Needmore, Swain County

As of July 22, 2007 – the initiative’s fourth anniversary -- EEP had collaborated with public- and private-sector partners to acquire nearly 40,000 acres of natural areas, with 24 tracts being managed as public recreation areas such as parks or gamelands. The tracts include about 164 miles of streams and more than 7,800 acres of wetlands in high-quality riparian and wetland areas throughout the state. The partership's aim is to provide fair economic return to landowners while preserving the state's natural areas for future generations through voluntary land-protection agreements.

EEP's preservation activities employ existing funds allocated to the state for mitigating unavoidable environmental impacts from transportation-infrastructure improvements. The N.C. Board of Transportation authorizes this funding. EEP also leverages other funding sources for the initiative.

• EEP Preservation and Property Protection staff contacts
• Land Trusts and EEP: A Historic Partnership
• EEP preservation success stories
• EEP's partnership for preservation with the Conservation Trust for North Carolina
• Requirements for landowner participation
• EEP Preservation Guidance Criteria

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