FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 10, 2017

Contact
Catharine Gensel, Grants & Communications Coordinator
Alamance Parks (Alamance County Recreation and Parks Department)
Phone: 336.229.2230
Email: catharine.gensel@alamance-nc.com

Alamance Parks Awarded Clean Water Management Trust Fund Grant for Purchase of Land in Cane Creek Mountains

GRAHAM, N.C.– Alamance Parks has been awarded a $295,000 grant from the Clean Water Management Trust Fund to purchase land in the Cane Creek Mountains in southern Alamance County. The Cane Creek Mountains, located 8 miles south of the City of Graham, compose the largest State Natural Heritage Area in Alamance County and are home to the highest peak in North Carolina east of Greensboro.

The grant funds will allow the addition of approximately 153 acres to the planned Cane Creek Mountains Natural Area. The future Cane Creek Mountains Natural Area will protect over 600 acres and provide access to the public via natural surface trails. This acquisition will also protect the headwaters of Varnals and Cane Creeks that flow into the Haw River.

Alamance Parks was funded by the Clean Water Management Trust Fund in 2014 and 2016 to acquire two other land parcels that will combine with this newest land tract to form the park. The Cane Creek Mountains Range represents an unparalleled natural resource for this region. It hosts the largest area of natural woodland in Alamance County and is home to unique natural communities including boggy streamheads, low elevation seeps, and unusual tree species for the area. Development of the Cane Creek Mountains Natural Area will begin in 2018.