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WBM july 2019
S
cientists and conservationists
have discovered a North Carolina tree
that is 2,624 years old, making the bald
cypress the fifth-longest living tree spe-cies
on earth.
Two creeks merge in Sampson
County, giving birth to the Black River,
which winds through Pender and
Bladen counties before joining the Cape
Fear River 66 miles downstream. In
one particular spot, the Black splits into
smaller channels and the floodplain wid-ens,
creating an enchanting place rather
unenchantingly named Three Sisters
Swamp.
Nature lovers and kayakers have long
admired Three Sisters, isolated and
quietly teeming with life. Cypress knees
and stumps jut out of the water, creating
space for green mosses to grow and ivies
