In August 2022, TPC completed its first major habitat improvement project – the new Courthouse Creek Wildlife Opening, a 3-acre permanent wildlife opening located at an elevation of just above 3,800 feet off of FS Road 5038.
Construction of the Courthouse Creek Wildlife Opening included:
- Removal of the existing trees within the 3-acre boundary
- Methodical positioning of large piles of brush to prevent erosion of the field’s slope – the brush also attracts nesting birds and provides protection for young trees to grow.
- Field prep and seeding approved grasses and forbs by the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission and the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
- Wildflower planting in a section of the field
- Construction of a bear cave
This project is part of the 2013 Courthouse Creek Project and it has been in development for many years. TPC became involved in 2021 and construction and seeding took place in Summer 2022.
Some wildlife populations in the area, such as deer and grouse, are in decline due to a lack of early successional habitat which this project has created. Many species use early successional habitat to forage, nest, bear young, raise young, and escape from predators, among other things.
Numerous species had already been documented in the field in the months following the project’s completion, including:
- Deer
- Turkeys
- Bears
- Bobcats
- Coyotes
- Snakes
- Bats
- Native bees
- Monarch butterflies
- Eastern tiger swallowtail butterflies
- Red-tailed hawks and other bird species
“All that we want to accomplish in the forest can’t happen by the Forest Service alone. The only way that we can accomplish all the things we want to is working with the Wildlife Commission, partners like The Pisgah Conservancy, and all of the community members that have contributed to a project like this.”
– James Melonas, Supervisor, National Forests in North Carolina
