N.C. Ecosystem Enhancement Program
PRESERVATION AND PROPERTY PROTECTION

 

Together with partnering interests from the public and private sectors, the Ecosystem Enhancement Program has contributed to the preservation of natural areas across North Carolina.

EEP's alliance with local and regional land trusts across the state, believed to be unprecedented in the nation on this scale, harnessed the expertise, innovation and local knowledge of 23 separate trusts to promote land acquisition and open-space protection.

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 included about 235 miles of streams and more than 8,600 acres of wetlands and coastal marsh in high-quality riparian and wetland areas throughout the state. The partnership's aim was 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 employed existing funds allocated to the state for mitigating unavoidable environmental impacts from transportation-infrastructure improvements. The N.C. Board of Transportation authorized this funding. EEP also leveraged other funding sources for its preservation initiatives.

 

Needmore Photo Credit
Ralph Preston

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NCEEP, 1652 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-1652
919-715-0476
Fax 919-715-2219
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