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CONSERVATION TRUST FOR NORTH CAROLINA |
Conservation Trust for North Carolina Electronic Newsletter Celebrating Two Years of Water Quality Protection! Ecosystem Enhancement Program Turns Two This summer marks the two-year anniversary of the creation of North Carolina’s Ecosystem Enhancement Program (EEP). Through a partnership with EEP, the Conservation Trust and North Carolina land trusts have preserved, or are in the process of preserving, land alongside over 264 miles of high quality streams and 2,236 acres of wetlands. These protection projects have resulted in a windfall of parkland, nature preserves, and other protected areas for public use, and they will maintain water quality in pristine rivers and creeks. Program Highlights EEP is a truly innovative program created by the NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources, NC Department of Transportation, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to restore, enhance and preserve some of the state’s most valuable threatened water resources. The federal Clean Water Act requires these efforts to protect water quality to compensate for any environmental damage done during road construction. EEP is unique in that it has used the preservation of high quality wetlands and stream systems to offset this environmental damage, unlike other states that rely almost exclusively on restoration of degraded areas. In the face of population growth pressures and tight budgets, North Carolina needs cutting-edge programs like EEP to preserve its magnificent rivers, sounds, forests, mountains, and farms for our children and grandchildren. Unfortunately, the preservation role of EEP is slated to decrease after this initial two-year period. Because the preservation component of EEP has proven to be so successful, we are working with the agencies to persuade them to continue to make the preservation of land and water resources a significant component of EEP’s future.
*************** Conservation Trust for North Carolina
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