Between July and December 2020, TLC’s Conservation team has worked diligently to protect an additional…
Thanks to a unique partnership with the National Guard, Triangle Land Conservancy (TLC) has permanently protected a 50-acre forest in the Bahama area of Durham County.
The property, known as Mangum Forest, is directly adjacent to the Camp Butner Training Center, making it eligible for the Army Compatible Use Buffer (ACUB) program. ACUB is a strategic military initiative to create buffer zones around military bases and ranges to reduce encroachment from residential and commercial development. Using ACUB funding, the military can work with other government agencies and private partners to acquire and protect land within a mile of a military installation.
In addition to lowering development impacts such as light and noise pollution and security concerns, the buffer land also helps reduce risks of flooding, drought, and other environmental threats to military infrastructure. For conservation organizations like TLC, ACUB funding is a tool and resource for protecting land with important conservation values — a win-win for all involved.
Oak, hickory, and other hardwood species dominate the canopy of Mangum Forest, a great example of a common forest type you would find across the Piedmont. The land also features over 2,500 feet of streams that flow directly into nearby Lake Michie, the source for Durham's drinking water, and eventually into Falls Lake, Raleigh's drinking water source. Protection of these smaller streams and the land around them provide an important foundation for the entire watershed by reducing pollution runoff into source waters. The Raleigh Watershed Protection Program contributed stewardship funds to support the long-term management of this property.
National Guard funding has now contributed to five TLC conservation projects around Camp Butner, which including Mangum Forest, totals to 403 acres across the buffer. Among these projects is Rattlesnake Range, a private TLC-protected property that is part of a larger 645-acre contiguous conservation buffer connecting to land under conservation easement with Durham County and owned by Tar River Land Conservancy in Granville County. Connected conservation land like this create safe corridors for wildlife to migrate, breed, and find resources. At Rattlesnake Range, rare to the Piedmont timber rattlesnakes and families of black bears are often spotted on the protected land.
Mangum Forest and Rattlesnake Range are both conservation victories made possible through TLC's partnership with the National Guard. Opportunities for collaboration like these are vital in fueling local land conservation, and TLC looks forward to continuing to partner across local, state, and federal levels to make a more vibrant Triangle for all.
