Brumley Family Nature Preserve memorializes local philanthropists

A 613-acre Orange County nature preserve will be dedicated today to remember the life and legacy of a Chapel Hill family.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony will celebrate the Triangle Land Conservancy’s purchase of Brumley Forest and pay tribute to the late Julia and George Brumley III, who died in a plane crash in 2003.

N.C. Speaker of the House Joe Hackney, D-Chatham, and George Brumley’s sisters — Nancy Robitaille and Marie Foster — will be among those to speak at the celebration.

The Brumley Family Nature Preserve, located fewer than five miles north of Chapel Hill, contains about four miles of streams that lead into the Eno River.

The Eno forms the beginning of the Neuse River, the state’s third-largest river basin.

Brumley Forest is the second-largest undeveloped parcel of land in the county.

“I think that this is a very important land conservation project,” said Rich Shaw, Orange County land conservation manager. “It will protect wildlife and protect water quality.”

Shaw said the preserve will provide hiking trails as well as educational programs for the public.

Julia and George Brumley III, their two children and several other family members died when their plane crashed into a mountain in Kenya.

George Brumley III was a board member of the conservancy at the time.

The family had owned the forest since the late 1980s, and it was passed on to the Zeist Foundation after the accident.

George Brumley’s parents founded the Atlanta-based organization in 1989 to teach their five children the principles of giving back to the community and the environment. The foundation invests in organizations that serve education, culture and human services.

The foundation recently sold the land, which was appraised at $8.89 million, to the conservancy for less than half the price. The property was bought through donations, including a $3.3 million award from the N.C. Clean Water Management Trust Fund.

“The foundation is very excited about the Triangle Land Conservancy taking stewardship of the property,” said Kappy deButts, executive director of the Zeist Foundation.

The conservancy’s president, Kevin Brice, said in an e-mail that the preserve was made possible only through the collaborative efforts of conservation leaders.

He said the land will provide Orange County and the Triangle with “something truly special.”

“It is a way for the community to thank Julia and George Brumley and their children, Jordan and George IV, who made the Triangle a better place and were taken from us much too soon.”

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.