The Tideland News in Swansboro ran this excellent editorial on August 27: (no online version available) There is evidence that the public is beginning to come around to the fact that N.C. State University’s plan to sell the 79,000-acre Hofmann Forest is not such a good idea. In simultaneous protests Monday at noon – on the NCSU campus in Raleigh and at Deppe Park near Jacksonville – close to 200 people turned out to protest the sale. At the same time, online petitions in opposition to the sale have generated more than 11,000 “signatures.” This sudden awareness – which is really a slow buildup over nearly a year – is a positive sign for those who would like to see the huge pine forest remain in the public domain, either with NCSU or another entity. Included in that number is Ron Sutherland, Ph.D., a conservation scientist for Wildlands Network who penned an op-ed published in Saturday’s Raleigh News and Observer: The sale of the nation’s largest research forest may have come about for a number of reasons – it is said to be too far from the Raleigh campus, it’s said to not be used enough and it’s not generating enough money for NCSU – but those are debatable. And equally important, Sutherland wrote, the sale was put together without any transparency: The details were settled and the sale to an Illinois-based argi-businessman was salted away before there was a decent opportunity for public review or comment. Public awareness, while late, is critical. Just so there is no confusion as to why folks in Swansboro should care about what happens in Raleigh with the Hofmann sale, look no farther than the White Oak River. The White Oak is one of three rivers that originate in the Hofmann. What happens upstream will eventually reach Swansboro’s Front Street, and could even impact waters around Emerald Isle. The question is, just what will happen upstream? If it were up to the university, we would just have to wait and see what the new owners have in mind. However, sale opponents have filed a lawsuit that would force the sellers to conduct an environmental assessment before closing the $150 million sale to Hofmann Forest LLC. An investors’ prospectus obtained by media and the N.C. Coastal Federation indicates that massive clear-cutting for farming, along with commercial and residential development, could be in the works. While the college and the buyers have downplayed that, there is little doubt that a drastic – and much more intense – change in use is likely, at least eventually. No one spends $150 million to buy land without a serious expectation of a return on that sizable investment. And any development in the forest that yields that expected “return” – and the resulting storm water runoff – would not be a good thing for Swansboro or any of the Hofmann’s downstream neighbors. A much better outcome would be for N.C. State to back off, decide to retain ownership, and manage the research forest, using it as a teaching and learning tool. Alternatively, the U.S. Forest Service could absorb the Hofmann and make it part of the Croatan National Forest. If you are concerned, consider signing the petition. It is available online at petitions.moveon.org/sign/save-hofmann-forest-from.
Posted on: Thu, 28 Aug 2014 15:12:25 +0000
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