Program Quick List
Listing of financial resources and/or technical assistance that may be available to landowners who are interested in conservation, with Web sites and contact information.
Link to pdf file
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Program Summary
More detail regarding programs that can provide financial resources for conservation of open space.
Titles below link to respective Web sites.
- Clean Water Management Trust Fund - This trust fund provides grants to state and local governments, as well as nonprofit environmental organizations, for several purposes including the acquisition of land for riparian buffers that protect water quality and for establishing networks of greenways. The trust fund has been allocated up to $100 million per year, and about half of its monies are typically devoted to land acquisition.
- Conservation Grants Fund - Created in 1997 under G.S. 113A-232, this fund is intended to help nonprofit land trusts improve their ability to conserve land. Grants may be awarded to cover transaction costs associated with the donation of property, educational costs of land trust staff and volunteers, and more. The fund can also be used to increase citizen participation in land and water conservation. The fund is administered by the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources, but is currently not funded.
- Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program - CREP addresses water quality concerns in nine North Carolina river basins. Basins that are eligible to participate in the program include the Neuse, Tar-Pamlico, Chowan, White Oak, Lumber, Cape Fear, Yadkin-PeeDee, Roanoke and Pasquotank. Agricultural landowners can voluntarily enroll land in 10- to 15-year contracts or 30-year and permanent conservation easements. Cost share funds to install the approved practices will be available for installation of forested riparian buffers, grassed filter strips, wetland restoration practices, water control structures, livestock exclusion and remote livestock watering to increase the efficiency of enrolled practices. Interested landowners should contact their local soil and water conservation district office or Farm Service Agency.
- Conservation Tax Credit Program - North Carolina landowners, including individuals and corporations, can donate land for conservation purposes and receive tax credits through this program.
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Ecosystem Enhancement Program - Ecosystem Enhancement Program works to restore, enhance, preserve and protect the functions associated with wetlands, streams and riparian areas, including those necessary for the restoration, maintenance and protection of water quality and riparian habitats throughout North Carolina. EEP works with willing private landowners to restore, enhance and protect our state’s natural resources. Voluntary agreements between landowners and EEP can provide both financial and environmental benefits.
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Farm and Ranch Land Protection Program - Farm and Ranchland Protection Program provides matching funds to help purchase development rights to keep productive farm and ranch land in agricultural uses. Working through existing programs, U.S. Department of Agriculture partners with state, tribal, or local governments and non-governmental organizations to acquire conservation easements or other interests in land from landowners. The U.S.D.A. provides up to 50 percent of the fair market easement value of the conservation easement.
- FEMA's Flood Mitigation Assistance program - The Flood Mitigation Assistance program provides funding to assist states and communities in implementing measures to reduce or eliminate the long-term risk of flood damage to buildings, manufactured homes, and other structures insurable under the National Flood Insurance Program. FMA is a pre-disaster grant program. This funding is available for mitigation planning and implementation of mitigation measures only. North Carolina Emergency Management administers the FMA program and is responsible for selecting projects for funding from the applications submitted by all communities within the state. The state then forwards selected applications to the Federal Emergency Management Assistance Agency for an eligibility determination. Although individuals cannot apply directly for FMA funds, their local government may submit an application on their behalf.
- Forest Legacy Program - The Forest Legacy Program is a state and federal partnership that protects and conserves environmentally-important forests. In North Carolina, the Forest Legacy Program has been used to purchase the development rights on environmentally-important working forests to protect them forever. Landowners, in cooperation with a conservation organization or resource agencies / organizations, can apply. The most significant forest properties are likely to be protected via purchased easements each year - depending upon tract size, development value, landowner interest and future funding. The potential for donated easements is much broader; funds for the program can be applied to the transactional costs associated with donations of working forest conservation easements.
- Grassland Reserve Program - The Grassland Reserve Program is a voluntary program offering landowners the opportunity to protect, restore, and enhance grasslands on their property. The Natural Resources Conservation Service, Farm Service Agency and U.S. Forest Service are coordinating implementation of GRP, which helps landowners restore and protect grassland, rangeland, pastureland, shrubland and certain other lands and provides assistance for rehabilitating grasslands. The program will conserve vulnerable grasslands from conversion to cropland or other uses and conserve valuable grasslands by helping maintain viable ranching operations.
- Land and Water Conservation Fund - The Land and Water Conservation Fund program is a federal, reimbursable, 50/50 matching grants program to states for conservation and recreation purposes, and through the states to local governments to address "close to home" outdoor recreation needs. Grants for a maximum of $250,000 in LWCF assistance are awarded yearly to county governments, incorporated municipalities, public authorities and federally-recognized Indian tribes. In North Carolina, the LWCF program has provided more than $63 million in matching grants to protect land and support more than 800 state and local park projects. More than 37,000 acres have been acquired with LWCF assistance to establish a park legacy in our state.
- Natural Heritage Trust Fund - The Natural Heritage Trust Fund provides supplemental funding to select state agencies for the acquisition and protection of important natural areas, to preserve the state’s ecological diversity and cultural heritage, and to inventory the natural heritage resources of the state. Funds for the trust come from personalized license plate fees and the deed stamp tax. The fund grants an average of $19 million per year.
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N.C. Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund - The purpose of the Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund is to support the purchase of agricultural conservation easements, including transaction costs; fund private and public enterprise programs that will promote profitable and sustainable farms by assisting farmers in developing and implementing plans for production of food, fiber and value-added products, agritourism activities, marketing and sales of agricultural products produced on the farm, and other agricultural business activities, and fund farmland conservation agreements targeted at the active production of food, fiber and other agricultural products.
- Parks and Recreation Trust Fund - The Parks and Recreation Trust Fund provides dollar-for-dollar matching grants to local governments for parks and recreational projects to serve the public.
Grants for a maximum of $500,000 are awarded yearly to county governments or incorporated municipalities.
- Public Beach and Coastal Waterfront Access Program - A portion of PARTF is the primary funding source for this program, administered by the state Division of Coastal Management, offers matching grants to local governments throughout North Carolina's 20 coastal counties.
- Recreational Trails Program - Grants to federal, state and local governments, as well as nonprofit organizations, are given by this grant program for the acquisition, development and maintenance of land for trails. The fund awards approximately $1.1 million annually. Funding is from the U.S. Department of Transportation.
- Transportation Enhancement Grant - The N.C. Department of Transportation sets aside 10 percent of its federal Surface Transportation Program funds for use on specific types of enhancement projects. Funds go to state and local government grants for a number of open space preservation efforts, including bicycle and pedestrian facilities, scenic and historic acquisitions, and wildlife conservation projects.
- Water Resources Development Grants Fund - This program is designed to provide cost-share grants and technical assistance to local governments throughout the state. Applications for grants are accepted for seven purposes: general navigation, recreational navigation, water management, stream restoration, beach protection, land acquisition and facility development for water-based recreation and aquatic weed control. There are two grant cycles per year, the application deadlines are Jan. 1 and July 1.
- Wetlands Reserve Program - The Wetlands Reserve Program is a voluntary program offering landowners the opportunity to protect, restore, and enhance wetlands on their property. The U.S.D.A. Natural Resources Conservation Service provides technical and financial support to help landowners with their wetland restoration efforts. The NRCS goal is to achieve the greatest wetland functions and values, along with optimum wildlife habitat, on every acre enrolled in the program. This program offers landowners an opportunity to establish long-term conservation and wildlife practices and protection.
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