Every year, thousands of people enjoy the wind, waves and sand of North Carolina’s coast by walking, biking and fishing at “The Point,” the undeveloped southern tip of Topsail Island.
Plenty of coast-centric wildlife, including shorebirds and loggerhead sea turtles, join the visitors to share 150 acres (about twice the area of a large shopping mall) of beaches, dunes, salt flats, maritime shrub forest and estuarine wetlands.
And it’s going to stay that way.
The North Carolina Coastal Land Trust says it has raised the $8 million needed to buy and protect The Point from development.
The area is zoned for conservation, but because of its unique scenic location on the Atlantic Ocean, New Topsail Inlet and Banks Channel, there have been multiple efforts to develop the land. The most recent came from Raleigh tech company CEO Todd Olson, who wanted to buy the property from the three families who own it. Olson planned to rezone and build on 20 acres (about the area of Chicago’s Millennium Park) and save the rest.
The planning board denied the request, and the plan was withdrawn in December 2023 because of public pushback.
The proposal renewed public interest in preserving the area. Conserve the Point, which was born in 2005 after the property’s longtime owners first put it on the market, was restarted.
The group contacted the Coastal Land Trust, which opened negotiations with the owners in early 2024. The deal gave the trust until March 2025 to secure $8 million to purchase The Point.
The Coastal Land Trust said more than 760 individual donors gave $1.5 million to the effort. The project also received grant funding from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, North Carolina Land and Water Fund and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s North American Wetlands Conservation Act grant program.
“The private fundraising was made possible in this short timeframe because of the dedication of a team of people who were committed to seeing the preservation of the south end and the generosity of individuals who understood this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to preserve this natural treasure,” Coastal Land Trust Executive Director Harrison Marks told Port City Daily.
Conserve the Point cofounder Roy Costa told Pender County Commissioners at their January meeting, “Protecting this unique and natural land of the island, which is home to so many threatened and endangered species of birds, plants, and sea turtles, is an incredible conservation gift to give to our children, grandchildren, and future generations.”
The Coastal Land Trust plans to transfer the property to the State of North Carolina to be managed by the Division of Coastal Management.