One hurricane after another has killed people and destroyed homes and businesses. On November 11, the Fayetteville Observer printed a Opinion-Editorial about how land conservation can reduce the impacts of flooding. View the article by Ron Sutherland and Sam Pearsall.
Through NC PIRG's web site, contact Governor Easley to ask him to support Land for Tomorrow!
Leaders in counties all over North Carolina are getting involved in Land for Tomorrow's County Committees. Contact us if you'd like to get involved with the campaign on the local level. 
Six more organizations have joined the coalition, bringing the total to 98 partners! The newest partners are Historic Charlotte, Inc., Mountain Keepers, Old Salem, Orange Water and Sewer Authority, Preservation Greensboro Inc., and Sierra Club-North Carolina Chapter.
And those existing partners are getting more involved every day. Some have published articles in newsletters, linked to the web site, and more. Countless organizations have forwarded this e-newsletter to their constituents. read more >>
Places That Matter: Conserving North Carolina's rivers, wetlands, floodplains, and coastal waters |
North Carolina is a state blessed with beautiful and bountiful rivers, streams, wetlands, floodplains and coastal waters. These treasures are in dire need of protection and conservation. The partnership has identified nine different types of "places that matter," and these are the among the priorities.
Land for Tomorrow is committed to preserving these areas and knows that their protection will provide benefits like: improved drinking water quality, secure commercial and recreational fishing industries, protected wildlife habitat, healthy wetlands, increased opportunity for recreational activities, reduction of loss of life and property through flooding, and long-term financial savings because it is more cost-effective to protect our waterways than to repair them once they are impaired.
Land for Tomorrow has identified priority water-based areas that need special attention. These areas include:
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Streams in water supply watersheds
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Non-impaired streams in the headwaters of watersheds
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Buffers should be adequate for water quality protection
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Streams where rare species live
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.
4705 University Drive, Suite 290, Durham, NC 27707
919.403.8558 x1009 or x1037; www.landfortomorrow.org
Kate Dixon, Director; Marge Anders Limbert, Outreach Coordinator
Places That Matter: Conserving North Carolina's rivers, wetlands, floodplains, and coastal waters continued...
North Carolina has some exciting examples of how areas that are home to wildlife and aquatic life have been protected, how flooded areas have been restored and how rules have been enacted to protect the water supply watershed in communities across the state. Read how the town of Princeville turned an area devastated by Hurricane Floyd into a new, vibrant park and how other areas across the state are coming up with creative ways to protect their water supplies and rivers.
Land for Tomorrow has made some bold recommendations and set some important goals for protecting more streams, floodplains and coastal waters. The organization’s five-year goal for these areas is to double the current rate of protection from 3,000 miles to 6,000 miles of stream buffers. Reaching this goal would allow the protection of water quality in an additional 17 percent of our state’s streams. Read Land for Tomorrow’s detailed plan for protecting this vital property type.
Protecting and maintaining our rivers, streams, wetlands, floodplains and coastal waters is essential if we as citizens of this state want to continue calling our home the “goodliest" land, as Sir Walter Raleigh’s surveyors did in 1785. Land for Tomorrow is dedicated to building awareness for why these areas are critical to the preservation and future of our state.
We need everyone’s help to protect North Carolina's rivers, wetlands, floodplains and coastal waters. The General Assembly has said it wants to preserve a million acres, but if we hope to achieve that goal, more funding is needed. Land for Tomorrow is encouraging the state to spend an additional $200 million annually for five years on conservation projects. To read all of Land for Tomorrow’s recommendations, download Saving the Goodliest Land report that was presented to legislators in June of this year.
The time is now. We will not get another chance. If you or your organization is interested in joining Land for Tomorrow’s efforts, learn how to get involved. +++
Thanks to the following partners that have recently published a Land for Tomorrow article in their newsletter:
- Historic Wilmington, Inc - Land for Tomorrow - Saving the Goodliest Land: A New Partnership for Historic Wilmington (pdf, 150 KB)
- Conservation Trust for North Carolina - Land for Tomorrow: Investing in North Carolina's Future (pdf, 1.48 MB)
- North Carolina Community Development Initiative - The Initiative backs Statewide Campaign to Save Land, Create Jobs: Land For Tomorrow Rallies for Bond Referendum
If you would like to include an article in your upcoming newsletter, feel free to contact us about it ahead of time. We can provide you with a draft to help you get started!
Other partners are getting involved in different ways. For example, NC PIRG has launched an e-activism web page to encourage individuals to contact Governor Easley to ask him to support Land for Tomorrow. The Open Space Collaborative presented information on Land for Tomorrow to 100 financial planners in Charlotte.
E-mail Marge, Land for Tomorrow's Outreach Coordinator, with ideas of how you would like to participate. We will help you with your efforts. +++