the continued conservation of the site to the newly empowered citizenry. The Conservancy now needs to enact that model at Nags Head Woods. We hope you will work with us and help us as we put that model in place.

conservation learning center – In the summer of 2001 The Nature Conservancy sought construction proposals from several commercial contracting firms for the renovation of the Outer Banks Medical Center. The estimated cost of doing the work was $528,000, significantly higher than we or our architectural firm had anticipated. We then worked with the builder and architect to divide the project into phases, but even after scaling back the project considerably, the first phase came in at $389,000. Although it would have been possible to move forward with the project, we decided not to do so at this time because of uncertainty introduced by the Conservancy's reorganization. Conservancy staff and the Nags Head Woods Advisory Board are continuing to discuss the best direction to take with the Conservation Learning Center. We remain convinced that the fundamental principle that led us to pursue such an approach is sound. A key challenge for conservationists in any area is to capture the imagination and interest of local people in a way that stimulates cooperation and conservation action, and without education about the importance of conservation to local people such cooperation and action seems unlikely.

At this time, however, the Conservancy is unable to undertake this project. The possibility remains that we may work with one or more other organizations to make the Conservation Learning Center a reality. We will keep you informed about our discussions in as timely a manner as possible.

property acquisition – After several years of negotiation with Russell Twiford and Joe Lamb we succeeded in helping the Town purchase the 50-acre Lake Drive Corporation tract in the extreme southern end of Nags Head Woods. This purchase was funded with a $693,000 grant from the North Carolina Clean Water Management Trust Fund.

The Conservancy worked very closely with the Town to secure these funds during a time when many state funds were frozen. We are pleased to have completed the acquisition. Not only is the property the largest remaining piece that needed to be placed in conservation, it also contains several high-quality examples of maritime swamp forest and maritime shrub swamp, rare natural communities that are significant additions to our holdings.

ecocamps – As in the past our summer environmental education program is poised for another strong year. We will offer nine of EcoCamps this summer for children from 5 to 13. These programs continue to be extremely popular.. As in past years, children from Nags Head and Kill Devil Hills will receive discounts on camp fees.

|EcoCamp Attendance, 1996-2002 |

|1996 |1997 |1998 |1999 |2000 |2001 |2002 |

|43 participants |69 participants |76 participants |84 participants |97 participants |104 participants |86 participants |

| | | | | | |(as of April 25) |

Despite the success of the EcoCamps, however, it will not be possible for us to continue them unless another group comes forward to assume responsibility. We will talk with other organizations in the community; we are hopeful that we will be able to work out a way for the camps to continue in another guise and under new sponsorship.

science and stewardship – Stewardship is the actual day-to-day business of monitoring and managing the natural system, and because our primary mission is to preserve the biological diversity of Nags Head Woods, stewardship is central to that task. Preserve steward Aaron McCall has been busy during the past year addressing several key issues, including invasive species control and deer management.

Invasive species – We continued to work to eradicate Phragmites australis (common reed) from a sizable maritime shrub swamp, and this continues to be a high priority. Our experiments in controlling this invasive plant by cutting it so short that it drowns during the wet season continue to show promise. However, due to low rainfall over the past year, some areas we hoped would be flooded have remained relatively dry, meaning that we will not know for certain whether this approach is effective at least for another year.

We will continue to apply this new technique this year and plan to expand it to larger areas, including the swamps on the newly acquired 50-acre tract where Phragmites is present.

We also have apparently eradicated non-native water hyacinth (Eichornia crassipes) from two ponds on the perimeter of the preserve. After removing all visible vegetation during the fall of 2000, we were unable to find any signs of regrowth during the 2001 growing season.

Deer management – We experienced an even more severe drop-off in hunting activity during the 2001 hunting season than we did in 2000. Whereas the drop-off for 2000 was due to several usually effective hunters not spending as much time in the forest due to their personal schedules, this year the drop-off was apparently due to the unseasonably warm weather throughout the fall and early winter.

Hunters reported engaging in only 78 hunts, compared to 124 in 2000 and more than 250 in 1999. Even more disturbing, only two deer were reported killed by hunters, lower than any year since our actively managed program began.

|Nags Head Woods Deer Hunting Summary – 1992-2001 |

|Year |Hunters |Hunters |Hunts |Does |Bucks |Road Kills |Total |

| |Registered |Active |Reported |Killed |Killed |Reported |Killed |

|1992 |15 |Not available |Not available |0 |1 |Not available |1 |

|1993 |31 |Not available |212 |0 |3 |4 |7 |

|1994 |65 |Not available |462 |4 |13 |10 |27 |

|1995 |46 |Not available |220 |6 |10 |15 |341 |

|1996 |43 |Not available |138 |11 |4 |17 |362 |

|1997 |64 |34 |256 |13 |6 |9 |303 |

|1998 |44 |22 |232 |21 |11 |12 |44 |

|1999 |35 |14 |253 |21 |11 |12 |44 |

|2000 |49 |16 |124 |124 |74 |6 |25 |

|2001 |50 |22 |78 |1 |1 |7 |9 |

1 Includes three deer taken illegally by poachers.

2 Includes two deer taken illegally by poachers and two deer that died of unknown causes.

3 Includes one deer that died after being hit by hunter and not reported and one deer that died of unknown causes.

4 Includes the 5 females and 1 male killed during the deer health study in October.

We do not yet know what the impact of this reduction in numbers of animals killed will mean, but we expect that the breeding population will be larger and that, coupled with warmer weather, we may see an upsurge in the deer population. In addition, clearing the site for the new high school in Kill Devil Hills has further reduced the amount of available habitat for deer. Residents living in the vicinity of Nags Head Woods should probably expect to find more deer seeking food and shelter in their yards.

Fire Response Plan – We are continuing to work with the Nags Head and Kill Devil Hills Fire Departments to develop an integrated fire response plan for the Nags Head Woods area. We have developed a digitized topographical map of the forest that shows all significant landmarks, structures, roads, trails, water bodies and other elements that could affect planning for how to respond to a fire. The Towns and the Conservancy are also working with the North Carolina Division of Forest Resources to apply for grant funding to undertake additional planning.

Trails – We continued to make progress on having colorful new interpretive signs installed at the visitor center and along several trails. We hope these will be completed early this summer.

( administration and finance

Staff development – The Nags Head Woods staff continues to be one of the preserve’s strengths. We have placed a high priority on providing training and other growth opportunities for the staff. However, we have had some unanticipated changes in the staff and expect that we will continue to see additional changes as the reorganization unfolds.

During the past year, Janet Owen, our extremely effective development officer, resigned to spend more time with her son. She will be missed for many reasons and will be irreplaceable. In addition, Karen Bachman, our outreach coordinator, resigned after adopting a young baby from Cambodia. Her position has been very ably filled by Terri Fox, who lives with her husband Richard in the Village at Nags Head.

The remaining staff – including education coordinator Rhana Paris, steward Aaron McCall, office administrator Debbie Lewis, and myself – continue to work closely with and receive support from staff in the state office in Durham. There will be other changes in the next six months, but I am unable to discuss these at this time. I will inform you as soon as possible.

Fund-raising – The preserve’s finances are in excellent condition. Although our endowments declined in value with the market downturn last fall, the Conservancy as a whole continues on sound footing.

We are not sure at this time how the Conservancy's reorganization will affect our fund-raising programs on the Outer Banks. There will be some significant changes, and it is likely that we will no longer hold some of our annual fundraisers, such as the Nags Head Woods 5K Run or the Annual Benefit Auction.

I cannot say more about our funding plans at this time. We are currently working with chapter staff to draft income and expense forecasts for the coming year. I will be happy to report back to you in the future after we have a clearer vision of our financial picture for Fiscal Year 2003.

municipal support – The Town of Nags Head allocated $28,000 to The Nature Conservancy to support the conservation program at Nags Head Woods during the current year. We have used a portion of the funds to help pay for new interpretive signs at the visitor center and on the trails. The remaining funds are being used to support the preserve’s traditional conservation programs.

Although it is difficult to place an exact dollar amount on the costs associated with managing the Town-owned portion of the preserve, we estimate these expenses for the current year as follows:

|Reception-interpretation for visitors |$3,000 |

|Literature-interpretive materials for visitors |5,000 |

|Communications and membership services |1,000 |

|Educational programming (including EcoCamps) |12,000 |

|Property monitoring-management |1,000 |

|Trail maintenance |1,000 |

|Science, stewardship and management (including deer management and invasive species control) |10,000 |

|Planning and negotiation for property protection or acquisition |3,000 |

|Administrative costs |3,000 |

|total |$39,000.00 |

All expenses outlined above are associated directly with local operations and do not include those incurred by The Nature Conservancy at the state, regional, and national levels. In addition to those services provided locally, the Conservancy’s other offices have provided support during the past year in the areas of science, property acquisition, fund-raising, GIS mapping, legal affairs, computer information systems and communications.

We thank the Town of Nags Head for its support and look forward to working with you and your staff in the future.

-----------------------

[1] Landscapes represent particularly effective and efficient geographical units for conserving biological diversity. A landscape is a large, complex, relatively intact natural system where biodiversity can respond to human and natural disturbances. Examples in the Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain include the Roanoke River Floodplain and the Outer Banks/Albemarle-Pamlico Estuary System.

-----------------------

The conservation of Nags Head Woods is a value that is now deeply embedded in and supported by the local community

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download