reap water quality benefits on soils 

 throughout North Carolina. 



•The Future 



Unfortunately, the main problem 

 regulators will battle as they propose 

 action on riparian buffers may not be 

 defined in square feet of trees or parts 

 per billion. 



"The politically tough part about 

 environmental protection beyond 

 human health is property rights," says 

 Marian Smith, the deputy director of 

 Gov. James B. Hunt's Eastern Office. 

 "Riparian buffers go straight to the 

 heart of property rights." 



Right now, says Smith, many are 

 asking "[are riparian buffers] going to 



be like a highway? Will they make you 

 take it against your will?" 



But there are already ways to save 

 riparian buffers without taking away 

 property rights. One way is a conserva- 

 tion easement, where a landowner 

 retains the property but pledges a set of 

 "restrictive covenants" — promises not 

 to develop or disturb the land and its 

 riparian systems. 



Like other groups in the state, the 

 Coastal Land Trust raises money to 

 buy riparian property or acquire 

 conservation easements. The trust now 

 has around 2,000 acres that it owns or 

 holds in trust, says Camilla Herlevich, 

 the director of the nonprofit organiza- 

 tion in Wilmington. 



• ZONE 1 

 Undisturbed 

 Forest 



Tree removal 

 is generally 

 not permitted 

 in this zone. 



• ZONE 2 

 Managed Forest 



Periodic harvesting is necessary 

 in Zone 2 to remove nutrients 



sequestered in tree stems 

 and branches and to maintain 

 nutrient uptake through 

 vigorous tree growth. 



• ZONE 3 

 Runoff Control 



Controlled grazing 

 or haying can be 

 permitted in 

 Zone 3 under 

 certain conditions. 



• Pasture 



Watering 

 facilities and 

 livestock are kept 

 out of the riparian 

 zone insofar 

 as practicable. 



"The idea is to ensure a partnership 

 between the private landowner and a 

 private organization," says Herlevich. 



"People don't like to be told what 

 to do. We only hold [the land] for 

 conservation purposes," she adds. "We 

 don't manage it." 



Smith also wants to give people 

 more options — better tax breaks when 

 they sign conservation easements, 

 compensation for maintaining buffers, 

 freedom for farmers to choose a mixture 

 of buffers and other best management 

 practices. She'd also like to see county 

 and local governments involved in 

 protecting buffers. 



When people understand the water 

 quality benefits, when they're supported 

 on a local level and when they are given 

 options, says Smith, they feel less like 

 their land is being taken from them. 



But "don't tell me what to do" has 

 been an age-old environmental argument 

 between landowners and regulators for 

 centuries. Although many scientists, 

 legislators, farmers, landowners and 

 developers may agree on buffers, 

 requirements or voluntary programs 

 won't end the debates or solve all of our 

 water quality problems. 



Even Gilliam, who openly lauds 

 riparian buffers as the single most 

 important water quality aid in North 

 Carolina, is quick to refer us to the 

 larger picture. 



"I would not recommend that 

 riparian buffers replace current best 

 management practices," says Gilliam. 

 "There's not one answer — it's not 

 conservation tilling, it's not riparian 

 buffers — it's a suite of best manage- 

 ment practices. It's like a tertiary 

 treatment that won't work without the 

 first two." 



And the first two treatments may 

 well be public education and increased 

 awareness of how our actions affect 

 water quality. 



"Now we have sufficient public 

 concern," says Smith. "The hardest part 

 is going to be maintaining the drive when 

 public momentum is gone. We'll have 

 to change a lot of basic behaviors — 

 not just on farms or in industry — 

 but everybody." O 



COASTWATCH 15 



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