Heavy rains and wind couldn’t dampen the festivities at this year’s Conservation Celebration
This year’s Conservation Celebration was incredibly fulfilling thanks to our remarkable supporters, board members, and staff. The event took place at the picturesque Gideon Ridge Inn in Blowing Rock, NC, bringing in more than $55k in donations that will support CTNC’s mission and ongoing projects to protect North Carolina’s natural lands for future generations. With forty-five event sponsorships representing nearly ninety supporters, we are immensely grateful for their generosity that ensures our work can continue.
The turnout was especially gratifying due to extreme weather conditions caused by tropical storm Debby. Even with the heavy rain, the Blue Ridge Mountains still created a perfect backdrop for the event.
Special thanks to our hosts
Cobb and Cindy Milner, owners of Gideon Ridge Inn, generously donated delicious hors d’oeuvres and beverages, staff time, and the use of their inn for this year’s fundraiser. As always, they were incredible hosts, and we appreciate their time and effort to make this event memorable.
CTNC’s Board President, Bill Leslie, Executive Director, Cynthia Satterfield, and Western Conservation Manager, Aaron Flannery, each shared an update on CTNC’s current projects, recent successes, and how the funds raised during the event and throughout the year will continue to advance conservation across our state. Together with our entire community of supporters, we are building a more resilient North Carolina.
Thank you for your support to everyone who joined us, and we hope to see even more of our supporters next year! To our generous sponsors, thank you, we couldn’t do this work without your support.
2024 Conservation Celebration Sponsors
Lead Sponsors
Chip Anderson
Faye & John Cooper
Carole & Rick Marcotte
Cobb & Cindy Milner
Susan & Tom Ross
Thomas R. Statnick
John & Ashley Wilson
Patron Sponsors
Anna Neal Blanchard
Jo Scott Dorsett & Stuart Dorsett
Kelley Russell
Kathy Hamilton Stamper & Lucian Stamper
Julia Truelove
Joe & Tina Vrabel
Host Sponsors
Lee Carter & Greg Bradley
Alex & Anne Bernhardt
George & Johanna Edens
Dodd Haynes & Clara Martinez Haynes
Bill & Cindy Leslie
Ray Owens & Sally Higgins
Alton Perry
Megg & Robert Rader
Charlie & Deatra Sellers
Craig Weaver & Judy Baker
Jean & Walter Wilkinson
Supporter Sponsors
Glenn Astolfi
Judi & Kevin Beck
Marc Chabot & Cynthia Dillon
Dan Fitz & Mario Cescutti
Judy & Gary Gloster
Juliana Henderson
Drs. Elizabeth & Robert Iwaoka
Duane & Betti Kirkman
Mark Kirkpatrick & Debbie Arnold
Mozine Lowe
Sarah Manning
Margaret Newbold & Liz Watson
Cynthia “Suki” Payne
Ebony L. Perkins
Marc Rudow & Deborah Miles
John & Katherine Singleton
Mary & Donald Tucker
Aidan & Lisa Waite
Judy & Bill Watson
State Designated Natural Area Protected Along the Blue Ridge Parkway
Conservation Trust for North Carolina purchases 68-acre “Grassy Creek Springs” property for permanent protection.
In June, Conservation Trust for North Carolina purchased a unique 68-acre property including the majority of the “Grassy Creek Springs Natural Area,” recognized by the NC Natural Heritage Program for its ecological significance. The land adjoins the Blue Ridge Parkway at milepost 332 in southern Mitchell County and features natural springs and seeps, an abundance of spring wildflowers, and native forests that have been undisturbed for nearly a century. Positioned between Little Switzerland and the Museum of NC Minerals, the property protects views of mature forestland along a heavily traveled section of the Parkway.
“We are grateful to the landowners, our state funders, the Stanbacks, and to all of our donors and allies for helping us to secure this one-of-a-kind property,” stated Cynthia Satterfield, Executive Director of Conservation Trust for North Carolina. “We are also grateful for our long-standing partnership with the National Park Service and look forward to working with them to incorporate the Grassy Creek Springs property into the boundaries of the Blue Ridge Parkway in the near future.”
CTNC was fortunate to work with sellers who were committed to ensuring the property’s protection in an area popular for second-home development and destructive mining and timber operations. The landowners generously agreed to sell the property at below market price in a transaction referred to as a ‘bargain sale,’ reducing the funds CTNC needed to raise for the purchase. Public funding was secured from the NC Land and Water Fund and the NC Environmental Enhancement Grants Program. Private donations from Fred and Alice Stanback of Salisbury, NC, and many other individuals from across the state also helped make the purchase possible.
Wildflowers on property.
The purchase forever protects scenic views from the Parkway and nearby Mountains-to-Sea Trail, safeguards clean water, reduces the risk of flooding, provides a haven for plants and wildlife, and enables the forest to continue sequestering carbon from the atmosphere.
Aaron Flanney, Western Conservation Manager, noted a large gall on an oak tree while monitoring the Grassy Creek Springs property in 2023.
Rivers have molded the landscape of the entire state, with each river basin different from the other.
As an ecologically diverse state, with landscapes varying from the higher elevation of the western Blue Ridge mountains to the low-lying coastline in the east, within each region, one will experience differing average temperatures, manage different growing seasons for plants and agriculture, and enjoy a wide range of water bodies from lakes to streams, and small to large river networks.
North Carolina is home to roughly 37,853 miles of rivers, plus thousands of tributaries or streams that flow into and feed one of its larger river systems. In total, there are 17 river basins in North Carolina. Because every community falls within one of these basins, every community in North Carolina is impacted by the vast destruction to livelihoods caused by flooding.
We must address flood resiliency from the perspective of a basin-wide approach when recommending conservation solutions to mitigate its effects.
Since each river basin is contrastingly unique, a one-size-fits-all approach is not applicable when designing strategies to mitigate flooding. The impacts look different by region, demonstrating why a basin-wide level approach is necessary to create manageable, coordinated intervention strategies to improve the flood risk for all communities in North Carolina.
Flooding impacts from the Tar River in Princeville, NC
Understanding River Basins
A river basin encompasses the area of land drained by a river and its tributaries. Each basin serves as a natural watershed, starting with the rainwater and flow of a central river system that shapes the landscape and ecosystems as the water moves through. River basins influence many concepts of the surrounding area, including local agriculture, urban planning and infrastructure, drinking water, wildlife habitat and diversity and the local economy. Each river basin in North Carolina has its own movement of water from the headwaters to an outfall into the ocean, an estuary, or another river.
With the 17 river basins in North Carolina, each holds a unique ecological and topographical footprint in response to rainfall events that occurred upstream. Starting with rainfall, water accumulates into a basin that flows into subsequent bodies of water through a stream, river, tributary, groundwater, etc. As water accumulates and moves downstream, the river basin acts as a bathtub, collecting all contents and diverting where necessary.
With more severe climate-change caused weather events, an influx of water to a river basin will cascade into surrounding areas, causing floods.
The North Carolina Flood Resiliency Blueprint will serve as an online decision-support tool for policymakers, stakeholders and all North Carolinians with the knowledge required to make flood management decisions. The initiative was launched by the NC General Assembly and NC Department of Environmental Quality in collaboration with local and state agencies from across the state. In this process, having stakeholders present from various river basins is crucial to creating a tool that serves all communities and residents of the state.
As a starting point for proposed flood mitigation action, the Blueprint process will develop basin-wide action strategies for six target river basins: French Broad, Tar-Pamlico, Cape Fear, Neuse, Lumber and White Oak River Basins.
CTNC’s Western Conservation Manager, Aaron Flannery, highlights the importance of preserving land to enhance community resilience. “Protecting land in western North Carolina is crucial to the health of NC’s river basins that are fed from waters along the Parkway. Ensuring that the land along the Blue Ridge Parkway is preserved impacts everything that occurs downstream, including water quality, economic development, local and state parks, community resilience and the wildlife that calls the ecosystems of NC home.”
Serving as the third largest river basin in North Carolina, protecting the land along the Neuse River Basin is critically important to the cities within the basin by providing drinking water in nine dedicated reservoirs – Falls Lake, Lake Michie, Little River Reservoir, Lake Holt, Lake Orange, New Hillsborough Lake, Corporation Lake, Lake Ben Johnson and Lake Rogers. The basin also holds wetland forests that divert water from flooding nearby communities and captures runoff and rainfall to prevent impacts to downstream communities. For 12 years, CTNC partnered with the City of Raleigh to administer a watershed protection program, The Upper Neuse Clean Water Initiative, designed to raise funds to help land trusts protect land upstream of a rapidly growing region and critically important source of drinking water for the Triangle region.
Protecting these bodies of water is crucial to the flow of water from the mountains to the sea. With the tool created in the Flood Resiliency Blueprint, members of each river basin’s communities can expect to gain a deeper understanding of their floodplain, the history of flooding in that region and the best strategies to combat the impacts of flooding specific to that area.
Collaboration from all regions of the state is important to ensure that all communities are represented and heard when creating tools like the Flood Resiliency Blueprint. The decisions made upstream in the Western part of the state will impact communities downstream throughout NC. To address the increasing threat of climate-change caused events, like flooding, community and county boundaries will be crossed to foster collaboration in creating effective solutions. CTNC’s relationships with local government organizations, statewide conservation partners and landowners will be prioritized to ensure a holistic approach to flood mitigation strategies occurs in communities across every river basin in North Carolina.
Through the Mountain Revolving Loan Fund, CTNC allocates small grants to preserve critical areas of land protected and stewarded by our land trust partners.
Through the Mountain Revolving Loan Fund (MRLF), CTNC works with land trusts to conserve land in Western North Carolina. In addition to providing critical bridge loans to eligible land trusts, CTNC’s MRLF provides small grants to fill funding gaps that enable completion of projects that preserve the ecosystems and cultural sites along the Blue Ridge Mountains.
The CTNC Mountain Revolving Loan Fund has two significant benefits for our partners:
It provides crucial 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. CTNC’s grants help cover transaction-related costs, land management, project administration, and long-term stewardship; often the most difficult project funding to raise.
This year, CTNC awarded grants to four land trusts totaling over $90,500. We’re proud to support the costs associated with ensuring that 516 acres of land will be protected in perpetuity. We look forward to more opportunities to work in partnership with key stakeholders to protect and steward this living legacy.
The land trusts that were awarded grant funds by CTNC during the current cycle include:
Blue Ridge Land Conservancy
Conserving Carolina
Highlands-Cashier Land Trust
Mainspring Conservation Trust
The eight properties that will be protected by our partner land trusts offer ecological, agricultural, recreational, and cultural-historic benefits to communities of Western NC.
Along with the conservation values of these properties, each contains crucial ecological and agriculture benefits to the local landscape and communities of Western NC.
CTNC’s support of statewide conservation initiatives is made possible through generous donations from CTNC supporters. Your generous support enables us to carry out our mission to foster community resilience in Western NC and throughout our amazing state.
CTNC is proud to welcome Cynthia Satterfield as the new Executive Director of our organization.
Cynthia joins us with a strong background in community-driven conservation. Her dozen years at the Tar River Land Conservancy as the Director of Development and at the Eno River Association as Director of Development and Outreach ground her in the land conservation work central to CTNC. Her most recent role as State Director of the North Carolina Chapter of the Sierra Club expands her strategic leadership skills. Cynthia holds an English and Anthropology Bachelor’s Degree, Master of Business Administration, Certificate in Non-Profit Management and Equity Training.
Cynthia’s personal commitment to CTNC’s values of collaboration, boldness, inclusiveness, compassion, authenticity, openness, and curiosity inspired confidence in the CTNC Board.
“Cynthia’s personal commitment to CTNC’s values of collaboration, boldness, inclusiveness, compassion, authenticity, openness, and curiosity inspired confidence in the CTNC Board”, said CTNC Board President Brandon A. Robinson. “We are fully confident that the wealth of experience Cynthia brings will lead CTNC to new growth and new opportunity, making it possible to fulfill our mission of building resilient, just communities by delivering conservation solutions across the state.”
Cynthia will join CTNC officially on December 11th as Chris embarks on his retirement journey. We are excited to begin this new chapter as an organization and enter the new year as a strong-knit group of staff, board members, donors and supporters.
The beauty and unique ecology of Bald Head Island needs to be protected. The abundant nesting sea turtle population, vital maritime evergreen forest, and coastal ecosystems need specialized care to ensure they survive for generations. This summer, CTNC and partners on the island teamed up to develop a conservation prioritization tool that will inform how to deploy future work.
The Bald Head Island Conservation Prioritization Tool, developed by Hanna Bliska, a CTNC 2023 Stanback Summer Fellow, is a model that identifies individual properties on the island with the highest conservation value. This will enable Smith Island Land Trust and its partners to focus efforts and limited resources on properties with the most significant conservation impact.
CTNC Summer Fellows Hanna Bliska (left) and Emma Childs (right) visited Bald Head Island in June to ground-truth the results of the prioritization model.
To make the tool come to life, Hannah collaborated with CTNC Bald Head Island conservation partners and CTNC staff to build the prioritization tool in ArcGIS. This tool is inspired by CTNC’s Blue Ridge Parkway prioritization model that we use to streamline efforts and strategic goals. The plan focuses on protecting undeveloped land on Bald Head Island. The model has incorporated a variety of ecological data, including data on coastal and terrestrial resilience to climate change developed by The Nature Conservancy.
Undeveloped acreage is critical to both natural and human success on the island. Beyond protecting vital forested and coastal areas, these conserved acres become buffers to soften the impacts of climate change on Bald Head Island. The maps inform SILT’s communications with landowners and educate islanders about conservation opportunities. This will, in turn, ensure a resilient future for the communities that call Bald Head Island home.
The Bald Head Island Conservation Prioritization Tool further demonstrates CTNC’s commitment to creating sustainable programs in collaboration with partners to utilize data-driven approaches to conservation. SILT will maintain the tool to update it as more conservation progress is made on the island. Through partnerships like this, CTNC is helping North Carolina build resilience in the face of climate change.
Thank you to the development team – Hanna Bliska, Rusty Painter, Mary Alice Holley, and Emma Childs. Funding for the project was provided by SILT and Hannah’s time with CTNC was made possible by the Stanback Fellowship Program at the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University.
State Legislators come through with a conservation win
Help us send a big thank you to North Carolina’s legislators and governor for allocating over $100 million to the conservation trust funds and other conservation projects in the 2023 State Budget. This funding will benefit people and our land for generations to come.
Land for Tomorrow is a statewide coalition of community leaders, conservation, and wildlife organizations, and parks and recreation advocates with a common goal: increasing land and water conservation in North Carolina. The state’s three conservation trust funds, the North Carolina Land and Water Trust Fund (NCLWF), the Parks and Recreation Trust Fund (PARTF), and the Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund (ADFPTF) are essential tools that allow state agencies and nonprofit partners to protect North Carolina’s valuable natural resources.
The Coalition recognizes these conservation heroes who went the extra mile to protect our state’s most loved places. The Land for Tomorrow Coalition applauds the following legislators:
If you have time, please send a thank you note to your local legislators for protecting our state’s natural resources through the budget this year. Their perseverance in protecting this funding should be commended.
CTNC is dedicated to stewarding smart conservation policies for the benefit of North Carolina’s resilient communities. Join us in supporting this important mission.
Portions of the property are visible from the Blue Ridge Parkway and MST near milepost 274, just off Highway 421 near Deep Gap. Conservation of this tract complements CTNC’s protection of an 86-acre property, just across the Parkway below Elk Mountain Overlook and our recent 408-acre acquisition adjacent to that one.
The Elk Mountain Meadow property protects water quality in a tributary of Gap Creek, and the Mountains-to-Sea Trail passes within feet of this property, ensuring a more desirable experience for hikers.
The addition of the Elk Mountain Meadow property to the Parkway will help increase the connectivity of protected lands in the area to preserve the natural corridor while ensuring a forested buffer along this section of the MST. Conserving land along the Blue Ridge Parkway also enhances the landscape’s resilience to our changing climate by providing protected places where ecological diversity can resist damage and migrate safely to more hospitable areas.
“Protection of properties like this contributes to the integrity of the Blue Ridge Parkway, which attracts millions of visitors to the High Country each year. The addition of the Elk Mountain Meadow property also enhances the experience of hikers along this section of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail on the outskirts of Boone.
“Conserving more land is so important to the future of our country” said the previous owner who sold the property to CTNC in 2017.
A Full Circle Moment for Blue Ridge Parkway Land Protection
In June, CTNC secured another 36 acres of pristine protected views along the Blue Ridge Parkway. The property known as Stella’s Acres abuts the very first property CTNC ever conveyed to the Blue Ridge Parkway – our 22-acre Redbank Cove property, donated to the National Park Service in 1997.
This new plot lies along Timberlane Road, just northeast of Balsam in Haywood County. The tract adjoins the Parkway at milepost 442. Protection of the land will enlarge the protected habitat connection between the Parkway and the 328-acre Haywood County Community College conservation easement property.
“We are thrilled to announce this success and look forward to celebrating the transfer of the property to the Blue Ridge Parkway in the very near future. We are especially grateful for the generosity of the land donors and the support of National Park Service staff, without whom we could not carry out this important work,” said Rusty Painter, CTNC Land Protection Director.
A stream originating on the property flows into Richland Creek, which continues into the Town of Waynesville through a municipal park and Richland Creek Greenway. Protection of this headwater stream further ensures clean water from the source to communities downstream. Furthermore, protecting headwater streams helps mitigate the impacts of downstream flooding during heavy rain events.
This is a value add for climate mitigation as the property’s mature hardwood forest allows for carbon sequestration from the atmosphere and protection of carbon stored in the soil. Additionally, CTNC’s protection of the property expands protected acreage along the Parkway’s south-to-north habitat migration corridor, enabling plants and animals to escape to northern latitudes with cooler climates.
Millions of visitors to the Parkway (locals and tourists) will benefit from protection of scenic properties like Stella’s Acres and others like it. The property is visible from the Parkway, especially while driving north from Balsam Gap Overlook, as most of the tract rises upslope from the Parkway toward the ridge of Wesner Bald. At its closest point, the property is as little as 320 feet from the Parkway motor road. The property is also highly visible from a nearby section of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail. While not accessible by public transportation, the Blue Ridge Parkway is free to all visitors, unlike many national parks that charge user fees. Public access to nature is always a value add.
Thank you to the National Park Service, previous landowners Charles & Donna Bryan, and our corporate donor for making this project possible. The property will be donated to the National Park Service in the next few years.
This is the 76th property CTNC has protected along the Blue Ridge Parkway. Still, more is needed, as most land visible from the Blue Ridge Parkway is privately owned with no land use restrictions, leaving it vulnerable to destructive land uses that can compromise the scenic views that attract millions of visitors each year.
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.
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