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Chatham County approves $600,000 in farmland-preservation grants, $75,000 for local land trust support
Summary
The Chatham County Board of Commissioners approved the first round of grants from the Chatham Agricultural Preservation and Development (CAPD) Trust Fund, funding three conservation easement projects covering about 287 acres and a $75,000 organizational support award to Triangle Land Conservancy.
The Chatham County Board of Commissioners voted April 15 to award CAPD Trust Fund grants that county staff and partners said will permanently protect 287 acres of working farmland and leverage additional public and private match.
County staff presented three proposed conservation easement projects and an organizational support grant for Triangle Land Conservancy. The board approved the package, which county staff said will leverage about $1.6 million in state and private matching funds and cover transaction and stewardship costs the land trust requires for long-term protection.
County farmland-preservation staff described the CAPD awards as an early-stage distribution of a fund created from local tax revenues to help landowners cover easement transaction costs and to make southern Chatham farms more competitive for state matching grants. The board’s action includes a $75,000 grant labeled “organizational support” to Triangle Land Conservancy to help the local land trust manage and steward easements and to help the county use its fund as a state grant match.
Triangle Land Conservancy staff told the board these projects included a mix of market, livestock and market-farm operations. Staff said the county’s local dollars reduce transaction barriers—surveys, legal work and stewardship endowments—that can prevent landowners from donating or selling easements even when they want to conserve farmland.
Commissioners and staff framed the program as both a way to conserve farmland and to support farm economies and water-quality goals. The agricultural advisory board and the Soil and Water Conservation District had recommended the projects and the board approved them after a motion, second and unanimous voice vote.
County staff announced two near-term public events tied to the program: a farmland-transition and estate-planning workshop in June and a full-day “Saving the Farm” workshop in December to assist landowners with conservation and transfer planning.
The board’s vote allocates the CAPD funds presented by staff; matching grant applications and final easement documents will return to the land trust and county for implementation.
Clarifying details: the projects approved at this meeting were presented as protecting 287 acres of working farmland and leveraging about $1,600,000 in matching funds; the board approved $75,000 in organizational support for Triangle Land Conservancy.
