• State Funding for Conservation Projects in Buncombe County (aka "Green Book" data)
• Example of conservation projects in Buncombe County funded with state trust fund money:
  Restoring the Swannanoa River
  RiverLink is working with the Town of Black Mountain and Montreat College to reverse the recent degradation of water quality in the Swannanoa River by stabilizing the stream banks and restoring buffers in the town’s Brock Regional Park and on land recently purchased by Montreat College. A CWMTF grant for $550,000 will help pay for work to reduce sediment in the river from 219 to less than 30 tons per year. is working with the Town of Black Mountain and to reverse the recent degradation of water quality in the Swannanoa River by stabilizing the stream banks and restoring buffers in the town’s Brock Regional Park and on land recently purchased by Montreat College. A grant for $550,000 will help pay for work to reduce sediment in the river from 219 to less than 30 tons per year. is working with the Town of Black Mountain and to reverse the recent degradation of water quality in the Swannanoa River by stabilizing the stream banks and restoring buffers in the town’s Brock Regional Park and on land recently purchased by Montreat College. A grant for $550,000 will help pay for work to reduce sediment in the river from 219 to less than 30 tons per year. is working with the Town of Black Mountain and to reverse the recent degradation of water quality in the Swannanoa River by stabilizing the stream banks and restoring buffers in the town’s Brock Regional Park and on land recently purchased by Montreat College. A grant for $550,000 will help pay for work to reduce sediment in the river from 219 to less than 30 tons per year. is working with the Town of Black Mountain and to reverse the recent degradation of water quality in the Swannanoa River by stabilizing the stream banks and restoring buffers in the town’s Brock Regional Park and on land recently purchased by Montreat College. A grant for $550,000 will help pay for work to reduce sediment in the river from 219 to less than 30 tons per year. is working with the Town of Black Mountain and to reverse the recent degradation of water quality in the Swannanoa River by stabilizing the stream banks and restoring buffers in the town’s Brock Regional Park and on land recently purchased by Montreat College. A grant for $550,000 will help pay for work to reduce sediment in the river from 219 to less than 30 tons per year.
• In an article in the Smoky Mountain News, several farmers say that they want to put their farms in conservation easements if there were some seed money to help them do so. Land for Tomorrow's passage would be instrumental in making this happen across the state. View the article.

Agricultural Development And Farmland Preservation Trust Fund

• North Carolina has lost more farms than any other state, tying for first place with Florida and Tenneessee. We now surpass New Jersey as the 10th most populous state. In the face of this rapid change, farmers across North Carolina are desperately seeking ways to save their farms.  The tremendous interest in farmland preservation was demonstrated in 2006 when the NC Agricultural Development and Farmland Trust Fund put out a call for applications for small grants from its $50,000 state appropriation, the first funding the Trust Fund had received since 2003.  The Trust Fund received 23 grant applications requesting a total of $576,000 from across the state, which would have leveraged more than $9 million in projects. Given the limited dollars available, only five grants could be made, but those grants leveraged another $3.4 million in project value through donated easements and other matching funds.
• Funding in Buncombe County includes a grant for the transaction costs of a conservation easement to protect a 75-acre organic produce and livestock farm in Buncombe County. The farmers are donating the value of the easement, and the grants will pay associated costs such as surveys, title search, and funding to ensure future monitoring of the easement.
• This trust fund’s work with limited dollars demonstrates the value of the State’s investment in our farms and forests. It is inspiring to imagine what the fund will do when it is adequately financed.