Three Rivers Land Trust has been awarded a $1,000 grant from the North Carolina Native Plant Society’s B.W. Wells Stewardship Fund to assist with removing invasive privet from the Bittinger property in the Two Rivers Project area where the Yadkin and South Yadkin rivers meet in Davie County.

The fund was established in memory of Bertram W. Wells, 1884–1978, a pioneer botanist and ecologist and author of a classic book on North Carolina plant communities, “The Natural Gardens of North Carolina” (UNC Press).

“We are so grateful to the North Carolina Native Plant Society for awarding this grant to the Land Trust,” said Executive Director Travis Morehead. “This generous award will help us remove a nonnative, invasive species from our property and promote the native flora found on site. This will also help prevent the further spread of this species downstream of the property.”

The Bittinger property has a wide diversity of native plants and habitats. A floristic inventory report by Devin Rodgers found 283 species in 194 genera and 80 families. At least 39 species were discovered that had not previously been recorded in Davie County.

The nonnative privet will be removed from the banks of the Yadkin River on a Piedmont/Mountain Levee Forest ecosystem. The privet there is in small enough quantity that Land Trust will be able to make significant progress in removing it from the site with the treatment made possible through this grant.

The Bittinger property is 370 acres and was purchased to protect natural communities and conserve water quality. Land Trust hosts hikes and other activities on the property, and it is open to the public through the Sportsman’s Access Program.

For more information on the N.C. Native Plant Society, visit its website at http://www.ncwildflower.org.

To learn more about Three Rivers Land Trust and its conservation mission, contact Crystal Cockman, director of conservation, at 704-647-0302 or crystal@threeriverslandtrust.org.