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North Carolina
Established in 1983. Provides a 25% income tax credit for donations of land or easements for conservation purposes. The donor’s tax filing must be accompanied by a Certificate of Conservation Benefit from the Department of Environment & Natural Resources (DENR). As of 8/15/02 (end of 2001 tax year) about 500 individual and corporate property owners had donated 99,000 acres of land or conservation easements worth an estimated $250 M at a cost to the State of $44 M. Contact Bill Flournoy at 919-715-4191 or http://www.enr.state.nc.us/conservationtaxcredit/ Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund Originally established in 1986 as the Farmland Protection Program. Funded by appropriations The General Assembly has appropriated $2.65 million since 1998. The 2002 General Assembly appropriated $200,000; 2003 -2006 General Assembly, $0. NCDACS has awarded grants to help local land trusts and counties with farmland protection programs work with farm families to arrange permanent conservation easements on over 4,270 acres and large parts of 32 farms. It has supplied counties with funds to create Voluntary Agricultural Districts, Enhanced Voluntary Agricultural Districts, and Farmland Protection Plans. These grants have leveraged over $23.3 million from other private and public funding sources and donations of development rights from farm owners. Contact NCDA&CS at 733-7125 ext 248 or ncadfp@ncmail.net or http://www.ncagr.com Established in 1987. Funded by 25% of state deed excise stamp tax revenues and a portion of personalized license plate sales. Managed by Board of Trustees and the Natural Heritage Program in the Office of Conservation & Community Affairs in the Department of Environment & Natural Resources (DENR). Dewey Wells of Avery County recently resigned as Chairman of the Board. 377 applications have requested $220.6 M. $102.7 M has been awarded for 275 projects to help protect 189,485 acres of land since 1987. Sixteen applications requesting $17.4 M were submitted to the Natural Heritage Trust Fund in the last cycle. Eleven were funded for a total of $5.5 M. NHTF grants have leveraged at least $40 M in private and other public funds. The deadline for the fall funding cycle is August 7, 2003; NHTF Board will meet at the Rural Center in Raleigh on September 25, 2003. The deadline for the spring funding cycle will be in February; NHTF Board will meet in April. Contact Jennifer Dennis at 919-715-8703 or http://ils.unc.edu/parkproject/heritage/nhtf.html Parks and Recreation Trust Fund Established in 1993. Funded by 75% of state deed excise stamp tax revenues: state parks receive 65%; local parks, 30%; beaches & waterfronts, 5%; and administration, 3%. About $23 M is available each year. Managed by Board of Trustees of the Parks & Recreation Authority and the Division of Parks & Recreation (DPR) in DENR. Jonathan Howes of Orange County chairs the Board. Since 1995, local governments have submitted 599 applications requesting over $84 million for capital improvements and land acquisition. The Parks & Recreation Authority has approved 317 projects for a total of $48.4 M. Over 1950 acres have been added to local parks. Fifty-seven local governments requested $10.1 M in the current cycle. A 1:1 match is required. The Parks & Recreation Authority awarded 50 grants for $6 M in May and July, 2003. The next deadline for applications for local park projects is January 31, 2004. The Parks & Recreation Authority selects local grant recipients in early May and July of each year. The Parks & Recreation Authority will meet on October 24-25, 2003 at Merchants Millpond State Park. The Parks & Recreation Authority has approved 191 state park land acquisition and facility projects for a total of $104 M. PARTF has funded the addition of 13,554 acres to the State Park System. The Division of Parks & Recreation estimates that $312 M is needed to repair, renovate and build adequate visitor facilities. Land acquisition needs to complete existing units of the State Parks System are 35,951 acres with an estimated cost of $157 M. The 2003 General Assembly authorized the creation of new state parks at the Mayo River and Haw River. Contact Robin Munger at DPR at 919-715-2661 or http://ils.unc.edu/parkproject/partfund. The Division of Parks & Recreation also administers the federal Land & Water Conservation Fund’s state grants program. Applications from state agencies and local governments are due each March. The State’s LWCF Review Committee reviews the applications and makes recommendations to the State LWCF Liaison Officer (SLO) in May. Phil McKnelly, Director of the Division of Parks & Recreation is the SLO. The State Liaison Officer recommends projects to the National Park Service for final review and approval in June. US Congress appropriated $2.1 M to NC in federal fiscal year 2003. 60% of the funds are allocated to state park projects; 40%, to local park projects. A 1:1 match is required. Contact John Poole at DPR at 919-715-2662. Public Beach and Coastal Waterfront Fund Established in 1981. Funded by state deed excise stamp tax revenues. Managed by the Division of Coastal Management (DCM) in DENR. Initially funded by appropriations; currently five percent of the Parks and Recreation Trust Fund is transferred to DCM each fiscal year. DCM provided $1.3 M for projects in fiscal year 2002-2003. To date, DCM has approved 108 grants for a total of $6.4 M from PARTF funds. Since 1982, local governments have requested over $30.0 M in assistance, and DCM has funded 285 public waterfront projects for a total of $11.7 M. Local governments apply to DCM each May and must provide a 25% match. Contact Mike Lopazanski at 1-888-4RCoast or http://dcm2.enr.state.nc.us/Access/access.htm Clean Water Management Trust Fund Established in 1996. Funded by appropriations from the General Assembly. Managed by 21-member Board of Trustees and staff. Robert Howard of Columbus County chairs the Board. Housed for administrative purposes in DENR. As of June 2, 2003 1,098 applicants had requested almost $1.37 billion to protect and restore water quality. The Board of Trustees has approved 453 grants for a total of $362.7 million. CWMTF grants have leveraged at least $555.1 million in private and other public funds. One hundred and one local governments, state agencies, and land trusts requested $174.4 M from CWMTF on June 2, 2003, including new and deferred applications (2003A Cycle). CWMTF will probably need to make another $5 M installment payment to the Division of Soil and Water Conservation to match U.S. Department of Agriculture funds and to continue the 100,000-acre Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) in fiscal year 2003-2004. CWMTF estimates over $10.5 billion is needed to protect and restore surface water quality in North Carolina. The Board of Trustees of the CWMTF will meet on July 22 in Raleigh, August 17-18 in Dillsboro, September 21-22 in Rockingham County, October 19-20 in Jacksonville, and November 18 in Raleigh to review and approve projects (2003A Cycle). The next deadline for applications is December 1, 2003 (2003B Cycle). The CWMTF and its partners have protected 1685 miles of riparian buffers and preserved 155,510 acres of land. The CWMTF has assisted 73 local governments with wastewater improvements, funded 56 stream and riparian buffer restoration projects, funded 21stormwater projects, and funded watershed planning projects. The 2000 General Assembly committed to increase appropriations to CWMTF to $100 million per year in fiscal year 2003-04 and future fiscal years. The 2002 General Assembly appropriated $66.5 M to CWMTF in fiscal year 2002-03. Contact Bill Holman at 919-733-6375. Ecosystem Enhancement Program Established by the Department of Transportation and Department of Environment & Natural Resources in consultation with the US Army Corps of Engineers in 2002 to improve coordination and quality of stream and wetland mitigation projects. Funded by DOT mitigation funds. Contact Bill Gilmore at 919-715-1412. Click here for more information. Updated August 2003
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