
	Triangle Land Conservancy 1101 Haynes Street Suite 205 Raleigh, NC 27604 919.833.3662

Triangle Land Conservancy Announces Our Water, Our Land: $5.5 Million Fundraising Campaign

Raleigh, NC – Triangle Land Conservancy kicked off its 25th anniversary on February 29, 2008 with a gala event at the Barn at Fearrington Village in Chatham County. More than 300 supporters snatched up tickets to recognize the contributions of the organization to the Triangle region’s quality of life. Triangle Land Conservancy (TLC) also used the occasion to announce a $5.5 million fundraising campaign: Our Water, Our Land.

TLC will use Our Water, Our Land to create a Land Opportunity Fund and to provide for the long-term stewardship of TLC’s conservation lands. The Land Opportunity Fund is a revolving fund that allows the organization to respond quickly to conserve critical natural lands. At this time of intense growth pressure, TLC must be able to move swiftly to save the region’s most important natural areas. By setting up the revolving fund, TLC expects to be able to leverage more than $30 million worth of conservation.

Triangle Land Conservancy launches Our Water, Our Land with $3.5 million already raised in the preliminary “quiet phase.” Major donors to date include: the Estate of Logan and Elinor Irvin ($800,000); Capitol Broadcasting Company ($200,000); John & Janice McAdams ($100,000); Wake Stone Corporation ($60,000); the F.M. Kirby Foundation, Progress Energy and the Woodson Family Foundation ($50,000); and GlaxoSmithKline and the Hillsdale Fund ($25,000). A group of local real estate developers added an additional $280,000 through a “Developers Challenge” mini-campaign, keyed by $50,000 gifts from Carlton Midyette of Creedmoor Partners, Tommy Fonville and Audie Barefoot of Fonville Morisey, and Steve Stroud and Richard Hibbits of NAI Carolantic Realty.

The fundraising success to date is attributable to the strong campaign leadership team. The three co-chairs are Mary Mac Bradshaw of Raleigh, Jonathan Howes of Chapel Hill, and Adam Abram, also of Chapel Hill. Two of the most distinguished leaders in the Triangle region are honorary chairs of the campaign: Bill Friday of Chapel Hill, the former head of the UNC system; and Jim Goodmon of Raleigh, President and CEO of Capitol Broadcasting Company.

In its 25 years, Triangle Land Conservancy has conserved more than 10,000 acres of the region’s most critical natural lands—that’s an area twice the size of William B. Umstead State Park. The places TLC has conserved provide a variety of benefits to our region: keeping water clean, keeping air pure, sustaining local farms, providing habitat for wildlife, and providing places for people to connect with nature.

Those places where people connect with nature include four nature preserves and one river access site owned and managed by TLC: Johnston Mill Nature Preserve on New Hope Creek in Orange County, White Pines Preserve at the confluence of the Deep and Rocky rivers in Chatham County, Swift Creek Bluffs in Wake County, Flower Hill in Johnston County and McIver Landing canoe and kayak access on the Deep River in Chatham County.

In addition, TLC has led partnerships with state agencies and other non-profits to conserve land for other public recreation amenities, such as the Lower Haw River State Natural Area in Chatham County and the Little River Regional Park in northern Orange and Durham counties. TLC’s conservation work on the Deep River in Lee and Chatham counties led the NC General Assembly last year to authorize the Deep River State Trail, a new kind of state park unit.