The streets of Princeville are now lined with flowering native trees, thanks to your support and federal grant funding. This beautification project puts down roots for future flood resilience and carbon sequestration.
The project, completed in the spring of 2023, planted 50 native trees along streets within Princeville’s historic core. Trees were selected through a community-input process where residents were invited to learn about the ecological benefits of street trees and vote for their favorite trees. The trees selected were eastern serviceberry, red maple, and musclewoods.
The trees were chosen for their ability to:
Provide beautification to Main Street and surrounding neighborhoods,
Showcasing seasonal colorful blooms and leaves,
Support native wildlife, including birds and other pollinators,
Absorb stormwater from flood-prone areas and carbon from the atmosphere, and
Reduce the temperature of sidewalks for pedestrians.
Conservation can provide solutions for communities seeking to build resilience to projected and future climate change impacts – including flood, fire, drought, and food insecurity. Tree planting projects – also known as urban greening – that increase the number of small and medium trees located within a town footprint are known to provide multiple climate and community benefits, including:
Combat air and noise pollution
Soak up rainwater that may otherwise create flooding
Create a habitat for local wildlife
Offset carbon emissions in the local area
Increase resident satisfaction with physical and mental health benefits
In partnership with the Town of Princeville, the tree plan was designed by NC State Coastal Dynamics Design Lab based on recommendations from the Princeville Community Floodprint. It was informed by input from a Princeville resident online survey and approved by the Town of Princeville Board of Commissioners. The trees were installed by M&M Landscaping – a local contracting partner participating in the conservation projects being funded through CTNC.
The partnership with the Town of Princeville is ongoing, and the need to address stormwater and flooding challenges is great. With additional funding and coordination with the local community, we plan to expand our footprint and include more tree plantings in future years. Be part of helping build a more resilient North Carolina. Explore your donation opportunities now.
North Carolina has seen an unprecedented investment in building resilience against the effects of our changing climate. Hundreds of millions of dollars have flowed to statewide flood resiliency modeling efforts, coastal community planning, and more. Billions of additional dollars from federal sources have also been earmarked for climate resilience.
Yet, there is a crucial next step to ensure these projects come to life: activating local community capacity. Communities across North Carolina must be able to take advantage of the information, support, and financial resources made available. CTNC has heard from nonprofit organizations and local leaders that too many communities seem to lack that needed capacity.
STUDY
To begin to address this vulnerability, CTNC commissioned a study in fall 2022 to gather information and input on what role service programs might play in building community capacity around climate resilience. The resulting Resilience Service Network: Case for Support affirms that existing and new service programs are well-positioned to play a vital role in assisting communities seeking to leverage the climate resilience investments being made. Though, as the study also shows, service in North Carolina must be greatly expanded and substantively changed to realize this potential.
Communities across North Carolina are ready to address the threat of climate change, but they’re hindered by a lack of capacity to mobilize an effective response. The existing service capacity needs to grow, and the activities involved will require greater diversity to respond effectively to community needs. Stakeholders and programs recognized host costs, administrative burdens, member benefits, and high match and project costs as major barriers to implementing a comprehensive service network in the state. The team also found that the state currently offers a patchwork of relevant support that is not commensurate with the scale of the needs of North Carolina’s communities.
Fortunately, North Carolina is slated to receive significant investment in flood prevention, critical infrastructure and transportation, and other projects designed to increase resilience. These investments will provide opportunities to meet the funding levels required to realize this effort at scale. Building on existing planning efforts and financial support, the team identified flood response as an established mechanism to direct service to communities in need.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Based on the findings, this report identifies a set of summary recommendations that reflect the most common themes and opportunities for a statewide resilience service initiative.
Implementation
What framing or program design steps should be taken to build a stronger service effort in North Carolina.
Start With Flood Response
Focus on Resilience
Localize to Galvanize
Reinforce What’s Working
Strategically Fill Gaps
Coordination
What steps might be taken to ensure the effort is well coordinated so it can deliver the greatest impact for the state.
Adapt to Thrive
Build a Network, not a Program.
Emphasize Catalytic Over Functional Outcomes
Follow the Money / Unlock the Potential
Resilience Service Network Concept
What operational and funding design will be required to achieve success at a statewide scale.
Operational Design
Funding
While this study is a seed of an idea, we see great potential in service programs to help alleviate community capacity concerns, build a resilience-oriented workforce, and maximize additional investments in the state’s resilience. North Carolina is primed to lead the nation on creative and innovative solutions for climate action.
To connect with us on the Resilience Service Network, inquire about joining as a partner organization or host site, or learn more about how service programs can work in your community, email americorps@ctnc.org.
Landowners participating in the Sustainable Forestry and Land Retention Project.
Training Future Practitioners to Protect Heirs Property Landowners
As much as 4% of all property in North Carolina is held as heirs’ property, yet only a handful of organizations in North Carolina provide legal services to protect landowners. This land, valued at approximately $2 billion, should be retained by families instead of being lost through forced partition sales.
Thanks to the support of an anonymous donor and the NC Heirs’ Property Coalition, CTNC has pledged $50,000 to fund the new Heirs’ Property Project of the Wake Forest Law Environmental Law and Policy Clinic. Now, families facing heirs’ property difficulties can receive direct legal services from skilled attorneys and law students. Beyond legal help, this project strives to support, train, and provide a framework for other legal practitioners, to help stem the rate of land loss in North Carolina due to forced partition sales.
This project will help folks keep property in their families, resist unwanted development, enhance their farming or forestry practices, and build wealth to weather natural disasters and economic downturn. By addressing heirs’ property, families can create a legal structure for managing their land as a performing asset over the long term.
New Frontier For Protecting Heirs’ Property The project also builds a new node in the network of organizations tackling heirs’ property issues and addressing land loss among African-Americans, Native Americans, and other disadvantaged communities in North Carolina. The Clinic will build capacity for future efforts to resolve heirs’ property in North Carolina, and potentially serve as a model for other law school clinical projects in the Southeast. Organizations working on heirs’ property issues, including the Land Loss Prevention Project, Legal Aid of North Carolina, and Black Family Land Trust, have supported launching a law school clinical project to reinforce their own efforts.
Working with partner organizations, the Heirs’ Property Project will provide direct legal representation alongside conflict resolution and land management support. The Heirs’ Property Project will assist in three ways:
By providing direct representation to heirs’ property owners,
By building a pipeline of lawyers trained to handle heirs’ property cases, and
By serving as a hub for research and interdisciplinary training on land rights issues in North Carolina.
In addition to producing a pipeline of students with training in heirs’ property issues, the project will engage students and scholars in research on land rights’ issues, contributing to practical knowledge about the prevalence, consequences, and social context of heirs’ property—as well as to broader conversations about the economic, social, and political trajectory of rural spaces.
Conversations are underway as to how heirs’ property issues can be included in Wake Forest Law’s curriculum more generally as well. Most importantly, the project will convene expert practitioners to provide training in heirs’ property and related issues to practicing North Carolina attorneys, and to foster an interdisciplinary approach to supporting rural communities as they protect and steward their land. The project will partner with other North Carolina law schools and organizations to help address heirs’ property issues in the state at scale.
The Heirs’ Property Project at Wake Forest will convene a Board of Advisors to provide collaboration and support to students and families. Director of Community Innovation Mary Alice Holley will represent CTNC as a member of the board.
Other coalition members have also pledged to find funding to support this effort over the next two years in addition to our ongoing effort to encourage the NC Legislature to adopt the Uniform Act for NC.
What is Heirs’ Property? When landowners die without a will, their surviving family members are each left with a fractional interest that lacks many legal protections and privileges. Such land, called “heirs’ property,” is concentrated in communities of color and low-income communities. Owners of heirs’ property face unique difficulty improving their land, stewarding its environmental condition, and securing it against predatory development.
Landowners participating in the Sustainable Forestry and Land Retention Project.
Holding land as tenants in common and heirs’ property can make the property vulnerable to forced sale. When family members decide they want to sell their share, or a non-family member or developer acquires a share of the property, they may be able to force the partition of the property into smaller pieces, thus fragmenting the land. They may also be able to force the sale of the property without a right of first refusal for other family members or a guarantee of fair market value.
Holding land as heirs’ property can make it difficult or impossible to access credit markets, as clear title cannot be demonstrated. It can also slow or frustrate access to government support for agriculture and/or disaster aid.
Led by a supervising attorney, this project will enroll ten or more students each semester to provide legal services to clients referred from partner organizations. The project will represent heirs’ property owners as they clear title to their land, resolve adjacent legal issues like boundary disputes, and navigate state and federal land management programs—partnering with the Wake Forest Divinity School to provide clients with skilled support for family decision-making processes, as well as with environmental experts to support heirs’ property owners in stewarding their land. Embracing the model of community lawyering, we also expect the project to serve as a legal advisor and first point of contact for local community organizations confronting threats to rural land and community autonomy.
Thank You to Generous Funders Thanks to donors and supporters, the project launched in January 2023 and is funded through December 2024. Additional thanks to the Skadden Foundation, Wake Forest University’s Provost Office, American Farmland Trust, and Black Family Land Trust for helping make this project a reality.
Elected leaders from across our state are gathering in Raleigh to make key decisions that will shape the trajectory of conservation funding, land-use policies, and critical investments in community resilience strategies. Conservation Trust for NC is meeting with decision-makers to advocate for strong conservation policies you care about and to further expand our mission to build resilient, just communities throughout our state.
Our Board, staff, and community partners hope to collaborate with leaders in our state to achieve a range of conservation goals in our upcoming session:
Build Capacity for a Statewide Resilience Service Network Building on the success of AmeriCorps in bringing new energy to the world of conservation, CTNC is working with partners to launch a statewide Resilience Service Network. This effort is designed to support North Carolina communities seeking to address the impacts of flooding, fire, extreme heat, and other environmental challenges. The Network proposal was informed by the results of a feasibility study completed with funding from the State Service Commission. Over the course of the year, network supporters will begin educating our lawmakers about the opportunity, the funding requirements, and the ultimate benefits to communities throughout the state.
Push for Additional Landowner Protections Through the Uniform Act Enacting the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act (UPHPA) in North Carolina will address how current state laws leave landowners of heirs’ property vulnerable to involuntary land loss. The legislation safeguards families from involuntary partition sales and allows access to beneficial funding and aid programs, including FEMA disaster recovery and the USDA Farm Bill. We believe North Carolina should be the next state to adopt legislation that better protects heirs’ property rights. We strongly believe the UPHPA provides substantial benefits and safeguards to North Carolina families. We join a bipartisan group of conservation organizations, land trusts, family farmland preservation advocates, and more in encouraging the enacting of these protections.
Protect the Conservation Trust Funds We support The Land for Tomorrow Coalition’s requests to the Governor and the General Assembly to build upon the success of past conservation trust fund allocations. Visit the Land for Tomorrow website to get updates on their requests.
Fund North Carolina’s Trails Conservation Trust for North Carolina supports recommendations from the Great Trails State Coalition for appropriations to establish the Great Trails State Fund.
Bring Back Funding and Conservation Tax Credit Conservation Trust for North Carolina supports restoring dedicated funding from state deed excise stamp tax revenues to the Land & Water Fund and Parks & Recreation Trust Fund and restoring the 25% conservation tax credit.
Support Job Expansion and Additional Conservation Staffing Conservation Trust for North Carolina strongly supports requests by the Department of Natural & Cultural Resources, NC Wildlife Resources Commission, and Department of Agriculture requests for staff to manage the conservation trust funds and to manage new state parks, historic sites, game lands, and state forests.
We’ll need strong voices committed to sharing their commitment to conservation and community resilience throughout this year. Join our advocate network to be alerted about opportunities to support conservation policy-making alongside CTNC and our partners.
New Map Helps Pinpoint Where Climate Resilience Will Benefit Communities Most
By identifying these places, CTNC can be more strategic in delivering conservation that builds community resilience through a lens of equity and inclusion.
This project was inspired by CTNC’s collaboration with the Town of Princeville and NC State. “We saw the importance of incorporating data into project planning,” said Mary Alice Holley, project lead. “In Princeville, data compiled through the Floodprint, developed by NC State Coastal Dynamics Design Lab, helped identify problem areas in town where conservation interventions could have an increased positive benefit to surrounding people and places. We set out to identify other communities in North Carolina where similar partnerships could be established to inform how other communities could benefit from conservation interventions designed to build resilience.“
Mary Alice, who serves as CTNC’s Director of Community Innovation, hopes that by prioritizing conservation interventions in vulnerable places, CTNC can provide communities with proven tools to build strength before the next disaster occurs. Those tools might include acquiring land in a flood zone for increased water storage or partnering with certified controlled burn crews to reduce the fuel load in a nearby forest. In places like Princeville, conservation has become a proven tool to support people living in flood-prone areas. CTNC hopes to bring this concept and the capacity to execute projects to more communities in the coming years.
Over CTNC’s 30-year history, it has developed a prioritization and scoring model that ensures Blue Ridge Parkway land protection work is strategic and effective. The Community Resilience Model brings this knowledge and expertise to measuring climate resilience and prioritizing conservation solutions where they will matter most.
The model represents CTNC’s strategic plan priorities: climate change, community benefit, and equity and inclusion. By identifying these places, CTNC can be more strategic and effective in delivering conservation that builds community resilience through a lens of equity and inclusion. The map is a tool for CTNC program leaders to visualize communities in North Carolina where climate change impacts are projected to have the most significant impact and where people and places are least resourced to recover.
This map tells the story of North Carolina’s potential climate future. Similar maps have been created to identify the most resilient and pristine places that are advantageous for land trusts to conserve. This map does the opposite. The new model evaluates where predicted climate change impacts – such as flooding, fires, mudslides, etc. – will have the most negative impact on North Carolina communities in need.
Mary Alice hopes that other conservation and climate organizations can embrace the value that a data-driven lens can provide to their strategic planning, project planning, fundraising opportunities, and vision for establishing collaborative partnerships. The map is being used as a collaborative planning and communication tool through CTNC’s work with various coalitions, including Land for Tomorrow and the NC Heirs Property Coalition.
This tool is not recommended for other conservation organizations to use for their project planning. CTNC hopes to inspire others to visualize our strategic plan priorities and goals in a concrete way for future effective conservation interventions that benefit people and places in North Carolina.
The seeds planted with this project can grow into a more just and resilient North Carolina. By pinpointing the most vulnerable areas, funding and expertise can flood in to provide the necessary information and projects to protect communities.
Stay tuned for another story in the New Year about a mapping tool designed to serve land conservationists across the state. Through a collaboration with Duke University and the Open Space Institute, CTNC has developed a state-of-the-art resource that allows partner organizations to see how lands they have or plan to conserve can help reduce the impacts of climate change while strengthening communities.
CTNC is partnering with experts statewide to help build resilient, just communities. Together, we can be ready for whatever hits our state. It just takes data and care to make it happen.
Duke Nicholas School Stanback Fellow for Summer 2022, Chloe Ochocki, worked to develop the GIS map. Through the program, CTNC was provided Chloe’s talent and time for 11 weeks to complete the project. Thanks to Fred and Alice Stanback, who fund the Stanback Fellowship Program through Duke University, and their generosity, this project was completed at no cost to the organization.
One way CTNC facilitates permanent land protection in Western North Carolina is through our Mountain Revolving Loan Fund small grant program. This fund allows land trusts to secure funds for critical, transaction-related expenses that are not always covered by other sources.
This year, CTNC provided six grants to five land trusts totaling over $83,000:
Blue Ridge Conservancy
Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina
Highlands Conservancy
Mainspring Conservation Trust
Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy
This investment will help protect and manage 1,013 acres of land in Western North Carolina.
The CTNC Mountain Revolving Loan Fund has two significant benefits for our partners:
First, it provides bridge financing with minimal interest to land trusts in Western North Carolina to purchase conservation land and easements. As loans are repaid, the money becomes available to re-lend.
A percentage of the balance of the loan fund is given out each year in grant awards. Grants of up to $25,000 are not required to be paid back.
In late September, Conservation Trust for North Carolina (CTNC) joined National Park Service leaders along with representatives from the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and numerous partners in land conservation to celebrate the work to protect the Blue Ridge Parkway and Waterrock Knob.
We joined our partners from The Conservation Fund, The Nature Conservancy, Blue Ridge Conservancy, Conserving Carolina, Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina, Piedmont Land Conservancy, Mainspring Conservation Trust, the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy, and others to celebrate the historic and current stewardship of the important natural and cultural resources along the Blue Ridge Parkway, and the generous donors who make it possible.
In 2016, land trust partners announced a large-scale protection effort that would ultimately expand Waterrock Knob conservation area by over 5,300 acres. To date, conservation partners acquired and donated nearly 3,400 acres to the National Park Service. More properties are slated for transfer to the park over the coming months.
The addition of all the new land now enables NPS to prepare a new strategic vision for the greatly expanded Waterrock Knob area. These lands are part of a larger set of 16 separate tracts being donated to NPS by the nonprofit groups thanks to long-term support from major private and public funding sources, including Fred and Alice Stanback and the North Carolina Land and Water Fund. Five of the 16 have already been donated by CTNC, bringing the total number of properties donated to the Blue Ridge Parkway by CTNC to 29, dating back to 1997!
Waterrock Knob is located at milepost 451.2 on the Blue Ridge Parkway and features views of a vast landscape of rare Southern Appalachian spruce-fir forests visible from the visitor center and 6,273-foot summit. It is one of the highest visitor centers along the Blue Ridge Parkway and one of the most critically biodiverse landscapes in the Eastern United States. Elk, rare salamanders, flying squirrels, and high-elevation spruce-fir forests all inhabit the area, which is also home to rich Cherokee history.
“Approaching the protection of Waterrock Knob area from a large-scale conservation perspective requires partners and communities to share a recognition that healthy ecosystems, vibrant communities and economies, cultural heritage, and local sense of place are best protected at a landscape level,” said Tracy Swartout, Blue Ridge Parkway Superintendent. “The National Park Service is privileged to work alongside our partners in this work, and we look forward to how these lands will enhance and enrich the Blue Ridge Parkway experience for generations to come.”
National Public Lands Day, established in 1994 and held annually on the fourth Saturday in September, celebrates the connection between people and green space in their community, inspires environmental stewardship, and encourages use of open space for education, recreation, and health benefits.
Together, we were able to share the success of this partnership with national audiences at the national Land Trust Rally in New Orleans, LA. The Town of Princeville’s Dr. Glenda Knight, Commissioner Linda Joyner and Historical Outreach Coordinator Kelsi Dew presented alongside the Open Space Institute’s Hallie Schwab, The Land Conservancy of New Jersey’s Barbara Davis and CTNC’s Mary Alice Holley. Each speaker presented creative and varied approaches being implemented to deal with increased rainfall and flooding while developing place-based solutions for climate resilience.
Watch this video to see their work in action.
These partnerships demonstrate the power of land conservation to mitigate flooding and equip communities with the tools to harness nature for community benefit when rebuilding and protecting against climate-related disasters. Sharing our experiences with land trusts from across the nation inspires more organizations to implement similar conservation strategies to address climate impacts.
“Later this year, the Land Trust Alliance is launching a series of trainings on how land trusts can improve climate resilience in their communities. It will focus on exploring and expanding their water-focused work through a process outlined in our recently released water quality guide, “Taking the Plunge”. The collaboration between these land trusts and community partners undoubtedly encouraged more organizations to participate in this programming. More importantly, their examples are already serving as aspirational “North stars” for many as they start to navigate this intricate and difficult area of work.” Andrew B. Szwak, AICP (he|him|his), Land Trust Alliance, Mid-Atlantic Program Manager
The Resilience Corps NC program recently launched its latest cohort of service members who will work in communities to deliver climate change, community resilience, capacity building, and environmental education services to host sites across the state. In order to make this the most successful year yet, CTNC has added and promoted staff, and welcomed 17 service members including four who have returned for their second year of service.
Here’s where our 2022-23 Corps members are serving:
Balsam Mountain Trust Emily Taylor
Cape Fear River Watch Kristen Rhodes
El Futuro Maiya Garrett-Peters
Eno River Association Audrey Vaughn
Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Foundation Elizabeth Warfield
Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust Hope Corbin
Keeping Charlotte Beautiful Lance Nathaniel
Keeping Durham Beautiful Eleanor Dilworth
Meals on Wheels Durham Lula Zeray
North Carolina Coastal Land Trust Madison Woodard Bryce Tholen
North Carolina Zoo Grace Sigmon Mawadda Al-Masri Sabrinah Hartsell
Piedmont Triad Regional Council Haley Bock
The Regional Stormwater Partnership of the Carolinas Kelly Hendrix (Norris)
Triangle J Council of Governments Taylor Weddington
Read about more of our staffing and member updates below!
Please join us in extending congratulations to Michaella Kosia, who was recently promoted to AmeriCorps Program Director. Michaella will lead the Resilience Corps NC program by supporting host site supervisors and their members coordinating trainings, planning cohort connection events, building relationships, and strategizing other best practices for member sustainability. Michaella brings to this role a unique public health background where she worked to address health disparities amongst marginalized communities. Our partners and members are excited to work with Michaella in this new leadership role. Get to know Michaella and her passion for community-focused service work.
Credit: Bisi Cameron Yee
As part of our commitment to working alongside community partners to achieve resilience, CTNC and the Environmental Defense Fund will sponsor three additional members to work with community leaders with the Town of Princeville, the Lumbee Indian Tribal Council in Lumberton, and The Orchard at Altapass in Little Switzerland. These members will be focused on increasing community capacity, supporting local food systems through community gardening, and engaging in community outreach through a lens of climate change and land stewardship. Learn more about our Resilience Corps NC program.
Resilience Corps NC is still recruiting for the 2022-23 cohort!
The crew’s first stop was Heritage Park, 428 Mutual Boulevard in Princeville. This park, along the river, is an important piece of Princeville’s resilient future. By claiming it for public use, it offers much-needed overflow for river flooding and runoff. It will also be the future site of a permanent Farmer’s Market and an accessible walking trail. The crew’s efforts this summer have complemented the current use of the park while supporting future goals slated by Town leadership and community members.
At Heritage Park, the youth installed exercise stations, pollinator gardens, benches and trash receptacles, and walking paths, and also re-mulched the playground. They also installed trail signs that will serve as educational tools for parkgoers about the importance of pollinator plants, wildlife habitat, and stormwater management.
At Heritage Trail and the Elementary School, the youth completed maintenance of conservation projects installed in 2021 through similar partnerships. They mulched the newly established Heritage Trail, cleaned up debris, and removed weeds from the rain gardens designed and installed by NC State and M&M Landscaping.
Thank you to the young adults from Tarboro High School who worked with community leaders for six weeks to complete this project. We couldn’t have done it without you!
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