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Swift Creek protection; re: blooms



Hi Carolinabirders,

It's been an insanely busy year so far for environmental political issues,
but another one's up. A friend who often alerts me to such things let me
know that the NC Senate may soon consider a really dumb idea, already
passed by the NC House, which will strip clean water protection from Swift
Creek. This is the creek that runs through Cary's Hemlock Bluffs Preserve,
very popular among birders:
http://www.duke.edu/%7Ecwcook/tbg/hemlockbluffs.html
I believe that the print version (though not the on-line one) of the
Triangle Birder's Guide includes a birding profile of the Triangle Land
Conservancy's Swift Creek Bluffs Preserve:
http://www.tlc-nc.org/swift_creek_np.shtml

The protections being debated are pretty minor from a bird point of view,
as they do nothing to stop development of terrestrial habitats (which
makes you wonder why developers are so dead-set on having them revoked),
but they're critical for the aquatic species, of which Swift Creek houses
over a dozen which are rare, threatened, or endangered on a state or
federal level. New Hope Audubon's website has more details on what's going
on and what to do:
http://www.newhopeaudubon.org/conserv/SwiftCreek20030527.html
I've also forwarded below the message that my friend shared with me.

Sandy Cash is quite right: the most common Butterfly Bush in horticulture,
Buddleia davidii, is Chinese and not Mexican. There are some Mexican
species of Buddleia, but it's not likely that they're for sale around here
anywhere... And all of my perennial plantings went in last summer at the
earliest, as Sandy well knows because he came to our house-warming party
right around then!

Good birding,

Josh


Joshua S. Rose
Duke University
Department of Biology (Zoology, R.I.P.)

jsr6@duke.edu
http://www.duke.edu/~jsr6/

>----- Original Message -----
>From: Grady McCallie
>
>Sent: Friday, June 06, 2003 11:19 AM
>Subject: Swift Creek update
>
>
>Friends -
>Thank you for signing the letter urging the NC Senate to protect
>outstanding resource water designation for Swift Creek.  I've attached
the
>final version of the letter, with the signature blocks, but am dropping
>hardcopies in the mail to each of the signatories today as well.
>
>I'm also writing to ask you to follow up the letter with a call to your
>Senators, urging them to oppose HB 566, Disapprove Swift Creek, should it
>come to a vote in a Senate committee or on the Senate floor next week.
>The response to our letter has been, "go sit down with the Homebuilders
>and work something out, and come back when you have an agreement."
>Unfortunately, there is no apparent basis for a compromise.  The
>designation is modest to begin with, and the Homebuilders have not
>identified any practical injury from the rule; they just oppose it.
>Discussions are continuing, but there is a very good chance that the bill
>could leave the Senate Rules committee, travelling very fast, with no
>warning -- so this is the time to weigh in.
>
>I've also attached a factsheet that may be useful for details.  The main
>points to stress are:
>* this Swift Creek is the one in the Tar-Pamlico basin (most legislators
>don't know this).
>* it has incredible wildlife value -- fourteen endangered, threatened, or
>rare species -- making this an issue of statewide significance.
>* the modest protections -- controlling stormwater -- are needed to
>protect water quality and species in the 273-square mile subbasin.
>
>The opposition is painting this as an unimportant, local issue.  Please
>let your Senators know that Swift Creek matters to water quality and
>wildlife advocates across the state.
>
>If I can answer any questions, please call - 919-857-4699 x.101
>Thank you,
>Grady