Join your neighbors and friends and attend the community meeting to answer questions about the planned clearcut of this amazing forest, and to learn more about best forestry practices.

PH Craig Property and the Future of Bolin Forest

7:00 – 9:00 pm Thursday, June 21st, Smith Middle School

One of the favorite places to hike in the area is the 77 acre tract owned by P.H. Craig next to Carolina North. Several years ago the Governor awarded the Long Leaf Pine award to Mr. Craig for protecting this land. According to the announcement, ” it contains one half mile of beautiful Bolin Creek and North Carolina foresters say its foot traffic is greater than that of Umstead State Park.”

But PH Craig has announced his intention to clearcut up to 40 acres of trees on his property. (See area map below.) The “woodland management plan” targets pines but all trees in the upland portions will be removed down to a line of trees marked with pink ribbons just 150 feet from Bolin Creek, up to 35 acres in Carrboro’s planning jurisdiction. See management map at the end of this article.

In a 2015 story, Mr Craig commented in the News and Observer  “that people enjoy walking (my) his land along the creek, despite past damage from mountain bikes …While (I) he has never cut the trees, there may be a thinning in the future to reduce the fire hazard and make the forest healthier.”

In another quote from the same 2015 article, he rejects interested developers but remains guarded about the future. “I don’t mind telling you I have trouble grappling with that. Who wants to think about what happens when you die,” he said. “It is the most developable piece of property in town, but I want to see that the area around the creek is not touched, and I’ve left instructions for that.”  See entire N & O story here. 

PH Craig’s land is sandwiched between two other lands that are largely protected from development, the 325-acre University-owned Carolina Forest and the 27 acre Adams Preserve. The PH Craig land contains beautiful and significant stands of beech trees.

It’s a shock to learn that many acres of this well loved woods will be clear cut. The plan to clear cut two portions of his property, constituting most of the land, (as stated in the forestry plan) is different from removing a stand of ailing pines and represents quite a shift from PH’s statements to the News and Observer Newspaper in 2015 when he received the Long Leaf Pine award.

Over the years Friends of Bolin Creek have sought unsuccessfully to conserve this unique landscape of beech trees, hardwoods  and wildlife habitat permanently through purchase and land conservation.

Join your neighbors and friends and attend the community meeting to answer questions about the planned clearcut, and to learn how this forest could be conserved.  Show the Mayors of Carrboro and Chapel Hill that you care what happens.

Location Map, PH Craig property in center in white

Pictoral map illustrating continuous Bolin Forest

The P.H. Craig land is located next to the Ironwoods neighborhood, just south of Carolina North, and north of the Adams Preserve as illustrated here.

Topo map showing Bolin Creek and riparian areas

Woodland Management Map