Author: Fay Mitchell
“Save the Eno!” became the clarion cry of a group of concerned citizens in Durham in the mid-1960s. In 1965 the City of Durham planned to build a reservoir in the Eno River Valley, a place where trails along the river had been used by the Eno, Shakori and Occoneechee Indian tribes before recorded history.
Upon news of the potential dam and reservoir, a group of concerned citizens organized to halt the proposal. The Association for the Preservation of the Eno River Valley was formed in 1966, with Durham teacher, social worker and environmentalist Margaret Nygard and her husband Holger as leaders. She was described as indomitable and soft-spoken, yet became a champion for the Eno River. In conjunction with the Nature Conservancy, and in partnership with the City of Durham, Orange County and the state, a new future for the river was chartered.
The association proposed that a park be established in May 1972 and the state approved the idea. By 1975, Eno River State Park opened with 1,000 acres of land. The Eno River Association continued fundraising and conservation efforts. The annual Festival for the Eno is part of that campaign, which sustains interest in protecting the river corridor and led to the purchase of more land. Today Eno River State Park comprises more than 4,000 acres along 35 miles through Orange and Durham counties. Tens of thousands of visitors have enjoyed the escape to nature in the midst of an urban corridor for more than 45 years. The park is available for hiking, canoeing, fishing, swimming, family outings or moments of calm meditation.
The cries of her children alerted Carolista Baum that something was wrong when they came running home one summer day in 1973. The youngsters reported that a bulldozer was flattening part of Jockey’s Ridge. Without pausing, Baum ran to see what was happening and planted herself in front of the bulldozer.
The earth moving machine had been preparing a site for residential development at the base of Jockey’s Ridge. Locals had talked for years of protecting it, the largest natural dune on the east coast, but had taken no action. When confronted with the bulldozer at work, Baum simply sat down and refused to move. The operator shut down the machine, tried talking to her, and left. Locals organized, and the People to Preserve Jockey’s Ridge was formed.
The fiery Baum was the driving force as petitions and appeals were made to local and state governments. The State Division of Parks and Recreation did a requested study on the feasibility of making Jockey’s Ridge a state park. In 1973 the division endorsed establishing a park, and a year later the dune was declared a National Natural Landmark. The General Assembly appropriated funds to create Jockey’s Ridge State Park in 1975. With state and federal funds 152 acres were acquired and the Nature Conservancy also purchased land. Today the park encompasses 420 acres. The nonprofit Friends of Jockey’s Ridge provides support for this popular tourist attraction.
An iconic name in the environmental movement in America and the world is that of Rachel Carson. Her seminal book, “Silent Spring” published in 1962, awakened the public to pesticide damage done to the environment by documenting their effects in minute biological detail. Her skillful use of language and her background as an aquatic biologist ideally suited her for this mission.
Carson had built a reservoir of trust with the public through several articles and books on environmental topics. Her first title was “Under the Sea Wind,” published in 1941, based on her time in the fishing village of Beaufort, N.C. Today the Rachel Carson Estuarine Research Reserve in Beaufort honors her dedication to preserving and protecting aquatic life and wildlife.
While serving with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Carson became editor and then editor-in-chief of Fish and Wildlife publications. She wrote many bulletins, including “Conservation in Action,” that examined wildlife and ecology in layman’s terms. As a biologist with the service, she participated in and reviewed various studies investigating the impact of human activity on the planet. Biologists were often first to see the dangers to the environment since abnormalities often first appear in fish and wildlife.
Her second book, “The Sea Around Us” was a New York Times bestseller and eventually published in 32 languages. Its success led her to resign her position with the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service to concentrate on writing. Her third book, “The Edge of Sea,” awakened environmentalists to the term “ecology,” the study of “our living place.” It was her work that provided the documentation and fortified her pivotal “Silent Spring” concerning the hazards of the pesticide DDT, which was subsequently banned. Through her efforts, the contemporary environmental movement was born.
Photo credit: Eno River activist Margaret Nygard, Southern Historical Collection, UNC University Library