We have postponed our March workday due to severe weather forecasts to March 17.
Please join us then.
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Haw River State Park Spring Workday March 3, 2012 9 am to noon Join us Saturday, March 3 at Haw River State Park help us prepare acquired lands for public use in the coming year. The “Farm” was going to become a golf course community in 2008 until we spoke up and stopped the rezoning so the State could acquire the land for the State Park. We’ll be removing old fencing with Park Staff. Wear sturdy work clothes and shoes. Bring loppers, clippers and wire cutters, if you have them. The work site is at the end of Oak Arbor Rd, off of NC 150 just west of Northern Elementary School. Map this address- 8398 Oak Arbor Road, Brown Summit, NC Drive to the end of the road, through the gate to the parking area. Please respond to Kelley.Thompson@NCDENR.gov if you are coming so we have a head count. We look forward to you joining us and getting a behind the scenes look at over 700 acres of new park land. Friends of Haw River State Park Questions? Email us at HawRiverSP@gmail.com Welcome to 2012 at Haw River State Park The Friends of HRSP and Park Advisory Committee have some great activities planned for this year. Access to recently acquired will begin later this year. Join us on our workdays and other activities at HRSP and nearby Mountains to Sea Trail Workdays.
Friends of Haw River State Park (FOHRSP) is a grassroots group of citizens dedicated to serving the needs and interests of Guilford County’s only state park – Haw River State Park.
This web site and blog are devoted to increasing awareness of opportunities for recreation and service at HRSP, keeping the public informed of political and economic news of significance to the park, and celebrating this beautiful new addition to our state park system. Friends of Haw River State Park also advocates publicly for the well being of Haw River State Park. Citizen efforts spearheaded by FOHRSP have already made a huge difference in protecting the future viability of the park. Please join our Facebook group Friends of Haw River State Park.
When can we hike the new lands? Limited hiking is available at the Summit Conference Center. Call ahead for availability for hours. What are the future plans for the Park? The State Parks Division will begin to develop a Master Plan for the current holdings. This will include facilities, trails, uses, roads, entrances, etc. Various inventories of the properties need to be made so that no unnecessary damage occurs during development. Public meetings will be held to gather input from users and neighbors. Look for more information on this in the Fall of 2008 on the FriendsofHawRiverSP.org website. More great news about the new expansion of the Haw River State Park. Taft Wireback’s N&R article today explains the probable addition of the adjoining Haw River Plantation (Wallis property). This 140 acre tract has already had some clearing for housing. That cleared area may prove helpful for necessary restroom facilities and as a parking area for recreational vehicles. Other parts of this tract may also prove to be a possible area for camping. The appraisal of this 140 acre tract took into consideration that it has significant infrastructure already installed including some roads, electricity, water, etc. This tract also includes two houses that may provide rental housing for park rangers or park staff. Several other key land acquisitions are possible down the road to make this a dynamic state park. If this Wallis tract is added to the Haw River State Park that will bring the current total land to 1,167 acres. (Original Summit tract 335 acres, Bluegreen tract 692 acres and the Wallis tract 140 acres.) According to the State’s Press Release posted now on our web site: Financing the Acquisition The acquisition will be financed by issuing certificates of participation through the Parks and Recreation Trust Fund. In its 2007 session, the N.C. General Assembly authorized the Parks and Recreation and Natural Heritage trust funds to each issue up to $50 million in certificates of participation for land conservation. The certificates are similar to bonds and will be repaid with future revenues into the trust funds over a 20-year indebtedness. In the recent past, such certificates have been issued for special projects of the state parks system, including a 3,000-acre acquisition at Lake James State Park, construction of visitor facilities at Lake James and land acquisition at Mayo River State Park in western Rockingham County and Chimney Rock State Park in Rutherford County. Purchase of the approximately 300 acres at the existing Haw River State Park and its environmental education center was financed by regular revenues of the Parks and Recreation Trust Fund. Any future visitor facilities at the state park are likely to be financed through the trust fund, as well. The trust fund is supported by the state’s tax on real estate deed transfers and is the principal funding source for state park land acquisition and capital projects. Also from NCDENR magazine The Steward , Dec. 2007 Parks Gain From ’07 Trust Funds The parks system received $5.6 million in grants from the Natural Heritage Trust Fund in November and $5.46 million from the Clean Water Management Trust Funds in September and November. Coupled with $9.89 million in allocations from the Parks and Recreation Trust Fund, the grants will support land acquistions at 10 state park units ….
Article by Taft Wireback with the Greensboro News & Record A Florida development company is dropping its plan to build a golf-course community next to Haw River State Park and will sell the land to North Carolina’s state park system for $14 million. If Bluegreen’s contract/option with the three property owners has expired then we can look forward in 2008 to the property owners and NCDENR reaching a fair agreement so that the Haw River State Park can expand and also protect this important section of the Haw River. While the state probably dropped the ball initially in discussions with the three property owners the time is now right for far better communications. 2008 is a time for a new beginning. Our hope is that the three property owners will all agree that their beautiful land can best be utilized by the Haw River State Park. NCDENR must also understand that these property owners have, by working with Bluegreen, significantly determined the value of their property. I hope we can soon say to the property owners — Thanks for selling your property for the Haw River State Park!! |
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Copyright © 2012 Friends of Haw River State Park - All Rights Reserved |
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