By Mark Wineka
mwineka@salisburypost.com
North Carolina’s land and water conservation trust funds provided more than $545,000 for projects in Rowan County in 2008, according to the annual Green Book report released this week by Land for Tomorrow.
The majority of the $545,000 went to the Rowan County Soil and Water Conservation District, with the LandTrust for Central North Carolina receiving the rest.
To date, the state’s four environmental trust funds ó the Clean Water Management Trust Fund, Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund, Natural Heritage Trust Fund and Parks and Recreation Trust Fund ó have spent $10,047,921 in Rowan County to help conserve land and water.
In addition, $1,913,000 in grants have been shared with other counties.
Here’s a rundown of grants Rowan County has received since 1997 from the four different trusts:
Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Trust- 1999 ó Karriker Farm, $50,390.
– 2001 ó Barber/Floyd Farm, $217,350.
– 2008 ó LandTrust for Central North Carolina, $23,650.
– 2008 ó LandTrust for Central North Carolina, $135,271.
– 2008 ó Rowan County Soil and Water Conservation District, $362,100.
Clean Water Management Trust- 1998 ó LandTrust for Central North Carolina (South Yadkin River property), $500,000.
– 1999 ó Yadkin Basin Association, acquisition and planning connected to Grants Creek stormwater, $2,273,000.
– 2004 ó LandTrust for Central North Carolina, acquisition of Adams tract, South Yadkin, $465,000.
– 2005 ó N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, acquisition of Kannapolis tract, Second and Sloan creeks, $2,522,000.
– 2007 ó Town of Landis, $227,000.
– 2008 ó LandTrust for Central North Carolina, donated Mini/Shaver Farm, Yadkin River, $24,600.
Natural Heritage Trust Fund- 2005 ó City of Kannapolis tract, $1,697,560.
Parks and Recreation Trust Fund- 1997 ó Rockwell, Rockwell Park, $50,000.
– 1999 ó Salisbury, Salisbury Community Park, $250,000.
– 1999 ó Cleveland, Cleveland Town Park, $250,000.
– 2002 ó Rowan County, Nature Center Renovation, $250,000.
– 2004 ó Granite Quarry, Granite Lake Park, $250,000.
– 2004 ó Rowan County, Dunn’s Mountain Park, $250,000.
– 2006 ó Salisbury, Sports Complex Renovation, $250,000.
“Conservation funding is a major economic driver across North Carolina,” said Katherine Skinner of The Nature Conservancy and a Land for Tomorrow Executive Committee member. “The bottom line is that conservation funding is necessary to keep our state moving ahead.”
In addition to boosting the economy, Land for Tomorrow says, conservation funding also improves public health by protecting drinking water supplies and creating parks, trails and greenways where people can exercise.
In the 1980s and 1990s, the N.C. General Assembly created the trust funds to protect water quality, farms and wildlife, and to create and expand parks. They are funded through a combination of appropriations, personalized license plate sales and portions of the deed transfer tax.
Land for Tomorrow’s annual Green Book details projects the trust funds supported in the preceding year. Last year, the trust funds received 524 applications from local governments, state agencies and conservation nonprofits requesting a total of $354.1 million, but were able to provide funding of only $214 million, a 40 percent shortfall.
North Carolina is the 10th most populous state. More than 300,000 acres of forests, farms, stream banks, wildlife habitats and wetlands have been developed since 2005. North Carolina continues to lead the nation in the loss of family farms, and the number of stream miles that do not meet clean water standards has increased to 3,300.
Land for Tomorrow is a coalition of 240 conservation, business and agriculture groups and local governments committed to preserving and protecting North Carolina’s land, water and historic places.
For additional information about Land for Tomorrow, log on to www.landfortomorrow.org.