Action Items
* Action
items #1 and #2 are the top two priorities of this
committee.
1.
The Association through local districts shall
identify major sources of nonpoint source pollution
within each District and shall work cooperatively with
DENR, other agencies and the private sector to develop
and implement local and regional strategies to address
identified water quality concerns. These local
strategies shall be included in District Strategy Plans
for ACSP and offered for incorporation into DENR’s river
basin plans and any TMDLs, ELG’s, or other
Implementation Strategies developed to address water
quality concerns.
2003
2.
Districts are encouraged to develop strategies
for addressing water quality concerns in impaired and
impacted streams under the Association’s Impaired and
Impacted Streams Initiative and to work cooperatively
with other districts, the Division, and other entities
to seek funds and implement best management practices to
affect water quality improvement.
2007
3.
The Association encourages the Technical Review
Committee and Commission to consider adopting integrated
pest management, integrated crop management, and
precision farming as new best management practices in
the Cost Share Program.
2005
4.
The Chairman of the Natural
Environment Committee shall send a letter to the area
chairs encouraging them to include training for district
supervisors on conservation easements on area meeting
agendas.
2005
5.
The Natural Environment Committee Chairman shall
send a reminder of action items and policies to district
supervisors during the year.
2006
6.
The Association President will appoint a
temporary subcommittee of the Natural Environment
Committee to explore options for districts to work
closer with the Division of Forest Resources. This
subcommittee will be composed of district supervisors
and district employees with a forestry interest from
across the state, as well as the appropriate
representatives from the Division of Forest Resources
and the NC Forestry Association. The subcommittee will
continue to meet in 2008, and make a report to the
Association Executive Board of their findings in
September 2008. Any suggested actions will be reported
to the Natural Environment Committee at the 2009 Annual
Meeting.
2008
7.
The Association will work through Area Committees
with the Division, the District Employee’s Association,
and NRCS to assess technical training needs for district
employees and to facilitate necessary training in a
timely manner.
2008
8.
The Association will include in its legislative
strategy a component to support the Division’s request
to add a professional engineering position in each DENR
regional office (a total of 3 new positions) and to add
funding for cost shared engineering technician positions
in districts so that vital soil and water conservation
practices can be put on the ground in a timely manner.
2008
Policies & Positions
1.
The Association recommends that Districts take a
stronger initiative in encouraging improved forest land
management and forest health programs in their
Districts.
a.
The Association recommends that all Districts
devote at least one meeting a year to evaluating and
developing a specific program for improved forestland
management in their Districts, and invite the local
Division of Forest Resources District Forester to
participate.
2007
b.
The Association supports the following programs:
1)
The Division of Forest Resources’ Forest
Development Program, the NC Tree Farm Programs, and
Forest Stewardship and Forest Legacy Programs; and
2)
The N.C. State University School of Forest
Resources’ Small Woodlot Research and Demonstration
Program.
3)
The implementation of forest Best Management
Practices by forest landowners, timber buyers, and
harvesting loggers when harvesting and/or re-foresting
timberlands to reduce accelerated erosion, to reduce
stream sedimentation and improve water quality.
c.
The Association supports, under supervision of the
Division of Forest Resources and other certified burners
[as defined in GS 113-60.41], the practice of prescribed
burning as a tool in forest management.
2007
d.The Association and local districts are urged to take
a strong stand on increasing financial assistance for
the Forest Development Program (FDP) and the Forest
Lands Enhancement Programs (FLEP) and also, to work with
our state and national legislators toward a better
understanding of forestry practices and costs.
2007
2.
The Association supports the Wildlife Resources
Commission in its program efforts to focus on cropland,
forestland, and right-of-way management.
2003
3.
The Association endorses and
encourages the maintenance of a Western North Carolina
Arboretum to protect endangered plants; to provide
services in the evaluation, demonstration, and testing
of plant materials; and to broaden public awareness of
the unique position this region occupies in the plant
world. 2003
4.
The Association strongly supports efforts of
USDA, research universities, agricultural experiment
stations, and other concerned state and federal agencies
to terminate or extensively abate all contributing
factors to acid rain deposition in North Carolina and
the United States.
2003
5.
The Association endorses the extension of
Conservation Reserve Program contracts and asks that
local Districts encourage program participants to extend
their Conservation Reserve Program contract.
2003
6.
The Association supports the partnership
established to administer the Conservation Reserve
Enhancement Program and encourages Districts to actively
promote this program to eligible landowners. The
Association also supports adequate new funding for CREP.
2003
7.
The Association supports the
Natural Resource Conservation Service in:
a.
the creation and enhancement of wildlife habitat
under the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP);
b.
the protection of soil, water, air and natural
resources under the Environmental Quality Incentives
Program (EQIP); and,
c.
implementing the Wetland Reserve Program (WRP).
2003
8.
The Association supports the State’s goal of
preserving one million acres of open space by 2010 and
encourages the state to consider ways to maintain
private ownership of working farm and forest lands as a
means of achieving this goal.
2003
9.
The Association supports
preserving the state’s farmland and encourages:
a.
Districts to take an active
role in developing and implementing state and/or local
farmland preservation initiatives and creation of
Agricultural Districts.
b.
The General Assembly and local
governments to provide financial and other incentives to
farmers to preserve working farmlands.
2003
10.
The Association supports
Districts holding conservation easements generated by
the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program, Farmland
Preservation Program, and other open space preservation
programs and encourages the State to make long term
funding available for monitoring conservation easements.
2003
11.
The Association recognizes and
supports North Carolina Big Sweep Waterway Cleanup and
does further hereby urge every district to do their part
to restore the beauty and function of our lakes and
streams with promoting, supporting, volunteering, or in
kind services for the Big Sweep event.
2003
12.
The Association, when
determining the location for holding it’s annual
meeting, shall give preference to meeting facilities
that employ active water conservation techniques.
2003
13.
The Association supports
prescribed grazing on pastureland and encourages
districts to emphasize this practice where appropriate.
2007
14.
The Association supports the
Soil and Water Conservation Commission’s Job Approval
Authority process for the Community Conservation
Assistance Program (CCAP) and encourages each
Association area to form Technical Review Committees to
work with the Division to facilitate training and
granting of job approval authority of qualified district
employees on CCAP BMPs.
2008
15.
The Association supports
Present Use Value (PUV) taxation and supports allowing
landowners in the PUV taxation program who donate or
sell a conservation easement for agricultural,
horticultural or forest land preservation on part or all
of that land to remain eligible for PUV taxation on the
affected land.
2008
16.
The Association supports
legislation that:
a.
Ensures that any farm or
forest land that qualifies for PUV status will continue
to be eligible for the PUV tax rate if a conservation
easement is put in place, so long as a minimum of 25% of
the value of the easement is donated to a qualified
government agency or conservation organization.
b.
Ensures equitable tax
treatment for landowners whether they choose to manage
lands for agriculture, forestry or wildlife, as long as
the landowner has an approved forest stewardship or
wildlife management plan. The Association supports
House Bill 1889 introduced in and passed by the House of
Representatives during the 2007 legislative session.
c.
Would require land under
easement enrolled in the PUV program that continues to
be used for commercial agriculture, forestry or
horticulture under the easement, be taxed at 50% of the
normal tax rate as long as it remains in the PUV program
(S 1305).
Districts are requested to take
action in collecting information on any farm, or forest
owner who loses some or all PUV eligibility due to
installation of a conservation easement or to a change
in management practices. In addition, the state
association and conservation districts will work with
the Conservation Trust for NC (CTNC) and other land
trusts in North Carolina and Environmental Defense to
get legislation passed that ensures equitable property
tax treatment for landowners who maintain private
working lands.
2008
