Jones Island
Jones Island lies seven miles northeast of Bear Island at the mouth of White Oak River. Prominently situated in middle of the river about a mile off the town of Swansboro, Jones Island is the dominant landmass in the Lower White Oak. It is characterized by low upland rises at the southeast and northwest ends and its marshes and small ponds along its eastern shore. The northwestern third of the island supports coastal fringe evergreen forest, which is considered to be a rare coastal ecosystem type. Loblolly pine and live oak trees are prominent on the property and Eastern Painted Bunting have been seen nesting on the island. Breeding populations of this sparrow-sized member of the finch family are rare in North Carolina. In October 2007, 17 acres (0.069 km2) of the island permanently became part of Hammocks Beach State Park. The island, which is considered a regionally significant natural heritage area, was zoned for residential development and will now be protected for years to come.
Read more about this topic: Hammocks Beach State Park
Famous quotes containing the words jones and/or island:
“Men’s hearts are cold. They are indifferent. Not all the coal that is dug warms the world. It remains indifferent to the lives of those who risk their life and health down in the blackness of the earth; who crawl through dark, choking crevices with only a bit of lamp on their caps to light their silent way; whose backs are bent with toil, whose very bones ache, whose happiness is sleep, and whose peace is death.”
—Mother Jones (1830–1930)
“I candidly confess that I have ever looked on Cuba as the most interesting addition which could ever be made to our system of States. The control which, with Florida, this island would give us over the Gulf of Mexico, and the countries and isthmus bordering on it, as well as all those whose waters flow into it, would fill up the measure of our political well-being.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)