DuPont State Recreational Forest Expands

Posted by Jeff on Jul 24, 2020 @ 6:38 am in Conservation | 0 comments | Last modified: July 23, 2020

There is now more land in DuPont State Recreational Forest (DSRF), including clear trout streams, rare wildflowers and important wildlife habitat. On July 1, 2020 Conserving Carolina conveyed 315 acres to the N.C. Forest Service, south of the main body of DuPont. This is the second phase of the Continental Divide Tract—a long-sought conservation priority that provides the “missing link” between DSRF and a vast conservation corridor spanning over 100,000 acres.

Last year, Conserving Carolina added 402 acres to DSRF, in the first phase of the project. Now complete, the Continental Divide Tract includes 717 acres of new public land. The property straddles the Eastern Continental Divide, which separates the waters that flow toward the Atlantic seaboard from those that flow toward the Gulf of Mexico. The Continental Divide Tract protects pristine headwater streams, including tributaries of both the Green River and Reasonover Creek.

The Continental Divide Tract creates a link between DSRF and a vast corridor of conservation land that extends for over 100,000 acres along the North Carolina-South Carolina state line. This includes Jones Gap State Park, Caesar’s Head State Park, Mountain Bridge Wilderness Area, Headwaters State Forest, Greenville Watershed, Jocassee Gorges and Gorges State Park—and, further west, Sumter and Nantahala National Forests. The tract also buffers two large protected summer camps—the 2,600 acre Green River Preserve and the 1400-acre YMCA Camp Greenville.

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