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Wetland 41
<br /> project
<br /> praised Wednesday, April 23 , 2003
<br /> Restoration near Carrboro Wetlands -
<br /> cited by interior secretary as continued from page Al
<br /> good example of �1 a jam, F
<br /> environmental stewardship. this land was like, " Kate Dixon,
<br /> executive director of the Trian �, - - • �
<br /> _.
<br /> By KATHLEEN HUNTER gle Land Conservancy, said as
<br /> Staff Writer she motioned toward the
<br /> restored ponds. r.. _ Ydd
<br /> ; '
<br /> WHITE CROSS — Gale Nor- Norton presented Kuenzler
<br /> ton, the nation's Secretary of with the US. Fish and Wildlife ;
<br /> the Interior, toured a local wet Service Regional Director Con
<br /> land preserve Tuesday and servation Award.
<br /> called the restoration effort a Kuenzler described the - �; -_ •-� --''':i
<br /> perfect example of the type of painstaking work that went into
<br /> public- pri- restoring the wetlands and the
<br /> vate envi- � . satisfaction the process brought
<br /> ronm en tal P' , " "t her and her husband. Staff Photo by Shawn Rocco
<br /> collabora- $i "We developed it little by lit- Standing with federal and state wildlife service representatives,
<br /> tion that y tle, " she said. "It took a long Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton, right, inspects some aquatic
<br /> the Bush time because my husband was a life she seined from a wetland pond at the Kuenzler Wildlife
<br /> administra- i perfectionist. It had to be just so. Habitat Preserve — a private farm owned by Jutta Kuenzler.
<br /> tion is try- As you see, the ponds are fuller
<br /> ing to fos- now, and we see what we wanted rc
<br /> ter. , ' °�" to see. " We are dependent on private land
<br /> T h e rt ;', To restore the land, e owners to choose to care for the lands ,
<br /> event , NORTON zlers enlisted the helpoff the the
<br /> which was Triangle Land Conservancy, the Tbese partnersbips work for the land.
<br /> held to note Natural Resource Conservation
<br /> Earth Day, took place at the 154- Service, the Orange County Soil Owner, the wildlife and the public,
<br /> acre Kuenzler Wildlife Habitat and Water Conservation Dis-
<br /> Preserve southwest of Carr- trict and the U. S . Fish and — John Ann Seaker
<br /> boro. Jutta Kuenzler and her Wildlife Service. 6Representative of the U. S . Fish and Wildlife Service
<br /> late husband , Ed Kuenzler, pur- The Kuenzlers ' property also P
<br /> chased the property in& 1965 and has been placed into a conserva- John Ann Seaker, a re resen- this wonderful project is being
<br /> have lived there ever since. tion easement, which provides tative of the U. S . Fish and used in some ways to distract
<br /> Ed Kuenzler, a professor of that future owners will be able Wildlife Service, also stressed attention from all of the dam-
<br /> environmental sciences and to use the existing hayfields and the important role that individ- age that is being done to public
<br /> engineering at UNC, soon dis- pastures for agriculture but will uals play in preserving land. lands around this country, "
<br /> covered that an abandoned cot- not be able to subdivide the "We are dependent on private Fitzsimon said.
<br /> ton field on his property was property or build additional land owners t o choose to care Despite the greater policy
<br /> once wetland . Kuenzler homes.
<br /> dreamed of restoring the wet- for the lands, " Seaker said . implications , Dixon said she
<br /> land to its natural state. Before Norton said that type of pub "These partnerships work for was pleased to see the project
<br /> his death in 2001 , Kuenzler iden- lic-private collaboration, led by the land owner, the wildlife and recognized at the federal level.
<br /> tified more than 400 species of individual landowners, is the the public. " "It was just a great project
<br /> plants and animals on the farm . key to future land conservation Chris Fitzsimon, a 'represen- with different entities bringing
<br /> efforts. tative of the Campaign to Pro- things to the table that no one
<br /> Norton visited two pools that "It's right here on farms and tect America's Lands (a Wash- could have done alone, " she
<br /> have been created on the prop- private properties across Amer- ington, D.C.-based environmen- said.
<br /> including leopard frog tadpoles ty. She examined aquatic life, ica that the environmental chat- tal advocacy group), said that Norton said the efforts of
<br /> n
<br /> and dragonfly larva at one pool lenges of this century will be although he supported the . the Kuenzlers gave her opti-
<br /> and ceremoniously placed a met, " Norton said. "The key to Kuenzlers' work, he feared the mism that future generations
<br /> piece of woody debris that will cooperative conservation is the Bush administration is relying will be able to enjoy natural
<br /> serve as habitat for aquatic great love that Americans have too heavily on citizens to treasures.
<br /> organisms at another, for the land. It's terrific to see become land conservation stew- "On Earth Day 2003 , thanks to
<br /> The pools were constructed the progress that already has ards. Americans like Jutta Kuenzler
<br /> as part of the restoration effort. been made in a short time." As a consequence, he said, the and her family, I am convinced
<br /> They existed on the property Norton said it is especially federal government is shirking that the future is bright, " she
<br /> many years ago but were important to involve children in its responsibility to preserve said .
<br /> drained so that the land could the conservation and restora- lands and is simultaneously
<br /> be farmed. tion of natural areas, so they turning public lands over to pri- Kathleen Hunter can be reached
<br /> Norton also planted a willow will mature with an apprecia- vate corporations. at 932-8742 or at
<br /> oak, a hardwood native to the tion for natural resources. , The concern we have is that khunter@nando. com. ,
<br /> wetland. _
<br /> "This is . probably just what
<br /> See WETLANDS, Page AS
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<br /> mpromise
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