Bessemer Group Farm I, II, and III ~ 342 acres, Caswell and Person Counties
Bessemer Group, Inc. Bargain Sale of Conservation Easement.
Tom
Berry and his Bessemer Group, Inc. partner, John Fuquay, were approached by
developers who proposed creating a gated community with up to 196 residential
lots, a clubhouse, tennis courts, and pools scattered over their 400-acre
property situated on Hyco Lake in Caswell and Person Counties. Since they had
been managing the property as a wildlife preserve, they decided to approach PLC
and explore their conservation options for the property in the fall of 2004.
Based on their desire to preserve the property’s natural resources and beauty
for generations to come and to obtain potential tax benefits, they decided that
working with PLC rather than the developers was the best option for them and
their property.
Due to the size of the property and potential funding sources, protecting the property required three phases. The first phase completed in 2004 involved the donation of a conservation easement over 65 acres. PLC worked with the Ecosystem Enhancement Program (EEP) to complete the second phase of the project in 2006. EEP is a partnership between NC’s Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Transportation and US Army Corps of Engineers aimed at preserving forested riparian buffers to meet the mitigation needs of the transportation system. EEP purchased a 167-acre riparian easement establishing a 300-foot buffer easement along the property’s three perennial streams and Hyco Lake shoreline. Additionally, Bessemer Group, Inc. donated a third easement encompassing 175 acres to PLC when the EEP easement was purchased to complete the final phase of this protection project.
The
three phases of this project serve to permanently protect a diverse wildlife
habitat that includes open areas and a variety of upland and bottomland trees
such as river birch, tulip poplars, sycamores, American beech, ironwood, and
dogwood. These habitats support a variety of wildlife species including wild
turkey, white-tailed deer, bobwhite quail and migratory songbirds. Finally, the
easements assure water quality protection of its streams and Hyco Lake, a major
recreational asset for Caswell and Person Counties.
Project funding provided by the landowner and the North Carolina Ecosystem Enhancement Program.