FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 14, 2002 Nisbet Family Donates Riverbank Easements to Protect 2.6 Miles of Catawba River Frontage D. Lindsay Pettus, President of the Katawba Valley Land Trust, announced today that members of the Nisbet family have donated conservation easements on two large parcels of land fronting the Catawba River. The easements will protect all land within 100 feet of the bank of the river for a distance of about 2.6 miles in Lancaster County. The donation will protect a total of 32.1 acres of land. An expanded easement will protect the site of the Adam Ivy Grist Mill. "We are indeed grateful to the Nisbet family members who participated in this donation," stated Pettus. "I believe that this is the single most significant conservation easement donation by a family to date on the Catawba River. This gift is important because it protects 2.6 miles of river frontage, assuring that the natural resources and historic sites will be preserved forever." The protection of buffers along the river was a major recommendation of the Catawba River Corridor Plan. With these new easements, approximately 76 percent of the sixty miles of river frontage in the planning area has been protected through acquisition, conservation easement, or county ordinance. The conservation easements are on two parcels of land. The first easement was donated by the three daughters of E. P. Nisbet and is located in Lancaster County across the river from the Catawba Indian Reservation. The donation by Mary Nisbet Purvis, Eugenia Nisbet White, and Elizabeth Nisbet Martin includes a 100-foot conservation easement on 8,500 feet of river frontage. The second easement is on a parcel just below Sugar Creek's confluence with the Catawba and was donated by the Nisbet sisters listed above, along with Jane Nisbet Goode, Rebecca Nisbet Rencher, and W. Olin Nisbet, III. This donation includes a 100-foot easement along the river frontage and an easement of 400 feet surrounding the site of the Adam Ivy-Turkey Point Grist Mill. This easement, containing about 13.7 acres, extends 5,579 feet along the river. In addition to the grist mill site, this property also includes the site of the Roddey Bridge across the Catawba, which was destroyed in the 1916 flood and a portion of the Kings Bottoms, a long stretch of productive cropland which was important to the Catawba Indians. The easements are heavily wooded and contain species such as red oak, white oak, yellow poplar, loblolly and short leaf pine, and river birch. Wildflowers such as trillium. trout lily, anemone, and maidenhair fern grow in abundance along with mountain laurel on the bluffs overlooking the river. Animals such as white tail deer and America's greatest game bird, the wild turkey, abound in these areas. Pettus noted, "The Nisbet family members have been stewards of this land for many years, and they have a strong sense of history and their connection with the land. This gift illustrates their leadership in the protection of our natural and cultural heritage. The inclusion of the Adam Ivy grist mill site, which dates from the 1850s, helps to protect an important part of our history. These lands are also among the most significant to the history of the Catawba Indian Nation." Eugenia Nisbet White said, "Our family has wanted to help preserve the river for a long time. With the development pressure in the Indian Land area of Lancaster County, we felt like there should be some areas left in their natural state. We hope that this easement will help to keep the river beautiful and preserve something for our children and grandchildren." Conservation easements are legal agreements in which a property owner voluntarily gives up specific rights to develop his property to a land trust or other conservation organization which agrees to provide perpetual oversight. Easements provide a means by which the private sector can ensure the preservation of natural environments, such as the river frontage, for the public good. The Katawba Valley Land Trust is a private, non-profit conservation organization dedicated to the protection of natural resources, open land, water, historic resources, and vistas of aesthetic value in the Catawba River Valley and surrounding areas. To date, the Trust has protected almost 2,400 acres. Further information is available at our web site at www.kvlt.org. For additional information, please call D. Lindsay Pettus at (803) 285-9455 or Jimmy White IV at (704) 332-7755.

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