The generosity and swift decision-making from a couple in North Carolina helped rescue a parcel of land flush with native species from likely destruction.
When Ann and Peter Weigl, both retired biology professors and outdoor enthusiasts, learned that their neighbor's 127 acres of real estate near Pfafftown were up for sale in December 2023, they knew they had to act quickly.
The property borders a future portion of the state's Northern Beltway, and there's little doubt that new developments will eventually supplant Forsyth County's green spaces once the highway is completed.
"Once you get faster access to downtown, it makes it easier for people to start pushing out this way," Piedmont Land Conservancy's executive director Kevin Redding told the Winston-Salem Journal.
The Weigls, who have lived in the area since 1976, bought the land once it hit the market and donated it to the conservancy to ensure its safekeeping.
"There wasn't any other way it was going to be preserved," Peter, a former professor at Wake Forest University, told the organization. " ... We were afraid it was going to be developed, but it's just too beautiful a place. And there are fewer and fewer places like that now in the county."
"We did a lot of soul searching about it," Ann, who taught at Winston-Salem State University, added. "It was a huge decision, and it had to be done very quickly because [the sellers] had offers."
The timing couldn't have been better, as Redding noted that at least two developers were interested in converting the land into residential subdivisions.
"You could just see it happening," he said.
The Bashavia Creek Preserve, named after the tributary of the Yadkin River running through the property, is now under the management of the conservancy. It includes a farmhouse built in 1853, some outbuildings, hayfields, and wooded hillsides.
It's also a thriving ecosystem with native species like deer-tongue grass and blue heron and has good soil, according to Ken Bridle, the land conservancy's conservation advisor.
Redding said there are plans to hand-build at least 3 miles of trails and add a parking lot, though it's unclear if the rest of the land will be used for farming or converted into a wildlife and pollinator habitat.
The Piedmont Land Conservancy, which has the goal of acquiring a public nature preserve in all nine counties it serves, expects to open the Bashavia Creek Preserve to the public sometime in 2025 or 2026.
"This may be the first time we've gotten a call from someone who said, 'The land behind my house is going up for sale, and I want to buy it and donate it to you,'" he said. " ... It's awesome to have this chance to save the land while it's still whole."
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