AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
The Triangle Land Conservancy has acquired another 69 mostly forested acres along the Neuse River in southeastern Wake County that will allow it to expand a nature preserve laced with walking and off-road bike trails.
Read more UNC men’s basketball guard won’t play in exhibition vs. Charlotte
The land abuts the 447-acre Bailey and Sarah Williamson Preserve off Old Country Mial Road as well as the Neuse River Greenway Trail near where it crosses into Johnston County and becomes the Clayton River Walk. The Clayton section of trail passes through 329 acres owned by the state and leased by the town for trails that extend from the Williamson Preserve.
The conservancy also holds an easement that will prevent development of 290 acres across the river, helping maintain a forested oasis in one of the fastest-growing areas in the state.
“It’s great to have this huge contiguous hub of open space,” said Leigh Ann Hammerbacher, the group’s director of conservation for the east side the Triangle.
TLC will eventually develop trails through the pine and hardwood forests on what it calls the Williamson Neuse River Connector. In the meantime, it provides a natural buffer along Williamson’s existing trail system and the Neuse River Greenway Trail, which passes through it.
TLC paid $1.4 million for the 69 acres, with $734,700 coming from the N.C. Land and Water Fund and $350,000 from Novo, the pharmaceutical company that has its largest U.S. factory just downriver in Clayton. The company approached the conservancy about helping with a project that would help protect the Neuse River, Hammerbacher said.
Read more Ex-UNC men’s basketball coach Hubert Davis has landed his next gig. What’s he doing?
Often when big companies want to help with conservation, they work with big nonprofits like The Nature Conservancy, Hammerbacher said.
“So this was really kind of ground-breaking in that this global company invested in a local land trust and local land protection,” she said.
The gift reflects the company long known as Novo Nordisk’s presence in the Triangle for more than three decades, said spokeswoman Shaylah Nunn Jones.
“Supporting the protection of this land reflects our commitment to investing not only in lasting health, but also in the environmental and community resources that will help our region thrive for generations to come,” Jones wrote in a statement.
Read more How did NC State players react after Dave Doeren’s firing? ‘A lot of emotions’
This story was originally published October 28, 2026 at 3:45 PM.