Heard of Sledge Forest?

While Encore raises funds for freelancers and staff to join the local journalism efforts, I want to establish a precedent for using this platform to share important community stories around us. Like you, I want more independent media out there to serve the public good, and we do have dedicated journalists in the Cape Fear covering high-impact stories that you should read and follow.

Today, I want to share what I know about Sledge Forest and the proposed development based on local coverage for the last several months. I'm sharing the coverage, but I want to share my biases with you as well.

In 2011-12, I was a North Carolina Coastal Federation employee as part of the Stop Titan Action Network, a coalition that included the Coastal Federation, Cape Fear River Watch, Sierra Club, the Southern Environmental Law Center, and Citizens Against Titan.

Haven't heard of Titan Cement? Well, GOOD, because of the aforementioned people and organizations, we don't have a cement plant down the road filling our air, water, and soil with more particulates that slowly but surely kill us.

Fast-forward to 2017, I remember the exact day the news broke of PFAs found in our drinking water. These "forever chemicals," like GenX, had been free-flowing from an upstream Chemours plant into the Cape Fear River since the '80s. I read the breaking article sitting in the car passenger seat while on my way to a doctor's appointment to confirm my pregnancy. What a day.

My bias is that I'm a person who wants clean air, water, and soil. My bias is that I want safe natural spaces that my now 7-year-old daughter (and everyone) can enjoy and connect with. My bias is that I have very little space and patience for corporate polluters, profiteers, and benefactors.

OK, now that we have that out of the way...

Are you familiar with Sledge Forest and Copper Builders' plan to develop 1,000 acres near protected wetlands? We've got some catch-up notes here for you, but you can learn about why people don't want this project and how you can act at the Save Sledge Forest Rally on June 21 at Waterline Brewing.

The Save Sledge Forest site has some great resources about this area and the project, you can also learn more at the rally on June 21.

This December 2024 article in NC Coastal Federation's Coastal Review highlights the inundation-prone site with subject matter expert Roger Shew. Shew is a geologist and senior lecturer at UNCW’s Ocean Sciences and Environmental Sciences department. He said the forest's hydric soils are “periodically inundated during high-tide flooding events and storm events.”

BTW: You should follow the Coastal Review at coastalreview.org. They know what they are talking about and know other experts who know what they are talking about, too. They have scientists, Copper Builders has stakeholders.

The article also points out flood forecasts are set to increase with sea level rising at a minimum of one foot by 2050.

“High-tide flooding is common along the river and has the potential to inundate much of the site,” Shew said. “And, in the future … most of the area will be inundated fully or partially with river waters. Putting golf courses, horse barns and cabins or single-family homes in this area are ill-advised.”

This is all particularly important as we in North Carolina watch our Western neighbors lose FEMA and recovery support from Helene's devastation. This will likely cost our state more than $200 million additional dollars. Not to mention, the Leland residents right here who were royally screwed in the aftermath of the Potential Tropical Cyclone 8 and the development practices that continue to put people in harms way and in financial devastation when these areas are not designated flood zones and insurance is like, "New number, who's this?" 

Since the purchase of the land in January for 4,000-unit development on roughly 1,000 acres, Castle Hayne residents and neighbors have vocally opposed Charlotte-based Copper Builders' plans for months. And while Copper Builders showed up to face over 200 citizens at a public meeting in February, they had their lawyer write a letter afterward to let everyone know it's private land and they have no obligation to listen to scientists or nearby neighbors.

Then, Unique Places to Save enters the chat. In March, Copper Builders founder Wade Miller sent a letter to NHC Commissioners and citizens to announce an agreement to sell 1,160 of the 4,080 acres to the Asheville-based nonprofit. This also includes reducing Hilton Bluffs from 4,000 to 3,000 units.

Sound a bit weird to you? You're not wrong. Kayne Darrell, founder of the Save Sledge Forest group and Citizens Against Titan, pointed out in Port City Daily that the density calculation already requires Copper Builders to conserve more than 3,000 acres. As well, conservation consultant Andy Wood confirmed that most of the property in the proposal includes wetlands already planned for conservation.

Darrell and Wood suggested the nonprofit instead focus on Sledge Forest’s southeastern upland areas, slated for clustered residential development.

“The proposal to use public and private monies to purchase unbuildable wetland forest is admirable,” Wood told Port City Daily. “But in natural resource conservation, we prioritize land acquisition funding to protect the most immediately imperiled habitat acres.”

There are still concerns for increased flood risk, traffic volume, inadequate infrastructure, and contaminated groundwater—do we even have energy left to unpack the nearby General Electric site, which the Department of Environmental Quality designated as an Inactive Hazardous Waste Site? Not me.

This isn't just about "saving trees," it's the run-off, the trash, the pesticides, all the literal shit running into the streams and rivers our drinking water comes from with development projects and aftermath impact.

Y'all have seen this movie before, right? Chemours, Titan Cement, Duke Progress (coal ash), hog farm waste, etc. Whether we give a damn about it now or not, no matter what the outcome is, we the people will live with it and pay for it one way or another.

If you're interested in more than just this general breakdown, the Save Sledge Forest site has some great resources about zoning and property rights versus community rights, etc., with additional verifiable sources.

Have some thoughts and opinions? Go to the rally on June 21 and visit sledgeforest.org.