Land for Tomorrow TODAY
www.landfortomorrow.org
October 30, 2006
in the news
Land for Tomorrow continues to garner press across the state. In the last month, opinion pieces and letters to the editor abound.
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in the legislature
The next Land & Water Conservation Commission meeting is the morning of Thursday, November 16, 2006 at the Legislative Office Building.


Autumn Along the Tar River
In Autumn, the Tar River is a beautiful place to be. Protecting this area is important for the river itself, and for the residents who rely on it for clean drinking water, recreation, and economic growth.

Photograph: NC Department of Commerce



How Can We Find the Money Needed to Protect North Carolina's Land, Water, and Historic Places?

The Land & Water Conservation Commission met for the first time on October 11 to begin answering the critical question of how we can find the funding needed to protect North Carolina's most special places.

 
Lucy Allen, Charlie Albertson, and William Wainwright - members of the study commission
Left to right: Sen. Charlie Albertson, Rep. William Wainwright, and Rep. Lucy Allen at the first meeting of the Land & Water Conservation Commission.

Co-chairs Representative Lucy Allen (District 49) and Senator Charlie Albertson (District 10) led a full agenda (pdf, 28 KB). See a list of commission members [pdf, 21 KB]).

The focus of this first meeting was twofold: (1) the conservation trust funds -- how they function, what is the overall demand for the funds, and how granting decisions are made; and (2) best practices for state conservation funding.

Dewitt Hardee and Maximilian Merrill presented to the commission about the Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund. They reported USDA data that shows North carolina is losing about 12 acres of farmland per hour (almost 300 acres a day). They also reported that fund's 2005 pilot program granted $44,000 to 5 projects, which leveraged $3.8 million from Federal and local sources. Notes from their presentation will be available at our commission web page later this week.

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Thanks to the supporters
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Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, Bill and Nancy Stanback, Cemala Foundation, Marion Stedman Covington Foundation, Educational Foundation of America, Foundation for the Carolinas and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Community Foundation, Amy Grissom and David Cohen and Ruth Ann Grissom, Robert Wilson Challenge Fund, and others. View a complete list of supporters.

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land for tomorrow
4705 University Drive, Suite 290, Durham, NC 27707
919.489.8129; www.landfortomorrow.org
Kate Dixon, Director; Marge Anders Limbert, Outreach Coordinator

The Land & Water Conservation Commission's First Meeting, continued...

Clean Water Management Trust Fund's director Bill Holman described the General Assembly's foresight in creating this trust fund, as it has had incredible impact on North Carolina's water quality. Even so, the fund is increasingly unable to reach far and wide throughout the state due to funding restraints. He said that Clean Water is able to fund only about one third of the requests that it receives. He also stressed the importance of getting ahead of the game. "Acquiring a stream buffer before it degrades is far more cost-effective than restoring a damaged stream. For restoration projects, we're paying by the foot. But for acquisition, we pay by the acre." Holman provided handouts, including a Fact Sheet (pdf, 230 KB), Annual Report (pdf, 4 MB).

Jonathan Howes represented the Park and Recreation Trust Fund (PARTF) as its Chair. Over the life of PARTF (12 years), there have been 874 applications received, and 487 grants awarded. View his presentation notes (pdf, 2.2 MB)and PARTF's annual report (pdf, 170 KB).

The Natural Heritage Trust Fund's Executive Director Lisa Riegel and Michael Leonard, Natural Heritage Trustee, presented to the commission (pdf, 670 KB). They mentioned that this trust fund is able to fund only about half of the project applications it receives. They also provided copies of their Fiscal Year 2006 Award Report (pdf, 2.2 MB).

Kate Dixon, Land for Tomorrow's director, addressed the aspects of Land for Tomorrow's 5-year plan that are not covered by the trust funds as they exist today (including historic restoration, working forests, and economic development related to natural resource protection [pdf, 90 KB]). She described how these efforts can fit in to the existing trusts.

To provide a perspective on where North Carolina stands nationally, and how we might learn from the accomplishments of other states, The Trust for Public Land's Will Abberger presented (pdf, 2.2 MB) national trends, state best practices, and benchmarking in North Carolina.

The members of the commission asked important questions about the federal moneys the state is not receiving. Because many federal funds require a match in order to be distributed, North Carolina's lack of capacity to produce matching funds puts us at a disadvantage. Commission staff are working with experts to collect information on missed funding opportunities.

The next meeting will be held at the General Assembly on November 16. Its agenda is to discuss in detail the available financing options for funding the plan.

Land for Tomorrow is committed to providing materials and presentations related to these commission meetings, including forthcoming agendas as they are available. View our Land and Water Conservation Commission webpage to learn about future meetings, to download materials, and to visit other related links.

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