"That, combined with the tobacco buy-out 

 program, represents a huge change, especially 

 in the coastal area," he notes. "Farmland where 

 tobacco and cotton once grew now is sprouting 

 upscale golfing or boating communities." 



Ross explains the "One North Carolina 

 Naturally" mission is threefold: 



• Green Lands, Blue Waters: 

 Protecting and Restoring Natural Areas for 

 Future Generations - The million-acre goal is 

 a keystone piece of this effort to conserve land 

 and water resources for future generations. 



• Working on the Water: Protecting 

 and Restoring Sounds and Ocean Habitats 

 -The North Carolina Coastal Habitat Protection 

 Plan, adopted in 2004, is an important part 



of ensuring the viability of commercial and 

 recreational fishing, tourism, education and other 

 coastal activities that rely on healthy aquatic 

 systems. 



• Working Lands: Advancing Steward- 

 ship of Farms and Forests - Working farms, 

 forests and recreational destinations require 

 special programs, such as incentives for conser- 

 vation easements, to help landowners maintain 

 traditional — and sustainable — land uses. 



onservation work takes time and patience — and often surprising partners. 

 Sam Pearsall, who oversees the Roanoke River Project for The Nature Conservancy (TNC) 

 can attest to that. 



Several months ago, Pearsall heard from a farmer who wanted to talk with someone 

 about building a bulkhead to shore up erosion on his Albemarle Sound property. 



As Pearsall tells it, by the end of the conversation, the farmer had agreed to remove an 

 old bulkhead, sell the waterfront easement to the N.C. Coastal Federation (NCCF), and put 

 in an environmentally friendly canoe platform. 



TNC now has 1 4 such platforms along the Roanoke River. "It's all about awareness. If 

 you sell people on the need, it's not at all a hard sell," Pearsall says. 



The importance of the Roanoke River Basin has been a well-told story since scientists 

 began mapping the area more than three decades ago. The lower floodplain contains the 

 largest intact and least disturbed bottomland hardwood forest ecosystem remaining in the 

 mid-Atlantic region. 



"It's unique for all sorts of important things. It vies for first or second place as the most 

 biologically diverse river on the East Coast. The James and Savannah rivers are contenders," 

 Pearsall points out. "We have a little friendly rivalry going." 



What's more, with 214 bird species, including 88 breeding species, the Roanoke 

 floodplain has the highest diversity of breeding birds in the state's coastal plain. 



"It's the habitat for 44 neotropical birds and a primary export center for wood thrush," 

 he adds. 



Since as early as 1 981 , TNC has played a key role in protecting more than 61 ,000 

 acres along the 1 37-mile river corridor, working in partnership with a number of timber 

 companies, government agencies and individual land owners. 



Conservation is a big process, Pearsall says. And, conservation on the scale of the 

 Roanoke River has the potential "to hold wild places together" during catastrophic natural 

 events. Such undisturbed tracts help buffer flooding, prevent erosion and avert loss of lives 

 and the destruction of human-built environments. 



"The 2005 hurricane season is a dramatic lesson of why it's important to keep people 

 out of harm's way," Pearsall points out. "Buying up flood-prone lands and turning them into 

 parks, nature preserves, hunt clubs and working forests could save thousands of lives and 

 billions of dollars just in North Carolina." 



The conservation of public and private 

 lands adds up to mutual benefits, Ross says. 



"We are taking a holistic approach to 

 conservation of natural resources. We can 

 set aside a million acres, but if private lands 

 degrade, eventually preserved acreage and 

 waterways will be degraded," he explains. 



MAPPING THE FUTURE 



When the initiative was launched, 2.8 

 million acres of state, federal and private 

 lands were permanently protected. Since 

 then, just over 350,000 acres have been 

 added to the inventory through the collective 

 efforts of nonprofit land trusts, conservation 



organizations, state and federal governmental 

 entities, and concerned citizens. 



Land acquisition for conservation lags 

 behind schedule, in part, because of shortfalls 

 in the state's allocation to the N.C. Clean Water 

 Management Trust Fund (CWMTF). The fund 

 was established by the General Assembly to 

 support the million-acre initiative. For the 

 2005-06 budget cycle, for the first time, 

 CWMTF will be fully funded at $100 million. 



"One North Carolina Naturally" is 

 no single-agency operation. Developing 

 an efficient — and cost-effective 

 — comprehensive conservation plan takes 



Continued 



Coastwatch I Spring 2006 I www.ncseagranl.org 9 



