Land & Water Protection

The Conservation Trust for North Carolina protects land and water through direct efforts with willing landowners and in partnership with the state’s 24 local and regional land trusts.

Since our founding in the early 1990s, we've protected nearly 32,200 acres in 87 places. We hold most of that acreage under conservation agreements, while we have transferred property titles or conservation easements on almost 3,130 acres to government agencies for parks and other public land.

What makes the Conservation Trust different from any other land trust?

CTNC's dual approach as a land trust and a service center for other land trusts opens a wide variety of options for us to help protect highly threatened natural areas across North Carolina.

We focus our direct protection efforts on the mountain streams, forests, and scenic views along the Blue Ridge Parkway. We've protected about 30,000 acres near the Parkway so far.

For local land trusts, we facilitate statewide and regional protection programs and, when asked, act as a partner on their land protection projects. We also lobby state and federal lawmakers for sound conservation policy, offer coordinated public relations and training, and help land trusts access government and foundation programs and funding.