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715 Cabarrus Ave. W. MEMORANDUM <br />Room 301 <br />Concord, NC 28027 -6214 TO: Board of Commissioners <br />Telephone: 704 - 920 -3300 FROM: Dennis Testerman <br />Fax: 704-795-6432 <br />Email: DATE: April 27, 2012 <br />detesterman @cabarruscounty.us RE: Stewardship Fund for Maintenance of Conservation Easements <br />Website: www.cabarruscounty.us /SandW/ ENCL.: Budget Amendment <br />Session Law 2011 -209, passed by the NC General Assembly in response to a <br />formal request from the NC Assoc. of Soil & Water Conservation Districts, <br />BOARD OF SUPERVISORS (NCASWCD) authorizes conservation district boards to establish a special <br />reserve fund known as a "Stewardship Fund" to be used for maintaining <br />Jeff'Goforth conservation easements. Cabarrus Soil and Water Conversation District <br />Chairman (CSWCD) requests that a Stewardship Fund be established within our budget. <br />Vicky Porter BACKGROUND <br />Vice - Chairman In 2004, the District was entrusted by the county and municipalities with lead <br />responsibility for administering a countywide conservation easement program. <br />Ned Hudson In 2011, CSWCD and the Land Trust for Central North Carolina formalized a <br />Secretary- Treasurer long- standing partnership on land protection with a Memorandum of <br />Johnathon Johnson Agreement believed to be the first of its kind in the nation. This responsibility <br />Member for land conservation is prominent in both the CSWCD's strategic planning <br />objectives and in our FY2012 Plan of Work. Land tenure is a key dimension of <br />Louis Suther sustainability. <br />Member <br />Development of this countywide conservation easement initiative followed <br />Tommy Porter publication of the report, "An Inventory of the significant Natural Areas of <br />Associate Member Cabarrus County, North Carolina" in 2002. This report, jointly funded by the <br />Bob Ritchie county and state and adopted by the Board of Commissioners, identified 13 <br />Associate Member priority sites of regional or state significance worthy of land protection efforts. <br />In addition to these natural heritage sites, CSWCD is also focusing on <br />STAFF preservation of farmland and stream buffers. <br />Amy Griffith CSWCD has held conservation easements since 2007, when we accepted a <br />Administrative Secretary conservation easement on the county jail campus. Our newest conservation <br />easement, on the Concord Regional Airport property, was recently transferred <br />Daniel McClellan from the county to CSWCD. <br />Resource Conservation Specialist <br />In 2009, NCASWCD published a "Working Lands Preservation Resources <br />Dennis Testerman Manual" for use by conservation districts in administering local land protection <br />Sr. Resource Conservation Specialist programs. The preface to this manual states, in part, "To maintain a healthy <br />economy and allow room for smart growth, private landowners need as many <br />options as possible to make long -term land management decisions." This <br />manual includes a section on "Stewardship Monitoring and Enforcement" that <br />provides best practices for administering a conservation easement program. <br />Attachment number 1 <br />F -5 Page 118 <br />