NC Land Trusts: Good Time to Buy, But Funding is Scarce
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
WILMINGTON, N.C. - The cost of real estate is down across North Carolina, making it a good time to buy land, and not just for individuals. With property values down, it's also an opportunity to add more acres to protected land trusts.
In a budget year when the state struggled to maintain teacher staffs and other public resources, land trusts got the leftovers of the state budget in 2011. The Clean Water Management Trust Fund was the hardest hit, dropping from $50 million in funding to just over $11 million.
The budget also prohibits them from using the money for land acquisition except around military installations. Making it doubly hard, the lack of state funds prevents groups from receiving matching federal grants.
Camilla Herlevich, executive director of the North Carolina Coastal Land Trust, explains the lack of funding can be frustrating because now is the time to buy.
"The irony of this is that there really are some wonderful opportunities out there for land conservationists, because the values of real estate have gone down so much due to the economy."
In spite of its reduced funding, the North Carolina Coastal Land Trust is pushing ahead. It just announced its accreditation today by the Land Trust Accreditation Commission.
Herlevich says that reducing funding for land trusts in North Carolina does more than affect their ability to buy land.
"Land trusts are doing more and more projects that actually involve kids, that involve getting people outdoors, involve getting people walking. So we're all trying to contribute to some public good here."
She says the provision that still allows them to acquire land around military installations is allowing them to make some progress along the coast. Private benefactors are also helping them match some funds in order to receive federal grants.
Reporting for this story by North Carolina News Connection in association with Media in the Public Interest. Media in the Public Interest is funded in part by Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation.
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