Wildlife on Public Lands: 7 Species That Rely on NC’s Parks, Forests, and Refuges

North Carolina is home to over five million acres of public land, comprising both state and federal properties. This means roughly 16% of the state’s land area is designated as public land, with the majority of the state being privately owned. 

Most wildlife is considered public trust resources and public lands typically provide large, contiguous, areas of habitat for species survival and connectivity for wildlife movement

Many of these public lands – especially large game lands, parks, and forests – contain vast, protected habitats where development pressures are limited. These lands offer refuge for wildlife in landscapes that are typically far less fragmented than much of the private or urbanized land areas. They also can preserve unique habitat types and ecological communities found nowhere else in the state.

Because these public lands boast extensive acreage and can be found in every region of North Carolina, numerous wildlife species rely on them in some way.

However, some species depend on public lands for their continued survival and presence in North Carolina.

In this blog, we’ll explore seven species of wildlife on public lands: where they live, the challenges they face, and the conservation efforts underway to protect them.

Red Wolves

The Red Wolf (Canis rufus), the world’s most endangered wild canid, depends heavily on public lands in eastern North Carolina for survival. After being declared extinct in the wild in 1980, Red Wolves were reintroduced to the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge (ARNWR) and the reintroduction efforts grew to include Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge which was established in the early 1990s, part of the only land area in the world where this species roams free. These protected areas offer large, minimally disturbed habitats that allow Red Wolves  to hunt, den, and raise their pups..

Federal public lands are critical not just for space, but for the conservation and protection they provide. While the risk for wolf-vehicle collisions still exists on these refuges, the vast, undeveloped space these lands offer helps to mitigate these potential threats. Additional efforts are underway to provide wildlife crossings near ARNWR to allow safe passage for Red Wolves, black bears, deer, and other species that utilize public lands. 

However, further collaboration between conservation groups, state and federal agencies, and private landowners is crucial to provide the habitat that Red Wolves need to continue to grow their numbers in North Carolina. Through Prey for the Pack, NCWF partners with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program to offer technical and financial support to landowners for habitat projects that benefit wildlife and meet landowner goals.

The Prey for the Pack program works with private landowners in eastern North Carolina’s Albemarle-Pamlico Peninsula to implement habitat improvements. Qualified landowners can receive up to 80% in financial cost-share, depending on their habitat plan and cooperation with Red Wolf monitoring.  These collaborations allow public and private lands to work together to provide habitat connectivity for Red Wolves and other wildlife species.

Cerulean Warblers 

The cerulean warbler (Setophaga cerulea), a species of concern, is a rapidly declining songbird that relies on public lands in North Carolina’s mountainous regions for critical breeding habitat. These tiny neotropical migrants depend on large tracts of mature deciduous forest, particularly in the Appalachian Mountains, where they nest high in the canopy. Public lands like the Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests provide some of the last remaining continuous forest cover needed to support viable breeding populations in the state.

Because cerulean warblers are highly sensitive to forest fragmentation and development, the protected and managed status of public lands and mature forests is essential to their survival. Without these intact public forest ecosystems, the cerulean warbler’s already fragile population would likely face even steeper declines.

Alongside federal forest management, the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (WRC), U.S. Forest Service, NCWF, and other partners are monitoring the distribution of cerulean warblers and other migratory birds in the Craggy Mountains, a 16,000 acre portion of Pisgah National Forest where the presence of cerulean warblers and other avian Species of Greatest Conservation Need is largely unknown. The knowledge gleaned from these studies may contribute to further land protection or conservation efforts to support this declining species.

Black Rails 

The Eastern black rail (Laterallus jamaicensis jamaicensis), a federally threatened species, is one of North America’s most elusive and imperiled birds, and it relies heavily on public wetlands and coastal marshes in North Carolina. This tiny, secretive rail requires shallow, seasonally flooded marshes with vegetation – habitats that are increasingly rare due to development, sea level rise, and habitat degradation. As a result, the population is declining by 9% a year, according to the draft NC State Wildlife Action Plan..

Public lands such as Mattamuskeet NWR, Alligator River NWR, and other coastal conservation areas provide some of the few remaining suitable habitats for this species.

Because black rails are so sensitive to habitat disturbance and water level changes, the protection and careful management of wetlands on public lands are vital. These areas offer some water control, restricted development, and targeted conservation efforts – all crucial for maintaining the delicate conditions black rails need to breed and forage. The WRC has plans to protect and restore hundreds of acres of this habitat on the coast of North Carolina.

Current measures to protect black rails are complicated as a result of their elusive nature. As such, monitoring and surveying for population distribution continues, as does management using fire and other disturbance methods to maintain the habitat that black rails need for survival.

NCWF, in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Coastal Program, is working to improve habitat for black rails in the Pungo Unit of Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge. A two-stage ditch system is being installed to improve water management capabilities in the cooperative farm fields and provide habitat for eastern black rails. In addition, a 43 acre block will be created and managed for shallow water and hummocks for black rail habitat. The shallow water will promote early successional, emergent wetland plants. Creation of this 43-acre wetland habitat will also benefit wintering migratory waterfowl and other secretive marsh birds.

Sea Turtles

The Loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta), a federally threatened species, depends on North Carolina’s public coastal lands for successful nesting. Public beaches within Cape Hatteras and Cape Lookout National Seashores, along with state-managed areas like Fort Fisher State Recreation Area, provide relatively undisturbed stretches of shoreline where female loggerheads can safely lay their eggs. These protected coastal lands are vital because loggerheads are highly vulnerable to threats such as coastal development, artificial lighting, beach traffic, and human disturbance during the critical nesting season.

Public land managers play a crucial role by implementing conservation measures including beach monitoring, nest protection, light pollution reduction, and seasonal access restrictions, all designed to protect adult female turtles and boost hatchling survival rates. 

Current proposed conservation efforts for loggerhead sea turtles include genetic testing and population surveys, protection of critical nesting habitat, evaluation and modification of harmful fishing gear, and research into the effects of climate change on sea turtle health and behavior.

St. Francis Satyr

The Saint Francis satyr (Neonympha mitchellii francisci) is a federally endangered butterfly found only in a few isolated wetlands within southern North Carolina, primarily on protected public lands. Its entire known population exists almost exclusively on Fort Bragg, a U.S. Army installation that includes extensive conservation zones. This butterfly depends on a very specific habitat: seasonally flooded sedge meadows and wet prairies maintained by natural or prescribed fire and occasional disturbance – conditions rarely found on private lands due to drainage, development, or suppression of fire.

Ironically, it is the military’s land management practices, such as the use of prescribed burns to maintain open landscapes, that have helped preserve the Saint Francis satyr’s fragile habitat. Ongoing conservation efforts on this federal property, including habitat restoration and population monitoring, are essential to the satyr’s survival and potential recovery.

Eastern Hellbenders 

The eastern hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis alleganiensis) is a large, fully aquatic salamander that depends on the clean, fast-flowing streams of western North Carolina’s public lands. Found in the Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests, hellbenders require cool, highly oxygenated water with plentiful large rocks under which they shelter, breed, and hunt. Because these sensitive amphibians are extremely vulnerable to water pollution, sedimentation, and habitat disturbance, protected public lands are often the places where high-quality stream conditions are maintained.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed listing the Eastern hellbender as endangered under the Endangered Species Act, which is currently under review. However, in the wake of Hurricane Helene, the status of North Carolina’s hellbender population and distribution is still unclear. 

In the meantime, the WRC is working cooperatively with the North Carolina Zoo to propagate Eastern hellbenders at fish hatcheries. Additional proposed conservation measures to assist Eastern hellbenders include legal protections around moving large rocks in hellbender habitat, which can disrupt habitat and crush hellbenders.

Hickory Nut Gorge Salamander

The Hickory Nut Gorge salamander (Plethodon auratus) is found only in the Hickory Nut Gorge area of western North Carolina, making it one of the most range-restricted salamanders in the state. This secretive, lungless salamander lives in cool, moist forested slopes, rocky outcrops, and shaded ravines, where it breathes through its skin and relies on stable microclimates. Much of its habitat overlaps with public lands, including parts of Chimney Rock State Park, Florence Nature Preserve, and other protected areas in the Gorge, which provide refuge from increasing development and habitat fragmentation.

Because the species has such a limited range and specific habitat needs, the protection offered by state parks, land trusts, and public conservation areas is vital to its survival. These lands help maintain intact forest cover, clean water, and undisturbed rocky terrain, all of which are essential for the salamander’s long-term viability. Conservation efforts on public lands – including habitat protection, invasive species management, and trail planning to reduce disturbance – are helping to safeguard the Hickory Nut Gorge salamander and other imperiled wildlife species.

Written by: 

 

– Bates Whitaker, NCWF Communications & Marketing Manager

 

 

– Dr. Liz Rutledge, NCWF VP of Wildlife Resources