Plants and Soils of the Walnut Wetlands
The Neuse River Basin
The river gets its name from the Neusiok, an early Native American people
whose name means "peace". The Neuse River basin drains land
in 19 counties and contains about one sixth of the state's population.
The Neuse River is estimated to be 2 million years old. Archeological
evidence indicates the banks of the Neuse were settled approximately 14,000
years ago. Early Native American settlers included the Tuscaroras, Coree,
Neusiok, and Secotan tribes. Fish and game were plentiful. Later, European
settlements sprang up along the Neuse as farming and forestry took hold,
although water commerce was not practical much above Kinston at the fall
line. Today, more than 1.5 million people live in the watershed, either
getting their drinking water from and/or discharging wastewater into the
Neuse. (Neuse River Foundation).
The Neuse River basin covers 9.2 million acres of land area. Of that total, roughly 490,000 acres are forested wetlands, while 24,000 acres are non-forested wetlands such as salt and freshwater marshes.