Oral history interview with Bobby Kirk, October 28, 1985

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 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.