The State We ’re In
Are We Re- Losing
The Lost Colony?
real Britain lost it once, but we
could lx- losing it again.
On Roanoke Island — where
that early group of British settlers van¬
ished into the wilderness 400 years ago —
another disappearing act is unfolding
before preservationists' horrified eyes.
Since November, an Austrian de¬
velopment company called RIAL Corpo¬
ration has been bulldozing the possible
Lost Colony landing site to make room
for a 1 16-lot subdivision. At this writing,
the Subc ommittee on Interior Appropri¬
ations in the U.S. House of Representa¬
tives has approved an allowance of $2.5
million for the National Park Service to
purchase the property.
But that falls far short of the SI 5 million
the owners say it is worth, and the- first
house is scheduled to be constructed this
month.
"Our coastal area is under fire." says
Sybil Basnight, executive director of
Friends of Roanoke Island, a 250-mem¬
ber group that has been spearheading
preservation efforts since 1988. *‘I person¬
ally feel they (the developers) have
reached their limit."
The 125 acres in question contain not
only the reported Ixisl ( xjlony site, but an
Algonkian Indian burial site, the remains
of military encampments from Federal-
troop occupation in 1862, and the site of
the nation's first Freedman’s Colony, an
early settlement for freed slaves.
The property also is significant for envi¬
ronmental reasons. The rich maritime
forest contains the primary recharge sw
tent for the aquifer that furnishes most of
the area's drinking water. < a ides say devel¬
opment would not only compromise that,
but lead to more storm-water runoff and
septic-tank seepage, which already is
responsible for the* contamination and
closing of shellfish beds around the is¬
land. In the last 20 years, the water table
has dropped 20 feet.
It was the environmental significance
that the Friends of Roanoke emphasized
hist year when it urged Congress to pur¬
chase the land and make it part of the
adjacent Fort Raleigh National Historic
Site. With the support of Representative
Walter Jones of I’itt County and Senator
Terry Sanford, the bill passed, and in late
November President Bush signed it into
law. By then, however, it was too late in the
legislative session to request funding.
Fat her this summer. Jones requested
that $10 million lx- appropriated lor the
land's purchase. Unfortunately, the sub¬
committee didn’t see things his way.
The RIAL Corporation has owned the
property since 1980 but leased it for many
years to a popular campground. After the
lease expired three years ago, the compa¬
ny tried unsuccessfully to sell the proper¬
ty. Then last summer, it announced plans
for I leritage Point, the promised sulxlivi-
sion with 1 1 6 boat docks. The Date Coun¬
ty planning board and county commis¬
sioners gave their approval.
After ( ongress declared the area a histor¬
ic site last year, owners ol the surrounding
210 acres agreed to negotiate with the Park
Service. RIAL however, began bulldozing.
“I'm nervous," Basnight says. "RIAL
tract may be too far gone. They're not
willing to hold up on development until
the money comes through."
By that time, a significant piece of his¬
tory may have been buried under a web
of sidewalks and carports.
The year-old wart hogt imped their new home.
boro. N.C. 27203.
Welcome Home,
Wart Hogs
Now-, there’s another reason to visit
the North Carolina Zoo in Ashcboro this
summer. The zoo has acquired the only
two African wart hogs on exhibit on the
East Coast.
“We think it's quite significant," saw
Russ Williams, executive director of the
North Carolina Zoological Society, the
private non-profit organization that rais¬
es money for the zoo.
The society is working to raise
$200,000 to build the wart hogs their
own habitat, with an outdoor exhibit
area and indoor space for the animals
to go at night. Until that happens, the
wart hogs are sharing space in the home
of the colobus monkeys in the zoo's
African Pavilion. It shouldn't take long
for diem to outgrow that space, howev¬
er. After Lilxir Day. they will
be taken off exhibit until
their new home is finished.
The long-haired animals,
a male and a female, were
born about a year ago at
the Los Angeles Z<x>. They
don't actually have the dis¬
tinguishing wat Lsyel but will
develop diem as they age.
The Species is rare* in this
country because of a 50-year
ban on importing them.
Imported hogs have the
potential to spread swine flu
to domestic hogs. Only -1 1 wart hogs can
lx* found at 12 zoos across America.
Anyone wishing to make a donation to
die wart hogs' home can send a check or
money order to the North Carolina Zoo¬
logical Society, Route 4, Box ZOO. Ashe-
Thc zoo's summer hours are 9 a.m. to
5 p.tn. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
weekends and holidays. Admission is $5
for adults and $3 for children 2 to 12. For
more information, call (919) 879-7000.
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