Trust Funds Joint Meeting Builds Support for
State’s Effort in Strategic Conservation Planning

Stakeholders with North Carolina’s four conservation trust funds made history in March when they met in Raleigh to discuss a new, unified approach to curb the loss of important conservation and working lands. The meeting was the second in as many years for the Clean Water Management Trust Fund, Natural Heritage Trust Fund and the Parks and Recreation Trust Fund. For the first time, the Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund joined the discussion. The farmland fund was created in 1986 but not regularly funded. In recent years, the farm fund was renamed, given an advisory committee and a $50,000 budget.

“By including the Agricultural and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund, our working lands will be better represented in our discussion,” said Bill Ross, secretary of the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources. “The goal (of the joint meeting) is to determine how to build on last year’s momentum and move our partnership to the next level.”

Certainly, PARTF, CWMTF and NHTF have used their combined revenue to help conserve many significant areas, including Hickory Nut Gorge State Park and Chimney Rock, the Elk Knob State Natural Area and Lake James State Park. But Ross and others stressed that much more needs to be done. “We brought the trust funds together for the first time last year, and found the joint meeting has helped foster collaboration and communication,” said Bob Gordon, NHTF chairman. “This is especially important on projects that require joint funding.”

Each year, North Carolina loses about 100,000 acres of farm and forests to development. The need to better organize our conservation efforts by working together is vital as sprawling development is expected to increase with the state’s exploding population, say leaders from the four funds.

"An important component will be increasing funding for the four trust funds. For instance, the Clean Water Management Trust Fund has been able to fund only about one-third of the requests received in the last 10 years," said Phil Baddour, the fund’s chairman.

The Land and Water Study Commission, which was appointed by the General Assembly, brought attention to the gap in conservation funding, and pointed out the need to optimize the state’s current investment, prioritize land acquisition and conduct long-term strategic planning. Currently, Gov. Mike Easley’s proposed budget calls for $6 million for the Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund and $100 million in special financing for state conservation land acquisitions.

Another important step is planning. For that reason, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources is working with many partners to create a better map that the trust funds can use to optimize the state’s limited funding resources for land acquisition. DENR is developing a planning process that will identify, evaluate and prioritize a network of essential ecosystems.

"The process also will be used to coordinate conservation efforts, inform funding decisions and guide conservation efforts in the state for the next 25 years," said Richard Rogers, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ assistant secretary for Natural Resources.

A breakout session enabled leaders of the four funds to provide some direction in the planning effort. In the end, stakeholders agreed on several areas that would make a conservation plan useful: a map detailing protection priorities, a working lands component, a collaborative effort to produce the plan and monitor progress, and an outreach effort to share the plan with the public.

For a more detailed summary of this historic meeting click here.

Parks and Recreation Trust Fund Revenue from the Parks and Recreation Trust Fund was directed to 14 state parks and three state natural areas for land acquisition or capital improvement projects at the Parks and Recreation Authority’s fall quarterly meeting.

The authority approved capital improvement projects projected to cost $16.95 million for six state parks. This includes $2.7 million set aside for major maintenance, trail maintenance, exhibit maintenance and construction reserve. The remaining money was awarded to these projects:
• $500,000 for design of a visitor center and east district office at the Cliffs of the Neuse State Park.
• $200,000 for marina channel dredging and facility improvements at Carolina Beach State Park.
• $2.2 million for a Coastal Education Center and exhibits at Fort Macon State Park.
• $4.7 million for initial facility development to include roads and infrastructure at Gorges State Park.
• $500,000 for repairs and renovations to The Summit environmental education center at Haw River State Park.
• $5.1 million for the initial phase of development on a 2,915-acre property acquired from Crescent Resources Inc. in 2004 at Lake James State Park.
• $836,053 for expansion of group camping facilities at Stone Mountain State Park.

The authority set aside $14.4 million for land acquisition projects at seven state parks and three state natural areas. The state parks are at Crowders Mountain, Eno River, Hickory Nut Gorge, Lake Norman, Medoc Mountain, Mount Mitchell, New River, Pettigrew, South Mountains and Stone Mountain. The state natural areas are at Elk Knob, Lower Haw River and Occoneechee Mountain.

The allocations included $1 million earmarked for tracts to be added in both Ashe and Watauga counties at Elk Knob State Natural Area. At Medoc Mountain State Park, a $1.1 million allocation will be directed toward adding 1,507 acres of property formerly owned by International Paper Corp. and currently being held by The Nature Conservancy. The authority directed $700,000 to Crowders Mountain State Park, where property is being appraised near the northeast section of the park. The largest single land allocation was $7 million set aside for the newly authorized Hickory Nut Gorge State Park, where negotiations are under way for tracts in the World’s Edge and Rumbling Bald areas.

The authority also approved $150,000 in funding for two natural resource studies – an archaeological survey of newly acquired property at Lake James State Park, and a study of trout management practices on Bullhead Creek at Stone Mountain State Park.

On May 11, Parks and Recreation Authority will meet in Raleigh to review grant applications from local governments. A complete listing of the grant recipients for 2006 is posted at http://www.partf.net/2006.html.

N.C. Natural Heritage Trust Fund Trustees with the N.C. Natural Heritage Trust Fund have awarded $12.3 million to help the state preserve more than 6,800 acres of some of North Carolina’s most culturally and ecologically significant land.

Many funded projects call for funding from other sources, including the state’s other trust funds and local government matching funds. Only about half of the applications could be funded, leaving more than $11 million in requests un-funded or deferred to next fall’s awards meeting.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources was awarded $381,000 to inventory natural areas and aquatic ecosystems, and $3.93 million for four land acquisition projects, including:
• Hickory Nut Gorge State Park in Rutherford County,
• Sandy Run Savannas State Natural Area in Onslow County,
• Elk Knob State Natural Area, and
• Rendezvous Mountain Educational State Forest in Wilkes County.

The Department of Cultural Resources received $1.37 million for four land acquisition projects, including:
• Contentnea Creek Archeological Preserve near Wilson,
• historic Cedar Grove plantation home in Huntersville,
• a park near the historic Glencoe Mill Village in Alamance County,
• Mission Ridge property overlooking the Valle Crucis National Register Historic District in Watauga County (resulting in the donation of a preservation easement on the historic Mast General Store).

The Wildlife Resources Commission received $4.76 million for four land acquisition projects, including:
• land formerly owned by International Paper in eastern North Carolina,
• Jessups Mill Pond State Significant Area in Cumberland County,
• N.C. State University’s New Hope Valley Forest in Durham and Chatham counties,
• Weyerhaeuser Roquist Pocosin tract in Bertie County.

The N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services was awarded $1.86 million for three land acquisition projects, including:
• Eastwood Plant Conservation Preserve in Moore County,
• Dulany Bog Plant Conservation Preserve in Jackson County,
• Schulkens Savanna Plant Conservation Preserve in Columbus County.

More information about funded projects is available at http://www.ncnhtf.org/.

Clean Water Management Trust Fund The North Carolina Clean Water Management Trust Fund will consider 186 new requests for $155 million in water quality grants in its 2007 granting period. Last year, in order to improve efficiency, CWMTF's board of trustees reduced the number of grant cycles, or times when applications for funding can be submitted, from two to one.

Applications came from all regions of the state. Some proposed projects address the long-term protection of very high quality waters while others are intended to clean up existing pollution problems. Many of the projects are to acquire lands adjacent to streams, so that these lands might be preserved as a buffer to insure the protection of these waterways. Other projects seek assistance to deal with failing wastewater systems or septic tanks. Some projects are aimed at restoring degraded lands or creating better stormwater management.

The CWMTF Board of Trustees is scheduled to begin reviewing the applications in June. Final decisions will be based on water quality benefits and availability of funds as appropriated by the N.C. General Assembly.

Specific March 1, 2007, grant applications include requests from:
• the North Carolina Coastal Federation for $1.05 million to help purchase the Morton Farm tract and help protect Webb Creek in the White Oak River Basin in Onslow County.
• the Trust for Public Land for $5.2 million to help purchase three tracts along Buffalo Creek in the Neuse River Basin in Wake County.
• the North Carolina Division of Soil and Water Conservation for $4.2 million for the next phase of the state's floodplain swine lagoon buyout program.

A complete list of projects submitted on March 1, 2007 can be found on line at http://www.cwmtf.net/2007list.htm.