Local filmmaker and outdoor enthusiast Charlie Morris has been frequenting Bolin Creek and the surrounding forest for years.
“I’ve been going back to Bolin Creek forest as a trail runner, a mountain biker, a hiker, my kids have grown up playing back there,” said Charlie Morris. “When I used to homeschool my kids we used to organize adventure races back there for other homeschoolers. My kids just grew up there, and I always heard all along, ‘Hey have you heard they’re going to pave this?’ and I was always just like, ‘That sounds terrible!’”
In 2009, a plan was introduced to turn the OWASA easement along Bolin Creek into a paved greenway to encourage more people to ride bicycles as a primary mode of transportation. Some locals are concerned about the potential environmental impact and detriment to the forest.
“The problem with Department of Transportation money, and that’s how generally these things are built, is that you have to deal with Department of Transportation standards,” said Julie McClintock, the president of The Friends of Bolin Creek organization. “So that means a minimum of 30 feet clearing. If it’s on the sewer easement, it means you would have to have it really thick in order to withstand an OWASA truck. It would take all the trees within 30 feet and often times it’s more than 30 feet. If you go down there along the creek, you’ll see that the present OWASA line is immediately next to the creek, so if you do that you’re going to take all the vegetation on the creek. So, it’s just not going to be Bolin Creek when you’re done, if you should do that project.”
Locals like McClintock and Morris believe that the paved greenway would be detrimental to local plants and wildlife, and cause an increase in stormwater runoff leading to bank erosion.
Numerous times in Morris’s life he has watched forests and other outdoor go-to spots for hiking, biking, and rock climbing get turned into golf courses or shopping centers. When Morris heard about the plans to add a large paved greenway in Bolin Creek, he decided to act.
“That’s pretty much when I decided ‘Okay, I have to do something because what if this trail I’m looking at right here goes all the way into the woods and I never did anything about it?’”
With a budget of $0 and the help of Friends of Bolin Creek, local musicians and others dedicated to his cause, Morris set out to make a documentary called Bolin Creek Unpaved: Saving Carrboro’s Last Forest, about the natural beauty and diversity of Bolin Creek and the obstacles involved in trying to preserve it.
“I wanted to use technology for a good purpose, and to help people find an easy way to get informed about a very important issue,” Morris said.
Bolin Creek Unpaved: Saving Carrboro’s Last Forest premiers this Sunday at The ArtsCenter in Carrboro. Doors open at 3 p.m. and there will be drinks at the bar in the lobby and a live performance by the Bolin Creek Stringband.
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