Other Conservation Planning Efforts

North Carolina is fortunate to have many successful partnerships that are engaged in conservation planning. Whether statewide or regional, these planning efforts contribute greatly to maintaining the state's green infrastructure.

Finding Projects in Your Area

You can use the Interactive Map Viewer to find out which of these efforts are working in a specific part of the state. The "Conservation Contacts" layer allows users to click and drag a box around an area of interest with the Identify Tool and find potential project partners.

Learning About Planning Efforts

More than 50 local, regional and state groups have conservation land use planning efforts underway. Brief descriptions of the work being done by many of these groups is included here.

Click titles below to get additional information.

Statewide

Coastal Region

Piedmont Region

Mountain Region

STATEWIDE

Mountains-to-Sea Trail
The Mountains-to-Sea Trail of North Carolina is a 935+ mile trail of footpaths, roads and state bike routes. This trail started in 1973 when the North Carolina General Assembly passed the North Carolina Trails System Act. The State Trails Program within the N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation plans and coordinates the development of the Mountains-to-Sea State Trail. The Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail is a non-profit organization designed to make the vision of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail a reality, through completion and long-term stewardship of a 1,000 mile trail spanning North Carolina's diverse cultural and natural features from Clingmans Dome in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to Jockey's Ridge State Park on the Atlantic Coast.

The Conservation Trust for North Carolina
The Conservation Trust for North Carolina is a non-profit conservation organization that works with governments, agencies, local land trusts and other conservation groups to save the places you love in North Carolina. CTNC provides aid and services to the state’s 24 local land trusts, and works directly with willing landowners to protect their property, mainly along the Blue Ridge Parkway. NOTE: Each of the local land trusts can be located through this main Web site.

Ecosystem Enhancement Program
Formed in July 2003, the mission of the NC Ecosystem Enhancement Program (EEP) is to "restore, enhance, preserve and protect the functions associated with wetlands, streams and riparian areas, including but not limited to those necessary for the restoration, maintenance and protection of water quality and riparian habitats throughout North Carolina." EEP uses watershed planning to identify the best locations to implement stream, wetland and riparian buffer restoration. It is a multidimensional process which considers science, policy and partnership. EEP develops River Basin Restoration Priorities to identify Targeted Local Watersheds (TLWs) at the 14-digit hydrologic unit scale for the protection and enhancement of water quality, fisheries, wildlife habitat, recreational opportunities and preventing floods. TLWs receive priority for EEP planning and restoration project funds. Local Watershed Planning is conducted in specific priority areas (typically one or more TLWs) where EEP and the local community have identified a need to address critical watershed issues. Through this planning process, EEP collaborates with local stakeholders and resource professionals to identify projects and management strategies to restore, enhance and protect local watershed resources.

COASTAL REGION

Albemarle-Pamlico Conservation and Communities Collaborative
The Albemarle-Pamlico Conservation and Communities Collaborative got underway in 2007 when an extensive group of professionals gathered to share concerns for the natural resources and important wildlife habitats of the Albemarle Pamlico peninsula, especially in light of global climate change. This AP3C group intends to explore opportunities to manage lands, restore habitats, and protect lands and waters for the benefit of species native to the region.

Cape Fear Arch Conservation Collaboration
The Cape Fear Arch, which includes the watersheds of the lower Cape Fear and the Waccamaw Rivers, encompasses one of the most biologically diverse areas on the Atlantic Coast. Like so many areas along the coast, this area is under great development pressure, creating an ever increasing demand for supporting infrastructure, which eliminates habitat for important wildlife species. Several interested conservation partners began collaboration in 2006 with a mission to develop a community conservation vision that provides protection and stewardship of the important natural resources and raises conservation awareness.

Onslow Bight Conservation Forum
The Onslow Bight Conservation Forum has among its goals "to promote the conservation, restoration, health and sustainable use of the landscape and the native terrestrial and aquatic communities that depend, in whole or in part, on the lands and waters of the Onslow Bight area." The Onslow Bight, bounded on the north by Cape Lookout and on the South by Cape Fear, contains a unique landform of saltwater marshes, riverine wetlands, pocosins, longleaf pine savannahs, and other coastal ecosystems. It also includes several large protected areas such as Cape Lejeune and Croatan National Forest. To learn more, contact Fred Annand @tnc.org.

Strategic Lands Inventory
With funding from the NC Military Support Act grant program and additional resources provided by Marine Corps Installations East and the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Strategic Lands Inventory project is developing compatible resource-use suitability maps for six land use types: residential, commercial, industrial, sustainable farmland, sustainable forestland, and natural resources. The Inventory will use a developed geographic information systems decision tool to visualize state, local and military mission “footprints” and requirements. Based on modeling developed originally for the Sustainable Sandhills region, the SLI will focus on Eastern North Carolina and eventually include 42 counties.

PIEDMONT REGION

Green Growth Toolbox
The Green Growth Toolbox is a technical assistance tool designed to help North Carolina’s towns and cities grow in nature-friendly ways. With the Green Growth Toolbox—handbook, GIS dataset, and Web site—communities can protect important habitats alongside homes, workplaces and shopping centers. Local governments who want to use the Green Growth Toolbox can sign up for daylong training workshops. The Green Growth Toolbox project is a cooperative, non-regulatory effort led by the Wildlife Diversity program of the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission.

North Carolina Sandhills Conservation Partnership
The North Carolina Sandhills Conservation Partnership was formed in 2000 with the specific intent to facilitate collaboration between various federal, state, and non-profit conservation groups for the purpose of conserving the vanishing longleaf pine ecosystem and recovering the federally-listed endangered red-cockaded woodpecker in the North Carolina Sandhills.

Orange County Lands Legacy Program
In April 2000, Orange County enacted a comprehensive program for the acquisition of protection of highly important natural and cultural resource lands entitled the “Lands Legacy Program.” Leveraging local funds with state and federal dollars, and working with area conservation partners, the Lands Legacy Program has protected over 1800 acres to date – both via outright purchase and through donated or purchased conservation easements. The Lands Legacy Program has five standing priority areas for acquisition: Natural areas and wildlife habitat (NC Natural Heritage sites) and prime forest areas; prime or threatened farmlands; lands of cultural, archaeological or scenic significance; future parklands, watershed riparian buffer lands.

The Upper Neuse Clean Water Initiative
In the fall of 2005, Triangle J Council of Governments (TJCOG) partnered with the Conservation Trust for North Carolina (CTNC) and The Trust for Public Land (TPL) for the Upper Neuse Clean Water Initiative (UNCWI). This initiative sought to analyze and identify opportunities to protect lands critical to water quality and open space in the Upper Neuse River Basin of North Carolina. The UNCWI reflects a collaborative process among local stakeholders, technical experts, and scientists working together to create watershed goals for drinking water protection while maximizing regional ecological, economic and recreational benefits.

Wake County's Open Space Program
Wake County's Open Space Program, the first of its kind in North Carolina, is working in partnership with local non-governmental organizations, municipalities and state/federal agencies to protect remaining open space in the county. The program's overarching objective is to protect 30% of Wake County’s land area (or roughly 165,000 acres) as permanent open space. The Open Space Program protects land as open space in two primary ways: Wake County purchases parcels of land and conservation easements in targeted conservation areas. Wake County awards matching funds to partnering organizations so they can purchase land and conservation easements.

Triangle GreenPrint
The Triangle GreenPrint Project identifies the Triangle's essential green infrastructure and shows how it fits together on a regional scale. The GreenPrint helps communities, land management organizations and the public maximize the investments they make in green space protection. The project is sponsored by the Triangle J Council of Governments, the Triangle Land Conservancy, and the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources. In turn, these organizations are working closely with a variety of other partners including local governments, nonprofit conservation organizations, state and federal agencies, universities, and citizens.

Triangle Green Space Database
In the Fall of 2000, encouraged by the Million Acre Initiative, the Triangle J Council of Governments and the N.C. Center for Geographic Information and Analysis and the NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources formed a partnership to inventory the green space for the Triangle region. TJCOG developed a single, coordinated database for the Triangle region. The data is stored in a GIS database and facilitates the sharing of information, analyses, and maps across jurisdictional lines to support collaborative efforts to plan and protect a linked network of green space throughout the Triangle (Chatham, Durham, Johnston, Lee, Moore, Orange and Wake Counties). The database was developed with input from local governments, nonprofit organizations, universities, and state and federal agencies that conduct green space planning and protection work. The resulting data management system is intended to serve as a pilot program and model for regions across North Carolina.

Piedmont Triad Council of Governments
As part of the One NC Naturally regional planning effort in 2003, the Piedmont Triad Council of Governments coordinated the development of the Open Space Master Plan and Map for the 12-county Piedmont Triad region. The plan identified multiple conservation opportunities and established top-priority future focus areas for each county that has provided guidance for local conservation activities in subsequent years.

Carolina Thread Trail
Catawba Lands Conservancy, lead agency for the Carolina Thread Trail, and The Trust for Public Land have partnered to spearhead planning and implementation of the Carolina Thread Trail. The Carolina Thread Trail will be a regional trail network that will eventually reach 15 counties (Anson, Cabarrus, Catawba, Cherokee, Cleveland, Gaston, Iredell, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Rowan, Stanly, Union, counties in North Carolina; Chester, Lancaster, York counties in South Carolina) and more than 2 million people. While not every local trail will be part of the Carolina Thread Trail system, it will link the regionally significant trails and many regional attractions.

MOUNTAIN REGION

Connect Carolinas
Carolinas-Charlotte-CONNECT is the Greater Charlotte Bi-State Region’s Visioning Project. The project includes the following counties: Mecklenburg, Gaston, Cleveland, Catawba, Alexander, Iredell, Rowan, Cabarrus, Lincoln, Stanly, Anson and Union. It is a nationally-unique approach to find ways to preserve what we value and plan for growth as our region doubles in population. The Greater Charlotte Bi-State Region embraces 15 counties around Charlotte and is home to 1.7 million people. The CONNECT project attempts to bring those communities together around a shared vision for the future, including sustainable growth, environment and the economy.

Linking Lands and Communities
Land-of-Sky Regional Council is working with local and regional interests to design a regional conservation framework to strategically guide future growth for Madison, Buncombe, Henderson and Transylvania counties while respecting the integrity of the region’s ecosystems. This conservation network will identify valuable ecological systems and resources, important working lands, and areas most suited for future growth and development. By using a collaborative approach, this effort will also help to link urban and rural communities and protect the area’s rich natural and cultural heritage.

Mountain Landscapes Initiative
The Mountain Landscapes Initiative (MLI) is a long-range program by The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina. After two years of research into mountain communities’ needs, The Community Foundation discovered that many were connected to land use planning. The “Toolbox” effort, an MLI pilot project, was launched in partnership with the Southwestern Commission, the regional Council of Governments organization serving county and town governments in the seven westernmost counties. The project takes a first big step towards community-determined standards for planning and development in North Carolina’s mountain region.

Burke County - Urban Corridor Small Area Plan
The 2002 strategic plan, Blueprint Burke, identifies nine small area plans to be conducted as part of a community-based process to update the Burke County Comprehensive Land Use Plan. The County has completed two planning areas, Lake James and Interstate 40. The next planning area, the Urban Corridor Small Area Plan, is underway. The Urban Corridor Small Area Plan encompasses the area east of Morganton, outside of municipalities, between the I-40 corridor and Lake Rhodhiss.

Blue Ridge Forever
Blue Ridge Forever is a campaign led by 13 land conservation organizations to engage the public and raise financial resources to safeguard land and water in the southern Blue Ridge mountains for present and future generations. Blue Ridge Forever has a five-year goal to protect 50,000 acres in Western North Carolina. Our region-wide Conservation Vision guides us in connecting protected lands on a landscape scale with attention to places containing important wildlife habitat, water quality, cultural and economic significance, and scenic value.