Cape Fear Resource Conservation & Development (RC&D) serves Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, New Havover and Pender counties in southeastern North Carolina.
Bladen County
Bladen County was formed in 1734 as Bladen Precinct of Bath County, from New Hanover Precinct. It was named for Martin Bladen, a member of the Board of Trade. With the abolition of Bath County in 1739, all of its constituent precincts became counties.
Originally, Bladen was a vast territory with indefinite northern and western boundaries. Reductions in its extent began in 1750, when its western part became Anson County. In 1752 the northern part of Bladen County was combined with parts of Granville County and Johnston County to form Orange County. In 1754 the northern part of what was left of Bladen County became Cumberland County. In 1764 the southern part of what remained of Bladen County was combined with part of New Hanover County to form Brunswick County. In 1787 the western part of the now much smaller county became Robeson County. Finally, in 1808 the southern part of Bladen County was combined with part of Brunswick County to form Columbus County.
The Coastal Plain of southeastern North Carolina is a critical part of one of the most biologically diverse regions along the Atlantic Coast north of Florida. Bladen County is located in the Middle Coastal Plain and bisected by Cape Fear River. The South River and Black River form the eastern border of the county, while Big Swamp forms the western border.
Bladen County is also located in the center of an area of geological uplift known as the Cape Fear Arch. This area, from Carteret County in North Carolina to Georgetown County in South Carolina, and extending inland to the Sandhills Region of both states, is a center of species diversity, with many plants and animals not found elsewhere. Bladen County is central to this area not only geographically but also biologically, as it forms a direct link between the ecosystems of the Sandhills Region and those of the central and outer Coastal Plain. Bladen County hosts a high diversity of natural communities and native plants and animals because of the diversity of terrestrial, wetland, and aquatic systems found within its physiographic areas: the Carolina bay region east of Cape Fear River, the river’s slopes and bluffs in the center of the county from north to south, and the ancient marine terraces west of the river. Because of this diversity of species and habitats there are a large number of rare plants and animals that are native to the county. The majority of rare plants and animals in Bladen County are associated with two habitat groups: the longleaf pine and pocosin ecosystem, and wetlands and flooded areas associated with the county’s rivers, streams, isolated ponds, old impoundments, and seasonally flooded depressions.
The prolific natural diversity of Bladen County is also reflected in the high number of documented natural community types. Eighteen of these communities are associated with the longleaf pine and pocosin ecosystems of the Carolina bay region in the eastern part of the county, and in isolated occurrences elsewhere. Thirteen communities are found along the rivers, lakes, and wetlands of the county, and another five are associated with upland slopes, cliffs, and rock outcrops. In addition to providing critical habitat for rare plants and animals, Bladen County forests along the Cape Fear River, Black River, South River, and larger streams like Colly and Turnbull creeks provide nesting habitat for many species of neotropical migrant birds, and many other bird species use these corridors during migration.
At 875 square miles, Bladen is the fourth largest of North Carolina’s 100 counties. With a population of 32,278 (2000 census), it is the ninth least densely populated of those 100 counties, with about 37 people per square mile. Elizabethtown, the county seat, is the largest community in the county with 3,700 people. State lands in natural condition or managed for forest products cover about 9% of the county, with the N.C. Division of Forest Resources the largest public landholder with about 33,000 acres in Bladen Lakes State Forest. Other large public landholders are N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission with about 8,900 acres (mostly Suggs Mill Pond Game Land), and N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation with about 6,500 acres at Jones Lake State Park, Singletary Lake State Park, Bay Tree Lake State, and White Lake State Lake (nearly 3,600 acres of the state park holdings are lake waters).
Brunswick County was formed in 1764 from parts of Bladen County and New Hanover County. It was named for the colonial port of Brunswick, NC (now in ruins) which was itself named for Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg; at the time held by the British kings of the House of Hanover.
Brunswick County is located in the southeastern corner of North Carolina, with the Atlantic Ocean on its southern border. The county is comprised of a mainland portion and a barrier island portion. Between these are marshes, inlets, islands, and the Intracoastal Waterway. As of 1990, about 74% of the land area was forested. The three major watersheds in Brunswick County are the Waccamaw River watershed, the Cape Fear River watershed, and the Atlantic Ocean watershed. The Waccamaw River system drains the county’s western and southwestern portions. The floodplain of the Waccamaw River is unusually large for a blackwater river, and it contains features that are unusual for a blackwater river. The Cape Fear River forms the county’s northern and eastern borders, and its tributaries drain the northern and southeastern portions of Brunswick County. The Atlantic Ocean watershed is comprised of smaller, tidal river systems in the southern section of the county.
The mainland portion of Brunswick County is characterized by nearly flat topography, with occasional bluffs along the Cape Fear and Waccamaw Rivers. There are extensive elevated peatland areas that support pocosin communities and provide water sources for many of the county’s streams. In the southern portion of the county, relict dune ridge-and-swale systems formed by an ancient ocean shoreline support longleaf pine communities on the ridges and pocosin or swamp communities in the swales. Sandhills have been formed by reshaping of relict dunes, and they support longleaf pine communities. Especially in the southeastern region of the county, limesink ponds have been formed by the localized underground collapse of limestone deposits, creating surface depressions. Carolina bays are found throughout the county. These elliptical depressions encircled by sand ridges support pocosin communities in the interior and longleaf pine communities along the bay rims. Along the Atlantic Coast are found barrier islands, which are dynamic landforms comprised of river sediments that are transported and deposited along the shore.
Brunswick County is a hotspot of species diversity along the U.S. Atlantic Coast. Several species are known only from Brunswick County or the immediate area around the county. The county has some pine savannas that contain more species per acre than do almost all other areas in temperate North America. There are 11 Federally Endangered or Threatened plant and animal species in the county, some associated with the beaches and a number of others associated with the longleaf pine forests and savannas.
The significant natural heritage areas of Brunswick County can be grouped by ecological features from the coast inland. There are several significant islands and marshes associated with the mouth of the Cape Fear River. At the mouths of other rivers and along the Intracoastal Waterway there are coastal edge communities. Several rivers have significant tidal wetland communities. The Waccamaw River has unique sites due to its unusual features. A number of sites found in the county’s interior are comprised of longleaf pine, pocosin, and pond communities.
Columbus County was formed in 1808 from parts of Bladen County and Brunswick County. It was named for Christopher Columbus.
Columbus County is located near the southeastern corner of North Carolina, along the border with South Carolina. At 937 square miles, it is the third largest county in the state. Columbus County is situated within the Coastal Plain Physiographic Province. The elevation within the county ranges from sea level (0 ft.) to 131 feet. The Cape Fear River, at the northeast corner of the county, is tidal in this area, and therefore at sea level. The highest areas of the county occur on the Surry Scarp, an ancient shoreline formed by the Atlantic Ocean when the sea level was higher and extended much farther inland.
The land surface of Columbus County is characterized by broad, flat terraces that are intersected and drained by four rivers and their tributaries: the Waccamaw River, Lumber River, Cape Fear River, and Little Pee Dee River. Like the upland terraces between them, the basins of the river floodplains and tributary swamps and streams tend to be broad and flat. Water flow is slow, even in the rivers. With the exception of the Cape Fear River itself, which is a brownwater river, all of the flowing waters in Columbus County are blackwater rivers or streams, including the tributaries of the Cape Fear River. This name comes from the blackish appearance of the water. Although the water is essentially free of sediment, the darkness comes from tannic acid, a byproduct of organic decomposition in the swamps that feed the rivers.
Of the four rivers, the Waccamaw River system is the largest, as it drains the central two-thirds of the county. The Waccamaw River has its source in Lake Waccamaw, from where it flows southward into South Carolina. The Waccamaw and Lumber river floodplains contain several landform features not found elsewhere in the county, and which are unusual for blackwater rivers. Many of the Significant Natural Heritage Areas in Columbus County are associated with either the Waccamaw or Lumber Rivers. Another notable feature of Columbus County are the Carolina bays. Carolina Bays are elliptical depressions found primarily on upland terraces, oriented along a northwest/southeast axis and are surrounded by a low sand ridge. The cause of their formation is uncertain; however, most appear to be over 100,000 years old. Bays that have not been drained for agriculture usually support swamp or pocosin vegetation. A major exception is Lake Waccamaw, the largest of all water-filled Carolina bays and the third largest lake in North Carolina.
In 2002, 66% of Columbus County was forested (both natural and planted forest). Of the forested land, about 45% is dominated by pine, mostly on upland terraces. Swamps occupy about 35% of forested land with oaks, cypresses, and gum as the dominant trees. Much of the forested land is managed for timber production; wood products are an important part of the local economy. The great majority of the remaining land is cultivated cropland, with tobacco being the primary crop.
New Hanvover County was formed in 1729 as New Hanover Precinct of Bath County, from Craven Precinct. It was named for the House of Hanover, which was then ruling Great Britain.
In 1734 parts of New Hanover Precinct became Bladen Precinct and Onslow Precinct. With the abolition of Bath County in 1739, all of its constituent precincts became counties.
In 1750, the northern part of New Hanover County became Duplin County. In 1764 another part of New Hanover County was combined with part of Bladen County to form Brunswick County. Finally, in 1875 the separation of northern New Hanover County to form Pender County reduced it to its present dimensions. Some of the closing battles of the American Civil War happened in the county with the Second Battle of Fort Fisher (the last major coastal stronghold of the Confederacy) and the Battle of Wilmington. The Wilmington Insurrection of 1898 and it's establishment of Jim Crow laws closes out the 19th-Century with civil rights conditions which would last until the African-American Civil Rights Movement through the second half of the 20th century, three generations later.
Pender County
Pender County was formed in 1875 from New Hanover County. It was named for William Dorsey Pender of Edgecombe County, a Confederate general mortally wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg. It is in the southeastern section of the State and is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean and New Hanover, Brunswick, Columbus, Bladen, Sampson, Duplin and Onslow counties. The present land area is 870.76 square miles and the 1990 population was 28,855. The county commissioners were ordered to hold their first meeting at Rocky Point. The act provided for the establishment of the town of Cowan as the county seat. In 1877 an act was passed repealing that section of the law relative to the town, and another law was enacted whereby the qualified voters were to vote on the question of moving the county seat to South Washington or any other place which the majority of the voters designated. Whatever place was selected, the town should be called Stanford. In 1879 Stanford was changed to Burgaw, which was by that law incorporated. It is the county seat.
Pender County is located in the southeastern Coastal Plain of North Carolina, north of Wilmington along the Atlantic Ocean. With 871 square land miles, Pender County is the 5th largest of North Carolina’s 100 counties. The county is comprised of a mainland portion and a barrier island portion. Between these are marshes, inlets, islands, and the Intracoastal Waterway.
Pender County contains some of the most biologically significant habitat along the U.S. Atlantic Coast. There are several species that occur in this region of North Carolina and nowhere else in the world. The county has an exceptionally large number of rare plants and animals, as well as an exceptionally large number of natural community types. Among these are 83 plant species and 65 animal species that are recognized as rare at the State or Federal level.
As of 2000, about 75% of the county was forested (planted and natural) and about 10% was cropland. The mainland portion of the county is generally characterized by broad level flatlands dissected by narrow, shallow stream drainages. Natural communities on the flatlands vary depending on drainage and moisture. Swamp and bottomland communities are found along rivers, with hardwood forests on the mesic slopes. The barrier islands feature dunes, beaches, and tidal flats.
The geology of Pender County is mostly sand lying over layers of clay and limestone that have been deposited during coastal cycles over the last 100 million years. Limestone is exposed in a few areas, where it supports extremely rare plant species and natural communities. The world’s only known Wet Marl Forest is found on one area rich in limestone.
Most of Pender County lies within the Northeast Cape Fear River watershed. The Black River drains the western portion of the county, and the southeastern section is within the coastal watershed. The Black River floodplain system is generally regarded as one of the best blackwater river systems remaining in the southeastern U.S. A swamp along the Black River contains the oldest known trees in North America east of the Rocky Mountains.
The county also has pine savannas with unusually high species richness. There are two savanna types that are known only from this region of the state. Historically, fire played a large role in the ecology of Pender County, and many of the natural communities, particularly the pine savannas, rely on frequent fire to maintain natural diversity and structure, promote regeneration, and reduce fuel loads.
