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Oral History Interview with Bobby Kirk, October 28, 1985. Interview K-0013. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007).
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  • Abstract
    Bobby Kirk, a dairy farmer living near Cane Creek and the first president of the Cane Creek Conservation Authority (CCCA), discusses his opposition to the Cane Creek reservoir and speaks of some of the early steps residents took to organize against the project. He sees the reservoir as a poorly planned, poorly executed, and avoidable project founded on deceit and ignorance and driven by the influence of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The reservoir project added another layer of difficulty to Kirk's life: as a dairy farmer, he was already suffering from the financial trials of what some would call a dying profession (one Orange Water and Sewer Authority official did call it such as part of an effort to convince Kirk to give up his opposition). This interview provides a brief look at the frustrations inherent in facing down big business, whether that business is a university or a dairy conglomerate.
    Excerpts
  • Some thoughts on farmers' financial vulnerability
  • Opposing price controls for farmers
  • Creation of Long Meadows, a dairy co-op
  • Kirk's community has maintained its ethos for decades
  • Frustration with the Cane Creek reservoir project
  • UNC forced OWASA's hand in looking to Cane Creek for drinking water
  • Creation of the Cane Creek Conservation Authority
  • Tiring of grassroots activism
  • Incompetent management of the Cane Creek reservoir project
  • Learn More
  • Finding aid to the Southern Oral History Program Collection
  • Database of all Southern Oral History Program Collection interviews
  • Subjects
  • Environmental protection--North Carolina
  • Cane Creek (N.C.)
  • Dairy farming--North Carolina
  • The Southern Oral History Program transcripts presented here on Documenting the American South undergo an editorial process to remove transcription errors. Texts may differ from the original transcripts held by the Southern Historical Collection.

    Funding from the Institute for Museum and Library Services supported the electronic publication of this title.