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New Tools Help North Carolina Orgs Set Land Conservation Priorities Amid Climate Change

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Conservation Trust for North Carolina and Nicholas Institute designed the tools to evaluate the benefits of natural and working lands to climate resilience, adaptation and mitigation

Conservation organizations and land trusts in North Carolina increasingly view their mission to protect the state’s natural lands through the lens of climate change.

A new pair of online tools aims to help them more efficiently consider how their work could contribute to climate resilience, adaptation and mitigation, as well as deliver other conservation benefits. The tools were created jointly by the Conservation Trust for North Carolina and Duke University’s Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability.

“North Carolina’s natural and working lands are critical to making our communities and ecosystems more resilient to climate change in the decades to come,” said Katie Warnell, a senior policy associate at the Nicholas Institute who co-led the project. “These tools will help inform decision-making processes for conservation organizations and land trusts by making the best publicly available data on these lands easily accessible without the need for advanced geospatial expertise.”

Natural and working lands—such as forests, farms and wetlands—cover more than 80 percent of North Carolina. They protect water quality and supply, reduce flood risk for communities, provide habitat for pollinators, and much more. These lands—particularly forests—also store carbon in their soils and vegetation, helping to offset greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change.

The two tools deliver complementary information to organizations looking to preserve new lands, better manage lands they already own or demonstrate their value:

  • The high-level conservation prioritization tool enables users to identify broad areas for conservation action, either within the entire state or by county, river basin or a defined region. The tool prioritizes sub-watersheds with the greatest potential to meet a set of up to 11 conservation metrics selected by the user.
  • The benefits calculator estimates conservation benefits for specific areas of interest, such as individual properties. Organizations could use this information to communicate the benefits provided by currently conserved properties or to support decisions about conserving new areas.

“Land conservation provides so many overlapping benefits to communities,” noted Chris Canfield, executive director of CTNC, “yet documenting and sharing these can be difficult for many organizations. Input from nonprofit and government conservationists has driven this effort to tell a more complete story of our work together.”

The tools use many of the same data sources as recent state planning efforts recognizing the importance of natural and working lands. Those plans include the 2020 Natural and Working Lands Action Plan (part of the NC Climate Risk Assessment and Resilience Plan) and the Coastal Habitat Protection Plan 2021 Amendment. Collectively, the plans are helping to quantify the benefits that North Carolinians currently get from natural and working lands. They also explore additional benefits that could be gained through management actions, such as reforestation or agricultural best management practices.

The tools are also part of a growing set of resources from the Nicholas Institute related to natural and working lands in North Carolina. Launched in January 2022, three online dashboards map the benefits of these lands, making detailed data easily accessible to communities, land managers, non-governmental organizations, and the general public. The dashboards allow users to quickly see these benefits by county, river basin or land type:

  • Overview Dashboard – General information about the area and benefits of natural and working lands
  • Conservation Dashboard – Focus on natural and working lands that are protected for conservation purposes
  • Carbon Dashboard – Details about past, current, and potential carbon storage by land type

The NC Conservation Prioritization Tool and NC Conservation Benefits Calculator were designed by recent Duke University graduate Israel Golden, who holds dual master’s degrees in environmental management and forestry from the Nicholas School of the Environment. Support was provided by Open Space Institute and the Land Trust Alliance.

Reposted with permission from the Nicholas Institute

Over 1,000 acres protected by our partners

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Protecting North Carolina’s land is a partnership. It takes many organizations coming together to seize opportunities to preserve natural spaces for the health of our state.

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:

  1. 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.
  2. 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.

These grants are made possible by generous CTNC donors Fred and Alice Stanback. Your investments make a lasting impact on communities across our state. Together we are building a more resilient state.

If you are interested in supporting lasting conservation impacts, please contact a member of our team.

Public Lands Day 2022 Honors Efforts to Protect Waterrock Knob, Stewards and Partners

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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.

Learn more about this event.

Sharing NC Conservation Wins at Rally

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Alongside our partners in Princeville, we’re carving a new future to meaningfully engage and empower people to respond to climate-related disasters by rebuilding or adapting in ways that make them stronger and prepared for future challenges.

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.

Together, we’re building a national model for how conservation organizations, municipalities, and community partners can work collaboratively to build more resilient communities.

“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

It’s your support that made these impacts possible. Only with staunch support can our organization find new ways to carve a path to an equitable and secure future for climate-vulnerable communities.

Donate Now

Resilience Corps NC celebrates new partnerships

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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!

This year, Nick DiColandrea returns to CTNC in a new role – Climate Strategies Officer. In this new position, Nick will work with the leadership team to ensure Resilience Corps NC members are addressing community capacity and climate change challenges in all communities we serve. Learn more about Nick and why he’s committed to addressing climate change through CTNC’s mission and partnerships.

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!

Click here to explore opportunities and learn how to apply.

A Conservation Celebration

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We had a great time at this year’s Conservation Celebration at Gideon Ridge Inn, raising more than $22,000 dollars in support of CTNC’s work. That’s more than double what was raised in 2021! This year, we also had more than 29 total event sponsors, the largest number of event sponsors we’ve had!

The owners of the beautiful Gideon Ridge Inn, Cobb and Cindy Milner, generously donated the food and beverage, staff time, and the use of their inn for this year’s fundraiser. As always, they were amazing hosts and we appreciate their time and effort to make this event memorable.

We were so very fortunate to have CTNC President, Brandon Robinson, and CTNC Executive Director, Chris Canfield, share with us an update on CTNC’s work and how the money raised during the event supports it. Proceeds from the celebration will help us continue our work to build resilient communities here in North Carolina.

Thank you to everyone who joined us for your support and we hope to see you all next year!

A special note of appreciation to this year’s sponsors – we couldn’t do this work without your support.

2022 Conservation Celebration Sponsors!

Patron Sponsors
Jo Scott Dorsett
Cobb & Cindy Milner
Tom & Susan Ross
Julia Truelove
Joe & Tina Vrabel
John & Ashley Wilson

Host Sponsors
Chip Anderson
Anna Neal Blanchard
Philip & Langley Borneman
Dodd Haynes & Clara Martinez Haynes
Ray Owens & Sally Higgins
Megg & Robert Rader
Kelley Russell
John & Marguerite Stanback
Walter & Jean Wilkinson

Supporter Sponsors
Kathy Hamilton Gore & Lucian Stamper
Juliana Henderson
Mark Kirkpatrick & Debbie Arnold
Hamp & Katty Lefler
Bill & Cindy Leslie
Mozine Lowe
Pat Mauldin
Margaret J. Newbold and Liz Watson
Alton Perry
Marc Rudow & Deborah Miles
Lisa & Aidan Waite
William & Judy Watson

Princeville Collaborative Shared with Top Environmental Officials

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CTNC’s community-led projects are inspiring the nation to build stronger communities in the face of climate change.

Michael Regan, as EPA administrator, requested the establishment of the EJ4Climate grant fund to address environmental justice and community needs in the United States.

In July, as a recipient of the EJ4Climate grant fund, CTNC staff were invited to Mexico to discuss the accomplishments and plans of the Princeville Collaborative with government leaders from Mexico, Canada, and the United States. CTNC’s Chris Canfield and Mary Alice Holley traveled to Merida, Mexico, for the 29th Annual Session of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) Council and Joint Public Advisory Committee (JPAC) Public Forum. The invite-only Forum was attended by the top environmental officials from the three North American countries, as well as youth, Indigenous groups and local communities.

At the event, the CTNC team added meaningful experiences to the “Community-led Environmental Education for Sustainable Development” theme. North American grantees shared their activities with communities directly impacted by our changing climate.

“What really stayed with us were those side conversations that gave us new perspectives about the challenges conservation and environment leaders are facing across our three countries. These encounters brought us a deeper appreciation for the work we get to do here in North Carolina. Perhaps what was most heartening about our visit was the affirmation that what CTNC aligned to support a few years ago in our new strategic plan – community-climate-equity – is what each country in North America, each in its own way, is embracing, too.”

-Mary Alice Holley, Director of Community Innovation

The 29th Council Session of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation addressed many of the most pressing environmental challenges facing North America’s communities, particularly vulnerable communities and Indigenous Peoples. This is a joint meeting between Canada, Mexico, and the United States (CUSMA, T-MEC, USMCA), led by their respective environment ministers as part of each country’s commitment to the Environmental Cooperation Agreement.

“I was proud to share that North Carolina is on the leading edge with our newly underway $20 million effort to build a statewide flood resilience model and plan. I’ve been collaborating with state officials on the process and am heartened by the holistic, community-driven approach they are undertaking. Flooding is not just a coastal issue, as the devastating recent events in Eastern Kentucky remind us. And conservation plays a crucial role in mitigating that threat.”

-Chris Canfield, Executive Director

Read the highlights of the Priceville Collaborative and more about all EJ4Climate Grant projects on the Commission for Environmental Collaboration website.

Climate Resilience Leaders – Nick DiColandrea

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Nick DiColandrea isn’t new to CTNC. For six years, he served as the Resilience Corps NC Program Director. In 2022, he returned to a new role – Climate Strategies Officer, a position that still involves him with AmeriCorps. He works to connect AmeriCorps service opportunities to communities in need of expanded climate mitigation and recovery capacities.

This work builds on his extensive experience in the nonprofit sector, holding positions across multiple organizations dedicated to community capacity building, youth leadership, mentoring, and community service. His free time activities focused on service also follow this theme: Board Treasurer of the Museum of Life in Science in Durham, the school PTA as VP of Fundraising & Volunteer Chair, and as Board Treasurer of his neighborhood’s HOA.

When did you first realize the real and present impacts of climate change?
I probably realized we were living in a climate-change-affected world a few years ago when we stopped getting annual snow storms of any significance in North Carolina. Having grown up here since the late 1990s, I distinctly remember colder and wetter winters, and even during my time in college. However, over the last 10 years, I can trace the lack of an actual winter now, and how it has happened more times in the lives of my children than my entire life in the state.

How have you seen climate change impact North Carolina?
When the state was hit by multiple hurricanes over 2016 and 2017, I got to see firsthand, and still do to this day, the impacts these more frequent hurricanes are causing people down east. Working with other disaster relief partners, I have heard stories about how even years later people are living in homes not yet fully restored and families permanently displaced outside of our state. These devastating disasters will occur more frequently and are going to result in a state we may seldom recognize in the decades to come.

What does climate resilience mean to you?
Climate resilience is helping communities be able to bounce back stronger after the climate crisis hits their homes. It means assisting standing communities’ economies back up, working with families suffering from the loss of their community, or developing plans or actions that will lead to quicker recovery through mitigation. It essentially means being there for people in their communities who will suffer from climate change.

What’s one thing everyone should know about climate action?
That no matter how small your action is, it will make a difference. We do not affect meaningful changes with just big ticket items on climate action, but that light you turn off, that conversation with your best friend or that walk to take to the store instead of the drive, all add up in profound ways to address climate change.

What are actions that organizations in NC can do right now to make our state more resilient?
Be a part of the conversations around resilience in your community. Find where your mission niche is and see how it connects to environmental and community resilience, and then dig in and get to work. Mitigating and surviving the climate crisis is not going to be solved alone by environmental organizations, and it is going to take everyone in the community being a part of this work in the years ahead.

Working in climate resilience can be overwhelming. How do you keep going?
Lots of coffee and lots of positive thinking. I take more mental health breaks now, sitting for quick meditation moments, and stopping more to unplug from the work and just enjoy being.

Big Budget Win for Conservation

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Gov. Cooper and Legislators Invest in NC Public Lands

Our state legislators kept their promise of a short legislative session this year. There were wins and losses that stand to impact our work to protect North Carolina communities and build their resilience in the face of climate change.

WIN:
The legislature passed a budget with the Governor’s signature that made significant increases to our state’s conservation trust funds. As a result, annual recurring funding of $48.4 million to the state’s conservation trust funds will increase resources for CTNC and other organizations to continue their work.

Specifically, the budget increases recurring funding for the North Carolina Land and Water Fund and the Parks and Recreation Trust Fund to $24.2 million each. A major win for protecting our parks, air and water.

The budget also continues to invest in climate resilience for communities across the state by maintaining hundreds of millions of dollars in funding previously allocated to build out a statewide flood resilience plan and begin community-driven natural infrastructure projects.

WORK TO BE DONE:
Despite last-minute heroics by our legislative champions and you, our conservation advocates, House Bill 367 – Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act did not advance this session. While extremely disappointing, it is important to remember that bills as complex as the heirs’ property bill are rarely passed in a single legislative session. We will continue to work with other members of the NC Heirs Property Coalition to educate lawmakers of the importance of passing reforms that protect family-owned land throughout North Carolina. Thanks to everyone who helped in ways big and small. It was truly a team effort.

Our state leaders heard your voice and support. Thank you for moving our state forward to enable people to build resilient communities. We look forward to continuing to advocate for strong conservation policies on behalf of our community partners and advocates like you.

Climate Resilience Leaders – Michaella Kosia

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Michaella Kosia, AmeriCorps Program Director, comes to CTNC from an unexpected field: public health. She graduated from East Carolina University with a B.S. in Public Health and her background comes from other areas of public health, such as addressing health disparities amongst marginalized communities in community health.

She’s bringing her unique perspective to CTNC by supporting our Resilience Corps NC host sites and members during their service term by coordinating training, planning cohort connection events, building relationships, and strategizing other best practices for member sustainability.

When did you first realize the real and present impacts of climate change?
I probably first realized the real and present impacts of climate change back in the early 2000s. I remember Al Gore bringing attention to global warming. As a child, I didn’t realize the severity of it until years later, into adulthood. Because I’m a naturally curious person, I decided to begin educating myself on environmental issues such as global warming and the effects of climate change. Once I stepped into this area of awareness, I started to notice the changes in weather patterns. Now, it has been over 20 years since I was exposed to the topic and it has unfortunately worsened over time. I wish our country would have taken it more seriously earlier by being more proactive.

How have you seen climate change impact North Carolina?
With North Carolina being a coastal state, hurricane season in NC has become more active and it’s occurring earlier. Water levels are rising with more flooding on the coast, summers are extremely hot, and I even read that sharks are migrating closer to our shores due to the waters getting warmer.

What does climate resilience mean to you?
To me, resilience can be seeded through education on climate change, spreading awareness through that knowledge, supporting organizations who are focused on making a change and voting for elected officials who explicitly support addressing the climate crisis.

What’s one thing everyone should know about climate action?
It takes all of us! Although our individual efforts are necessary, we can truly move mountains as a collective.

What are actions that organizations in NC can do right now to make our state more resilient?

  • Make sure to include marginalized communities that are disproportionately impacted by climate change. I’ve observed that marginalized populations such as Black, Indigenous People of Color, immigrants, and those with special needs/disabilities tend to be left out of the conversation when they are experiencing higher/damaging levels of climate change. This can be done by having educational material in other languages, partnering with other organizations within said communities, making the educational material accessible (braille for those visually impaired, audible for those hard of hearing) etc.
  • Implement more options for staff in these organizations to work from home. Working from home would save on gasoline and greenhouse gas emissions.
  • Implement more educational programs about climate change in our schools. Like Whitney Houston said, “..the children are our future, teach them well and let them lead the way”. We always want to leave the world better than we found it and this can be done through the next generations.

Working in climate resilience can be overwhelming. How do you keep going?

I do my best to prioritize my mental health whenever I feel overwhelmed. Walking our local trails, practicing mindfulness, eating well, and being intentional about spending time with friends and family.

Want to connect with Michaella? Email her.

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