Re: “The Triangle Land Conservancy's deep cuts”

The article paints an incomplete and unfair picture of the Triangle Land Conservancy. TLC is one of most successful and innovative non-profit land trusts in the entire country. They have an impressive track record of protecting land, drinking water, working farms and wildlife habitat, and making special natural places available for the public to enjoy.

At a time when our children spend most of their free time staring at electronic screens instead of playing outdoors, when our water quality is deteriorating, when many members of our community do not have access to nutritious food, TLC is recognized for its efforts to address the intersection of conservation and social needs. At TLC’s Irvin Learning Farm, fresh vegetables are grown in partnership with the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle and provided to low income, urban communities. TLC opens a number of its preserves every day free of charge to the public to experience the region’s natural areas and provide young people with the opportunity to be outdoors. Central to TLC’s water quality protection work is the preservation of wide natural buffers along streams that feed drinking water reservoirs. Raleigh and Durham have embraced inexpensive water fees for funding land conservation because protecting land along streams prevents polluted runoff and is the most cost-effective way for municipalities to provide safe drinking water to their citizens.

TLC responds to the challenge of working in one of the country’s fastest growing regions by building diverse partnerships throughout the Triangle that address the needs of both land and people. Without question, they are guided by integrity and an absolute commitment to conserving the Triangle’s natural areas.

Reid Wilson
Executive Director
Conservation Trust for North Carolina