December 3, 2025 - For nearly four decades—through the original 1981 Wake Stone mining permit and eight  subsequent renewals and modifications—North Carolina State Parks and the public relied on two  essential protections: the 50-year Sunset Clause and the undisturbed buffers measured from the  top of bank of Crabtree Creek. After improper removal of those protections from the permit, and  years of Wake Stone’s legal resistance and repeated attempts to block review of these issues, the  Umstead Coalition ultimately secured a court decision restoring those long-standing protections  for William B. Umstead State Park. Wake Stone has argued that the company was unaware of the  Sunset Clause from 1981 to 2018. The public record, including detailed correspondence and  negotiations over the ‘sooner’ versus ‘later’ language in 1980–1981, makes that claim extremely  difficult to reconcile with the historical facts. Wake Stone accepted every one of its nine permits  without objecting to those terms. Justice has been done and the Sunset Clause and buffer  protections upon which we have all depended have been restored. 

Dr. Jean Spooner, Chair of The Umstead Coalition, “We are thankful for the Court’s decision to  restore the Sunset Clause and Crabtree Creek buffers on the Triangle Quarry to protect  William B. Umstead State Park. These conditions were negotiated in good faith in 1981  between Wake Stone, State Parks and other State agencies at the highest level, with the clear expectation these protections would be a permanent requirement of the mining operation. We thank the Honorable Rufus Edmisten, the AG in 1981 who had ensured these protections and testified as such in court.  We are thankful for the thousands of the Umstead Coalition members and citizens who supported our efforts over the past 9 years of this fight.”

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