DuPont State Forest.

• Position: Brief Article

The setting is serene -- 2,200 acres of forest in Henderson and Transylvania counties bordered by three picturesque waterfalls. But the roar you hear isn't water tumbling over stones. Jt's the pitched battle over the fate of this private land in the middle of DuPont State Forest. On one side are Gov. Jim Hunt, Attorney General (and Democratic gubernatorial candidate) Mike Easley and conservationists. On the other, a South Carolina developer, the Transylvania County Board of Commissioners and property-rights advocates. Last year, South Carolina developer Jim Anthony outbid a conservation group to buy the tract, for $6.3 million, from Texas investors. He's built an equestrian center and plans 100 luxury vocation "cabins," a...