- Title
- Our State
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-
- Date
- August 2007
-
-
- Place
- ["North Carolina, United States"]
-
Our State
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Once a fishing spot for tin Algonquins and a pirates' cove
IOR
В
LAC
К
BEARD. ONE OF OCRACOKE ISLANDS LAST UNDEVELOPED
AREAS RETAINS ITS WILD AND WINDSWEPT BEAUTY. By Molly Harrison
% .1 friend .in, I I walked i»n
CXr.uokc Wand Liu fall.
»c «me upon
а
sign »v had
never seen before, pointing
the wav to Sponger, Point .
i Having visited Ocracokc countless
v limn. I assumed I knew the island «ell.
| but I wav completely astounded and
} a«cd by what we found. Following that
3 ,ign led us through the Springer, Point
5 Nature Preverve and made me rc.iluc
; I hadn't known the idand at all.
J Sponger's Point
к
the essence of all that
| is special aNmt Ocracokc Island.
«
The last maior undeveloped area in
Ocras*oke Village outside of the Cape
I latterat Natioiul Seashore. Springer’s
Point is a 122-acre conservation area
owned by the North Carolina Coastal
Ijnd Trust (NCCI.T). The organi/at
юн
opened 31.4 acres of tlic presets c to the
риМк.
in May 2006.
Into another world
Ihc preserve’s sandy path off Loop
Ko.td leads through grassy lowlands
into a magical mantime forest that
seems to have sprung from the pages
of a fairy talc. Enormous old-growth
live oak trees their sprawling arms
reaching out in the most unusual
formations form a thick canopy
overhead. Tangled vines drip from the
live oaks, some of which arc estimated
to be more than 200 years old. The
forest is thickened with loblolly pines,
sand laurel oak. red Kay. and shrubs
like yaupon and was; myrtle. Ihis is
«hat much of the village area is said
to have looked like centuries ago.
Ihc live oak bark is gilded with
a gray-green lichen that provides
a stunning contrast to the forest’s
predominant dark green and brown
palette. It’s interesting to visit Springer’s
ЛИСЮГ.ЧЮ7
Our .state t<7