Conservation Trust
for North Carolina

Private Land Conservation Booming!

Individuals are Saving America’s Landscape

The Land Trust Alliance (LTA), the umbrella organization for the nation’s 1500 land trusts, recently announced the results of the 2005 National Land Trust Census that traces the progress of private land conservation.  LTA found the total number of acres conserved by local, state, and national land trusts in the United States doubled between 2000 and 2005.  Private land set aside for conservation grew 54 percent during that time from 24 million acres to 37 million acres - an area larger than New England. 

National groups like The Nature Conservancy continue to save large tracts of valuable natural lands, but the biggest growth in land conservation is coming from local land trusts.  These land trusts tripled the rate at which they saved land to 1.2 million acres a last year.  The number of land trusts in the country also continues to grow.

North Carolina continues to be a leader in the land trust community.  North Carolina land trusts saved over 33,000 acres in 2005 - a record number - and have helped protect hundreds of thousands of acres of land to preserve pristine rivers, scenic landscapes, working farms, and wildlife habitat. 

While the news is good, there is no room for complacency.  Development continues to gobble up over 2 million acres of wetlands, farms, and forests in the United States. North Carolina loses more than 100,000 acres of natural lands a year – an area equivalent to Winston-Salem and High Point combined.

North Carolina and other states must increase the amount of public funding available for conservation if we are to save our most valuable natural lands for the future.  Federal government funding for conservation has dropped significantly in recent years, putting increased pressure on state and local funding for conservation. 

You can help land trusts work with the NC legislature and local governments to increase conservation funding to save the places you love by donating to the Conservation Trust for North Carolina and/or your local land trust.