BOSTON, February 1, 2000 - Virginia's Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) and the Hancock Timber Resource Group (HTRG) have permanently protected Dendron Swamp, an ancient, 179-acre bald cypress and tupelo tree swamp that lies along the meandering Blackwater Swamp in Surry County, Va. The DCR purchased the property from HTRG for $104,072. According to David G. Brickley, director of DCR, "Dendron is one of the pearls within the Blackwater Swamp and is important from both an ecological and cultural perspective. By preserving Dendron, we have had a rare chance to protect one of the South's few remaining ancient cypress swamps, and to conserve a biological source integral to the wildlife and botanical species living within the Blackwater ecosystem. HTRG is to be commended for its efforts in having this pearl protected."

Dendron is rare among cypress swamps in the South because of its trees, which range from 300 to 500 years in age. It's also home to the eastern big-eared bat, a species that is rare in Virginia. David Kimbrough, regional forester in HTRG's Charlotte, N.C., office said, "Most cypress swamps in the South have been cut at least once for their valuable timber, but because of the swamp's remoteness, the bald cypress and tupelo trees in Dendron have not been touched for nearly five centuries."

"Working with the Department of Conservation and Recreation to protect Dendron Swamp embodies the spirit of our active sensitive lands program. Protecting this unique and ecologically important ecosystem helps preserve important pockets of our country's natural heritage in perpetuity."

"The potential value of the timber cannot match the overall preservation qualities of this site," said Dave Froggatt of Resource Management Service (RMS) in Birmingham, Ala. RMS, which manages the lands owned by HTRG adjacent to Dendron, was a key player in the transaction. In the future, DCR's Natural Heritage staff hopes to create a natural canoe access trail along the Blackwater River for public use, Brickley said. Dendron Swamp is DCR's 28th natural area preserve, bringing the system's total size to 15,143 acres. Dendron is the third natural area preserve purchased from HTRG by DCR and the fifth conservation sale for HTRG in 1999. Altogether, HTRG's Sensitive Lands Program preserved nearly 79,000 acres of timberland last year. Protected lands include:

• The largest conservation-related acquisition in the history of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The Chesapeake forestlands, located on the Delmarva Peninsula, include 29,000 acres of the most environmentally sensitive land purchased by the state of Maryland, an additional 29,000 acres purchased by The Richard King Mellon Foundation, which will be donated to the state, and 18,000 acres in Delaware and Virginia purchased by The Conservation Fund.
• Piney Grove, 1,535 acres of mature pine forest in Sussex County, Va., that serves as habitat for Virginia's last remaining colony of red-cockaded woodpeckers, which nests exclusively in live pine trees. Once abundant throughout the southeastern United States, the red-cockaded woodpecker is now a federally endangered species. The Piney Grove colony of 14 is located on the northern edge of the species' range.
• Teal Slough, a 338-acre parcel supporting one of the last coastal old-growth redcedar stands in southwest Washington. Teal Slough provides habitat for a number of declining species, including the marbled murrelet and northern spotted owl. This parcel will be incorporated into the adjacent 13,600-acre Willapa National Wildlife Refuge, strengthening one of the most ecologically diverse preserves within the national refuge system. To complete this project, HTRG partnered with The Nature Conservancy of Washington state, the Paul G. Allen Forest Protection Foundation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Olympic Resource Management.
• Sandy Run Swamp Savanna, a 735-acre rare plant site located in Onslow County, N.C., that contains 19 species of rare plants, including the federally endangered Cooley's meadowrue and the state-endangered Carolina grass-of-Parnassus. HTRG's partners in this transaction included Resource Management Service and The Nature Conservancy, North Carolina Chapter. Sandy Run Swamp Savanna is considered to be a critical link within a natural corridor called Onslow Bay that extends from the Croatan National Forest to the Holly Shelter Game Lands and the Northeast Cape Fear River.