Local Partnership Protects Swift Creek Property in Cary

TLC’s partnership with local governments could result in an exciting addition to TLC’s 23-acre Swift Creek Bluffs Preserve in Cary.  In 2007, the City of Raleigh, Wake County and the Town of Cary approached TLC about joining forces with them to purchase 38 acres that could be used to develop a greenway connection on Swift Creek between Holly Springs Road and Lake Wheeler.  The property consists of three parcels located on the east side of Holly Springs Road across from Swift Creek Bluffs (which TLC acquired in 1991).  

The property was offered to the partnership at a bargain sale price of $700,000 by Glenn Futrell, a local developer.  An appraisal commissioned by Mr. Futrell revealed a fair market value of $1.9 million.  Mr. Futrell originally planned to sell the property for development, but later decided to convey the property to TLC.  He donated a 13-acre tract to TLC in 2007 and conveyed the remaining two tracts to TLC in January 2008 through a donation and a sale.  After closing on the final two tracts, TLC transferred ownership of the entire property to Wake County. 

Swift Creek flows into Lake Wheeler and Lake Benson before entering Johnston County and eventually converging with the Neuse River. Flowing through an increasingly urbanized area, the creek has been affected by development and agricultural and urban runoff.  Protecting the Futrell tract will help safeguard water quality in the stream. 

The property contains over 3,000 feet of streams, which flow north through the property and cross an adjacent tract before emptying into Swift Creek.  Approximately 15 acres along the tract’s northern boundary are part of the Swift Creek floodplain and contain a mix of mature pine and hardwood forest.  The southern portion of the property has a more rolling terrain characteristic of the bluffs found along Swift Creek further upstream.

Swift Creek Bluffs Preserve by Sonke Johnsen.

In order to protect the water quality of Swift Creek and its tributaries, the State of North Carolina will hold a conservation easement on the property that will restrict future timber harvests, commercial clearing of any vegetation and placement of any significant structures on the tract. 

Although the property will remain in its natural state for the foreseeable future, protection of the tract creates some interesting opportunities to expand on existing public recreation resources.  The property will provide an important link between Raleigh and Cary’s greenway system and could eventually be added to the Swift Creek Bluffs Preserve.  This addition would more than double the size of the existing preserve, which is currently open to the public for hiking. 

Just five miles from downtown Cary, Swift Creek Bluffs Preserve is a remarkable remnant of historical Piedmont forests.  Although this forest has been selectively logged at least once in the past 75-100 years, the age and size of its trees and its diverse plant life make it reminiscent of the hardwood forests that dominated the Piedmont prior to European settlement.  The preserve is distinguished by steep, 100-foot-high bluffs that loom over the creek and floodplain.  A stately beech forest grows on the slopes and some of these ancients are estimated to be 200 years old.  The preserve’s trail system takes hikers through its diverse habitats and offers great opportunities for the springtime floral display and birdlife. 

 To learn more about Swift Creek Bluffs Preserve and download a preserve guide, click here.