The North Carolina Clean Water Management Trust Fund, the Natural Heritage Trust Fund and the Parks and Recreation Trust Fund joined with Ecosystem Enhancement Program and private land conservation groups across the state to save some of the state’s most pristine and ecologically significant natural areas from being lost to development. As a result, water quality and habitat for endangered and threatened species will be permanently protected, impact of growth around military bases will be reduced and more recreational opportunities will be available to the public.
For the first time in its nine-year history, CWMTF received full funding of $100 million from the North Carolina General Assembly, allowing CWMTF trustees to award 159 water quality improvement grants totaling $112.6 million in 2005. During the year, the Parks and Recreation Trust Fund provided $14.45 million for land acquisition for state parks and state natural areas. A total of 9,423 acres was added to the state parks system. The Natural Heritage Trust Fund awarded 28 grants totaling $23,293,789 to help protect 19,648 acres.
Million Acre Initiative
At the end of the fifth full year of the North Carolina Million Acre Initiative (Jan. 1, 1999 – Dec. 31, 2004), private and public land protection partners across the state have permanently protected an additional 352,090 “Million Acre” acres. These partners reported adding 71,451 of those acres during the 2004 calendar year. This past year’s activities represent an increase in the rate of land protection in North Carolina from the previous year. Each year, the secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources submits a report to the governor and the Environmental Management Commission. The document details the status of the Million Acre Initiative, reports on protected acres and offers a strategy for the future. Download the 2005 annual report in PDF format.
Key Conservation Projects
• A major expansion of Lake James State Park in Burke County was accomplished through the acquisition of 2,905 acres in early 2005. This major addition to the state park will allow for expanded recreational opportunities at this park and will also protect over six miles of shoreline of Lake James. Additionally, 1,425 acres were acquired on White Creek in Burke County to protect the corridor between Linville Wilderness and Lake James State Park. The Linville River borders the property, and this section of the river is designated as state-significant aquatic habitat and high-quality trout waters. Several rare species of fish and mussels live in the river. The site will be managed for public use by the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission.
• The General Assembly authorized two new state parks. At Carvers Creek State Park in Cumberland County, the N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation is purchasing a 1,100-acre tract from The Nature Conservancy. To support the creation of Hickory Nut Gorge State Park in Rutherford County, funds from the Natural Heritage, Clean Water Management and Parks and Recreation trust funds have been approved to purchase the 1,568-acre ‘World’s Edge’ tract.
• The acquisition of the 571-acre ‘Trout Club’ property on ‘The Peak’ at Elk Knob State Natural Area in Ashe County is part of the globally significant Long Hope Valley Natural Area, harboring numerous rare plant species and several high quality natural community types. Funding was provided by the Natural Heritage Trust Fund.
• The acquisition of the 208-acre Summit Center at Haw River State Park in Guilford and Rockingham counties more than tripled the park’s acreage and provides existing infrastructure for staff, visitor and meeting facilities.
• Three tracts totaling 407 acres were acquired for Mayo River State Park on the Virginia border. These tracts will provide the park with a northern section for visitor-use. Also, five other tracts totaling 491 acres were acquired for river corridor protection at this recently authorized new state park in Rockingham County.
• The acquisition of the 2,655-acre Sandymush tract in Buncombe and Madison counties is less than 20 miles from downtown Asheville in an area where population increased by 37 percent from 1990 to 2000, significantly higher than the statewide rate of 21 percent. The land has significant biological, scenic and recreational value, and contains 33 miles of streams.
• A 307-acre conservation easement purchased along the Flat River in Durham County will be managed by the Triangle Land Conservancy as open space. The land adjoins U.S. Army Corps of Engineers property above Falls Lake, and contributes to the protection of a wildlife corridor connecting Lake Michie, Flat River, Falls Lake and the Little River reservoir. The acquisition helps protect the water supply in Falls Lake.
• The 4,858-acre acquisition from The Nature Conservancy protects about 4,000 acres of wetlands and more than 29 miles of streams in Sampson County. The Great Coharie Swamp is an extensive cypress-gum swamp, and Great Coharie Creek is part of a high-quality blackwater stream system feeding into the Black River. Protection of the tract will contribute to filtration of runoff from adjacent hog farms.
• A conservation easement on nearly six miles of stream and more than 1,000 acres of wetlands on Drowning Creek Beaver Dam Pines in Moore County protects the nationally significant aquatic habitat in Drowning Creek, which is also designated a high-quality, Outstanding Resource Water. The creek contains two rare fish and other uncommon species, and flows into the Southern Pines water supply intake a few miles downstream.
• The acquisition of three tracts along the Green River in Henderson County helps protect 3,192 acres adjacent to Dupont State Forest and including a State Significant Natural Heritage Area and vital headwaters.
• A grant to Durham County helps protect New Hope Creek, which flows into Lake Jordan. The funds will be used to purchase 66 highly developable acres adjacent to Duke Forest.
• The North Carolina Coastal Federation receiving funds to be used for the purchase of the 18.8-acre Jones Island, which will become part of Hammocks Beach State Park. The project will increase protection of the pristine White Oak River in Onslow County.
Coastal Habitat Protection Plan
Implementation plans with specific action items have been approved for the Coastal Habitat Protection Plan, a landmark conservation package designed to protect and restore critical fisheries habitat. Enhancing oyster restoration and reducing pollution caused by stormwater runoff are among a list of actions being undertaken by DENR and its Marine Fisheries, Coastal Management and Environmental Management commissions to begin implementation of the plan. The implementation plans focus on coordination among the commissions and DENR, as well as developing new solutions through innovative approaches and partnerships. Copies of the CHHP Implementation Plan booklet are available through jimmy.johnson@ncmail.net.
State Nature Preserves
Through collaboration between N.C. Natural Heritage Program and the N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation, the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission and the N.C. Dept of Agriculture and Consumer Services, 50,247 acres have been dedicated as State Nature Preserves. This designation places the state's highest conservation label on 14 ecologically significant natural areas. Included are game lands along the Alligator River, Shocco Creek and the Neuse River; state parks including Mount Mitchell, Gorges and Crowder's Mountain; and the N.C. DA&CS Plant Conservation Preserve at Boiling Spring Lakes. The dedications result in part through requests by the Natural Heritage Trust Fund and the Clean Water Management Trust Fund as a condition of funding.
Completion of Weyerhaeuser Conservation Agreement
Nearly 6,000 acres of ecologically important lands have been protected over the past five years through a historic partnership between Weyerhaeuser Co., one of North Carolina’s largest private landowners, various conservation groups and state environmental agencies. The program, which concluded in September, led to a significant addition to Pettigrew State Park, three new Coastal Land Trust nature preserves, two conservation easements and six natural heritage registry agreements.
Coastal Access Projects
The Division of Coastal Management awarded $1.4 million in grants for 21 projects in 15 local communities for public access projects. The grants help pay for a variety of projects to improve access to coastal beaches and waters, including walkways, dune crossovers, restrooms, parking areas and piers. Funds also may be used for land acquisition or urban waterfront revitalization. The division also supported coastal land-use planning through $420,000 in grants to 30 local communities.
Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program
The Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program closed on 181 conservation easements so far this year. Permanent and 30-year easements now total 571 since the program began. This represents more than 400 miles of streams in the state. CREP is a joint effort of the N.C. Division of Soil and Water Conservation, the Clean Water Management Trust Fund, the Ecosystem Enhancement Program and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to address water quality problems of the Neuse, Tar-Pamlico and Chowan river basins as well as the Jordan Lake watershed area.
N.C. Conservation Tax Credit Program
The N.C. Conservation Tax Credit Program reviewed and certified 75 applications, facilitating the donation of 10,660 acres for conservation purposes. The donated value was estimated to be $76 million. Development of guidelines of “other similar land conservation purposes” continued, with consensus reached on several additional categories, and completion is expected in early 2006.
Conservation Grant Fund
Work has begun on the Conservation Grant Fund, for specific use in providing stewardship for state-held conservation easements. Through the Military Support Act, $1 million was secured for collateral cost related to buffering military training areas and administrative preparations have begun.
Forest Development Program
The state Division of Forest Resources reached a milestone in its reforestation efforts in 2005. In April, state officials announced that 1 million acres of trees have been planted in North Carolina soil using money from a state-funded program that reimburses private landowners for some of the costs to reforest their property. The Forest Development Program was established in 1978 and is the primary mechanism the division uses to encourage people to reforest their property.
Ecosystem Enhancement Program
The Ecosystem Enhancement Program completed the two-year transition period mandated in its founding agreement among NCDENR, NCDOT and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers with an unblemished track record in pursuing its core mission of offsetting unavoidable environmental damage from transportation-infrastructure improvements. In its first two years of operations, the initiative facilitated more than $1.9 billion in road construction across the state without a single project delay because of a lack of mitigation. Along with managing nearly 400 stream and wetland restoration projects, the EEP collaborated on the preservation of nearly 35,000 acres of natural areas for future generations.
Protecting military installations from encroaching development
The trust funds and EEP worked to protect military installations from encroaching development.Gov. Mike Easley committed his administration to supporting the missions of the military stationed within North Carolina. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources has backed that commitment by helping to ensure that the state’s bases and training areas can support the missions of the Army, Navy, Marine and Air Force now and in the future. The agency and other partners are focusing on helping military bases and training areas address problems and threatened problems caused by incompatible development nearby. In May, Easley announced that 37,445 acres within five miles of North Carolina’s military bases have been protected from incompatible development since 1995.
Recent Projects
• The acquisition of two tracts totaling 1,349 acres in the Shelter Swamp Creek Flatwoods significant natural heritage area in Pender County will help protect water quality and a wildlife-conservation corridor connecting Holly Shelter Game Land to Camp Lejeune Marine Base. It is also located within Camp Lejeune’s designated noise buffer zone.
• Funds were provided for the acquisition of several tracts by the North Carolina Coastal Land Trust to help protect Cherry Point and Piney Island bombing range.
• The acquisition of the 377-acre Beck II tract at Folkstone by the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission will help protect Camp Lejeune/New River.
• The acquisition of 850 acres by Goldsboro and Wayne County in cooperation with the North Carolina Coastal Land Trust will support the accident potential zones around Seymour Johnson Air Force Base.
• The acquisition of the 457-acre Adirondack tract by the N.C Wildlife Resources Commission helps protect Camp Lejeune.
• A 194-acre acquisition of a conservation easement on the Troutman tract on Drowning Creek by The Nature Conservancy protects Camp McCall.
• A 1,429-acre expansion of the Angola Bay Game Land, buffering Camp LeJeune, will contribute to the linking of Angola Bay to the Holly Shelter Game Land and provide a landscape approach to protecting these nationally-significant natural areas.
• A 1,027-acre expansion of the Sandhills Game Land provides a much needed buffer along Fort Bragg's southern boundary, the area contains the Redwing Seeps Significant Natural Heritage Area, which supports two rare plants and six rare animal species.
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