VALUE$ of Conservation Conference Highlights
Our state conference, March 30 - 31, 2005, focused on ways we are protecting some of North Carolina's most critical economies - tourism, farm and forest lands, seafood, military bases - through conservation. Many outstanding presenters shared their perspectives on the critical relationship between conservation and a healthy North Carolina economy, in which approximately 25 percent is derived from industries and business that directly rely on our state's natural resources.

• Speakers addressing the conference included former Gov. James B. Hunt Jr., Senate President Pro Tempore Marc Basnight and House of Representatives Majority Leader Joe Hackney.
• Secretary Carmen Hooker-Odom of the Department of Health and Human Services and Commerce Secretary Jim Fain clarified how intact natural systems support public health, economic development and tourism.
• William Schlesinger, dean of Duke University's Nicholas School of the Environment, spoke of the need to find economic solutions to environmental problems.
• Bill Medlin, executive director of the Yadkin-Pee Dee Lakes Project, an innovative citizen-based regional strategic planning initiative for the Uwharrie Lakes Region in central North Carolina, spoke of the initiative's challenges and economic benefits.
• Dr. David Jones of the N.C. Zoo talked of the choices we need to start making now to ensure that North Carolina will be sustainable for the 22nd century.
  
  
  Legislative Update
  The 2005 General Assembly is in full swing dealing with state budget woes and filing last minute bills. Attached you will find a list of introduced bills that we are tracking this session that pertain to our program.
  
  
  One North Carolina Naturally Maps Serve as Decision Support Tool
  Local and regional open space planning efforts provide invaluable new information to add to the statewide conservation plan. An updated version of the One North Carolina Naturally state map was released at the Value$ in Conservation conference in March. A printable version is available here. This new One North Carolina Naturally consolidated map features:
• Areas where population growth may be placing pressure on natural resources and open space
• Lands, either publicly or privately owned, managed for open space (e.g., parks, gamelands, agriculture/forestry research areas)
• Future focus areas with conservation plans based on ecological information or inventories of important areas identified within regional planning areas
• Regional plans developed by regional planning efforts across the state A second, dynamic version of the One North Carolina Naturally map is now available online to support conservation decision-making. Data from each local and regional open space planning effort is incorporated into this web-based N.C. Conservation Land Map Viewer where the data is continually updated.
  
  This online Decision Support Tool can provide key information vital to successful planning efforts. Using this interactive map viewer, local and regional planners, conservation organizations and others will be able to zoom in on specific areas of their community. Selected geospatial layers reveal critical features such as habitats, water bodies and infrastructure. Future versions of the conservation map will include statewide greenway and trail data as well as canoe trails and boat access points.
  
  Conservation Resources Toolkit Now Available
  Participants at One North Carolina Naturally regional meetings in November-December 2004 expressed a strong desire for tools that would support their conservation efforts. In response, DENR developed "North Carolina's Natural Network: Conservation Tools & Resources," which was released at the Value$ of Conservation Conference. This brochure provides a brief overview of available land and water conservation programs and contact information. A second printing will be available soon for widespread distribution to planners, government officials, conservancy groups and others with an interest in conservation.
  
  More extensive information on each of the programs described in the brochure will be available soon through One North Carolina Naturally web site, which is currently under revision. The types and sources of funding for conservation are provided in a detailed Conservation Programs Matrix.
  
  Resources available soon at www.oneNCnaturally.org
  
  
• Conservation toolkit
• Glossary of conservation terms
• NC 1-List Listserv sign-up
• Hyperlinks to partner agencies and organizations
  
  Conservation Activities In North Carolina
  Read about recent award, grants, land conservation activities and more.
  
  
  Regional Planning Updates
  The state was divided into eight regions to facilitate the conservation planning process. Progress reports on the planning efforts in each region are available at http://www.onencnaturally.org/pages/regionalprogress.
  
  DENR's Office of Conservation and Community Affairs is preparing for the next round of regional meetings within the next few months. These sessions will provide a means to determine appropriate next steps and to develop implementation strategies for the various regional plans. Specific projects will vary depending on the needs within each region.
  
  The Exhibit Hall at the Value$ of Conservation conference provided a great opportunity for the regional planning groups to showcase their regional plans and network with others. Special thanks are extended to these groups who displayed their region's future focus areas for conservation: Albemarle Commission, Cape Fear COG, Centralina COG / SEQL, High Country COG, Land-of-Sky Regional Council, Mid-East Commission, Triangle J COG, Upper Coastal Plain COG and Western Piedmont COG.
  
  Environment Benefits from Reducing
  Incompatible Development Near Military Bases
  The U.S. Department of Defense will announce plans to close and realign military bases and ranges in May. The Department of Defense has identified encroachment by incompatible development near military bases and ranges as one of its primary concerns. North Carolina is making significant efforts to help protect our bases and ranges from incompatible development that limits the capacity of the military facilities to carry out their missions. We strive to protect our military bases and ranges from encroachment, protect important conservation and recreation lands, preserve the cultural heritage of the region and sustain the ability of our military facilities and the communities near them to prosper.

  The Clean Water Management Trust Fund, Natural Heritage Trust Fund, Parks & Recreation Trust Fund, Wildlife Resources Commission, The Nature Conservancy, The Conservation Fund, Environmental Defense, N.C. Coastal Land Trust, the Sandhills Area Land Trust, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and its various divisions are working together with others to prevent and reduce incompatible development by acquiring conservation easements and conservation lands near military bases.

  Over the past five years more than 12,000 acres have been conserved to address incompatible use around our military installations. Currently, 11 projects totaling $47.5 million have been submitted to our state conservation trust funds to protect our military bases and ranges from encroachment by incompatible development. The following projects are now under consideration by the Clean Water Management Trust Fund, the Natural Heritage Trust Fund and the Parks & Recreation Trust Fund:
  
  
• 2,736 acres in the Stoney Creek watershed and accident potential zone near Seymour Johnson Air Force Base and the Neuse River (CWMTF has approved $3 million toward this project and will be funded through certificates of participation pending approval by the Council of State)
• 6,413 acres to protect Shaken Creek and Camp Lejeune in Onslow & Pender counties
• 580 acre Troutman tract near Drowning Creek and Camp Mackall in Hoke County
• 5,342 acres near Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station in Carteret and Craven counties, including a site near the Piney Island Bombing Range. (CWMTF has approved $3 million toward this project and will be funded through certificates of participation pending approval by the Council of State)
• 2,565-acre Clark tract to protect Carvers Creek and Fort Bragg/Pope in Cumberland County
• 4,225-acre Hancock Timber tract in Sandy Run Savannah/Shelter Swamp near Camp Lejeune in Onslow & Pender counties
• 669-acre Folkstone tract to protect Kings Creek and Camp Lejeune in Onslow County
• 1,027-acre Upchurch tract near Nicholson Creek and Fort Bragg in Hoke County (NHTF has approved funding $1.2 million for the uplands of the tract and CWMTF has an application pending for riparian areas on the tract for $700,000)
• 44-acre Glenn tract on the Little River and Fort Bragg in Moore County

  Another project of interest is the Military and Agricultural Economic Security in Eastern North Carolina initiative. This collaborative effort with the Conservation Fund, DENR and other partners is designed to avoid encroachment on currently undeveloped land adjacent to military bases and ranges and in flyover zones in eastern North Carolina. The project works with low-and moderate-resource farmers and farmland owners to promote sustainable, natural-resource-based economic activities for farms, forests, open space and water resources that are at particular risk of development.

  The 2004 General Assembly authorized the Clean Water Management Trust Fund, Parks & Recreation Trust Fund and Natural Heritage Trust Fund to borrow, with the approval of the governor, treasurer, and Council of State, up to $20 million to finance projects to protect our state's environment and our military bases. Based on this legislative directive, the state is able to address some of the most critical encroachment issues now, before incompatible development makes action difficult or impossible. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources will coordinate the work of the three trust funds on military projects this spring. Of the total authorized, $9.8 million remains available for protection of bases and ranges from incompatible development.

  As the state focuses conservation funding on mutual state-military interests, we have great partners in the Army and Marines that have matched state funds in the past to help protect both Fort Bragg/Pope AFB and Camp Lejeune. We hope this financial partnership between the Army, Marines and the state will continue and expand to include the Air Force at Seymour Johnson and Marines at Cherry Point. We also hope to work with the U. S. Forest Service and with the North Carolina congressional delegation to further protect open space near Cherry Point through expansion of the Croatan National Forest.

  Through these collaborative efforts, North Carolina has made great progress in identifying the important lands for compatible use around our military bases so the missions of our military bases can be retained and expanded in the future.