Recognizing South Fork Passage State Trail.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
S 1
SENATE BILL 329

Short Title: Recognizing South Fork Passage State Trail. (Public)
Sponsors: Senators Overcash, Hollo, and Alexander (Primary Sponsors).
Referred to: Rules and Operations of the Senate
March 19, 2025
*S329-v-1*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO AUTHORIZE THE SOUTH FORK PASSA GE STATE TRAIL AND T O 2
PROVIDE FOR ITS ADDITION TO THE STATE PARKS SYSTEM. 3
Whereas, the South Fork of the Catawba River (South Fork) has rich cultural, 4
historical, natural, economic, and recreational value to the people of this region and North 5
Carolina; and 6
Whereas, the South Fork was the site of the Battle of Ramsour's Mill during the 7
American Revolution, in which local patriots, outnumbered more than 3-to-1, defeated a Loyalist 8
militia; and 9
Whereas, during the Civil War, a detachment of Union soldiers marched to destroy 10
the Pinhook Mill on the banks of the South Fork, but upon discovering the mill owner was a 11
childhood neighbor of the soldiers' commanding officer, the mill was spared and only the 12
adjacent bridge across the South Fork was burned, leaving only the bridge's stone pillars which 13
still stand in the South Fork today; and 14
Whereas, the South Fork generated the hydropower for the region's textile and 15
industrial boom in the 19th and 20th centuries, and many of the historic structures from that era 16
remain today along the riverbanks; and 17
Whereas, there are currently 3,600 acres of protected land along the banks of the 18
South Fork River, and these lands and the river are home to rare, di verse, and ecologically 19
important animals and plant species, including bald eagles, bigleaf magnolias, seagreen darters, 20
bog turtles, monarch butterflies, Schweinitz's sunflowers, and Santee chubs; and 21
Whereas, the Metropolitan Statistical Area through which the South Fork River flows 22
is home to 2.7 million people, which is 25% of the population of North Carolina; and 23
Whereas, this rapidly growing region has no State -designated recreational facilities; 24
and 25
Whereas, the South Fork would connect to the Wilder ness Gateway State Trail, a 26
State trail in Catawba, Burke, McDowell, and Rutherford Counties, which connects to the 27
Overmountain Victory State Trail and Hickory Nut Gorge State Trail; and 28
Whereas, 15 miles of land trail and 10 miles of paddle trail are alr eady completed; 29
Now, therefore, 30
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 31
SECTION 1. The General Assembly finds: 32
(1) The proposed South Fork Passage Trail corridor offers numerous economic 33
benefits by expanding and enhancing the existing tourism indu stry. The 34
diverse hydrology of the river in the corridor includes shoals, flatwater, class 35
II rapids, and river tributaries that support a variety of recreational uses. 36
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 Senate Bill 329-First Edition
(2) The South Fork Passage Trail corridor is home to Spencer Mountain, the third 1
highest peak in the Charlotte region, and the corridor passes through terrain 2
that is emblematic of the Piedmont region of the State. 3
(3) The South Fork Passage Trail corridor also contains ecologically important 4
habitat, including diverse wetlands, hardwood for ests, and grasslands, that 5
supports numerous State and federal threatened or endangered species. 6
(4) The creation of a 60 -mile hiking and paddling trail connecting Jacob Fork 7
Park in Catawba County through Betty G. Ross Park in Lincoln County to 8
George Poston Park, Goat Island Park, and Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden in 9
Gaston County would expand existing recreational offerings and support 10
ongoing efforts to conserve the South Fork of the Catawba River watershed. 11
SECTION 2. The General Assembly authorizes t he Department of Natural and 12
Cultural Resources (Department) to add the South Fork Passage Trail in Catawba, Lincoln, and 13
Gaston Counties to the State Parks System as a State trail, as provided in G.S. 143B-135.54(b). 14
The trail, which will run alongside th e South Fork River, shall begin at the confluence of the 15
Henry Fork and Jacob Fork at Jacob Fork Park and end at the boundary between the State and 16
South Carolina on Lake Wylie. 17
SECTION 3. The Department shall support, promote, encourage, and facilitate t he 18
establishment of trail segments on State Park lands and on lands of other federal, State, local, and 19
private landowners. On segments of the South Fork Passage State Trail that cross property 20
controlled by agencies or owners other than the Department's Division of Parks and Recreation, 21
the laws, rules, and policies of those agencies or owners shall govern the use of the property. 22
SECTION 4. The requirement of G.S. 143B-135.54(b) that additions be 23
accompanied by adequate appropriations for land acquisition, development, and operations shall 24
not apply to the authorization set forth in this act; provided, however, that the State may receive 25
donations of appropriate land and may purchase other needed lands for the South Fork Passage 26
State Trail with existing funds in the Land and Water Fund, the Parks and Recreation Trust Fund, 27
the Complete the Trails Fund, the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund, and other available 28
sources of funding. 29
SECTION 5. This act is effective when it becomes law. 30