Regional Conservation Summit

Conservation leaders from throughout the Triangle gathered October 23, 2008 at the Regional Conservation Summit to share progress and discuss ideas for saving the places we love across the region. The first in a series of meetings, this gathering was a review of the progress made on the Triangle GreenPrint, the region's goals for conservation created in 2002.

Regional Conservation Summit Agenda/Minutes

PDF versions of the Powerpoint presentations and other documents may be found by clicking on the hyperlinks below.

Kick-off/ State of Open Space

TLC's Kevin Brice kicked off the event by welcoming attendees and stressing the importance of partnerships and collaboration on conservation projects in the Triangle.

Paul Black, from the Triangle J Council of Governments (TJCOG), followed up with a report on growth and open space data. TJCOG maintains a database of open space in the Triangle. (Please send any updated greenway or open space information you may have to Paul Black, pblack@tjcog.org. Existing information that TJCOG has on file can be seen in Paul's presentation.)

Sharing of Progress

TLC's Leigh Ann Cienek provided an update on the progress of open space initiatives in the Triangle. Highlights included new State Parks and County efforts. 

TLC is working with TJCOG to pull together information on the state of open space in the Triangle. Rough estimates indicate that over 20,000 acres of land has been placed in conservation since 2000. See a draft summary sheet of conservation progress. (Please send any updates to Leigh Ann at lcienek@tlc-nc.org)

Several participants mentioned important projects going on throughout the area including:

• NC Rails to Trails programs
• Green Infrastructure Planning by the Division of Forest Resources
• Triangle Greenways Council Initiatives
• Updates from Orange County’s Lands Legacy Program
• Sig Hutchinson mentioned the upcoming Reality Check event which is a 15-county regional planning and visioning exercise. See http://www.realitycheck2009.org for more information. 
• Richard Rogers also gave a brief legislative update on the Clean Water Management Trust Fund.

Water Quality: Conservation for safe and abundant drinking water

UNCWI (Upper Neuse Clean Water Initiative): Lisa Creasman, Conservation Trust for North Carolina

Chatham Buffer Rules: Fred Royal, Chatham County

Recreation: Conservation for greenways and passive recreation

The Mountains to Sea Trail (MST): Darrel McBane, NC State Parks

Municipal Connections to MST: Skip Browder, Town of Clayton
The Town of Clayton has been working on acquiring greenway connections along Sam’s Branch and the Neuse River. Their greenway plans will link downtown Clayton to the Neuse River and hook into the Mountains to Sea Trail, which links with Raleigh’s Neuse River Greenway Trail.

Neuse River Greenway: Vic Lebsock, City of Raleigh

Kate Dixon of the Friends of the Mountains to Sea trail also mentioned the organization’s current efforts to build support for the Mountains to Sea Trail across the state. The organization has had great participation from volunteers on recent trail building events in the Triangle area and they have greatly increased the awareness of the trail though advocacy, education and outreach. 
           
Working Lands: Conservation for local food and forests

TLC's Tandy Jones gave a brief update on the state of working lands in the Triangle Region as well as some of the major issues agriculture is facing. Orange and Durham County provided two examples of ways county programs are approaching farmland preservation.

Orange County’s SGRC (TDR) Program: Glen Bowles, Orange County

Farmland Protection in Durham County: Jane Korest, Durham County

High Quality Natural Areas: Protecting significant habitats and wildlife

NC DENR and Wildlife Resources Commission presented two conservation planning tools.

State Conservation Planning Tool: Janine Nicholson, NCDENR

Green Growth Toolbox: Jacquelyn Wallace, WRC

Funding: Local, State, and alternative resources

Bonds: Wake County’s Open Space Program: Chris Snow, Wake County
Chris Snow gave an overview of Wake County’s open space program as well as their major funding resource –open space bonds.

State funding: Will Summer, NC Clean Water Management Trust Fund
Will Summer, the Piedmont's Clean Water Management Trust Fund representative introduced himself and provided information on the upcoming grant cycle.

State and Alternative Resources: Bill Holman, Duke University
Bill Holman discussed some of the challenges and opportunities of conservation efforts in the Triangle Region.  He touched on the need to demonstrate and document the economic and public benefits our conservation lands are providing. He also stressed the need for regional efforts and communication. Bill mentioned the upcoming Reality Check event and organizing a caucus before the event for conservation participants.

TLC plans to host a follow-up action summit in the spring.  Please send any recommendations or comments for the next summit to lcienek@tlc-nc.org

List of Attendees