Programs: Land acquisition: catawba lands conservancy (the conservancy) protected 7 new properties in 2017, totaling 452 acres in four counties. The conservancy works withwilling landowners and communities to conserve land in perpetuity by placingvoluntary conservation easements on land, accepting donations of land, andoccasionally purchasing land. Clc serves a six-county region in north carolina thatincludes: catawba, gaston, iredell, lincoln, mecklenburg and union counties. Ourconservation efforts focus on four areas: local farms, wildlife/plant habitat,water quality and connecting people to nature. Additionally, many of our properties have important species and habitat that the state of north carolina designated as natural heritage areas. Further, some of the properties provide critical habitat for state or federally listed threatened or endangered plants or animals.
carolina thread trail (thread trail) is an initiative to develop a regional network of greenways, trails and blueways that reaches 15 counties and 2. 3 million people. Thread trail is a unique 15-county collaboration that will connect communities and conserved land through a network of conservation corridors and trails developed through locally designed plans. This long term project under the conservancy's leadership will permanently protect this region's history, beauty, and diversity, while conserving local lands and providing a broad range of community benefits. Thread trail will also link more than two million citizens with hundreds of miles of greenways and trails as well as access to rivers for paddling in north and south carolina, connecting points of regional significance. There are multiple public benefits including economic development, conservation of land, enhancement of water quality, cleaner air, alternative transportation, and healthy recreation activities for all regional citizens, all of which translates to enhanced quality of life. Thread trail will be freely accessible to everyone. At the end of 2017, there were 1,610 planned trail miles, of which, approximately 260 trail and 170 blueway miles are complete.
land stewardship: the conservancy intentionally stewards its conservation assets. Staff monitors activities on fee owned land through site visits. Current conditionsare evaluated against the reference conditions established by the baselinedocumentation. Photographs are taken and a monitoring report is generated andarchived or the site visit is documented on a site visit report. As part ofperpetual due diligence, the conservancy ensures the plant, wildlife, and otherconservation values remain undisturbed and protected. Where appropriate on fee ownedproperty, the conservancy provides public access opportunities, including bothblueways and hiking trails, independently and through carolina thread trail. Facilities for public access include a canoe/kayak launch (spencer mt. Riveraccess and pharr family preserve access), the adam springs portage trail, and canoe/kayak take-out (r. Y. Mcaden access); and natural surface hiking trails at the south fork trail, south fork rail trail, long creek preserve, seven oaks preserve, pharr family preserve, buffalo creek preserve, sallys y preserve, catawba springs preserve, girl scouts, and eastover ridge preserve. The conservancy also monitors conservation easements using the same protocols as fee owned land. On private property protected by conservation easements, the conservancy works with willing land owners to further enhance the conservation values already protected.
