Land trusts report recent closings and new state and grant funding; county funds stewardship coordinator

Nonprofit and staff presenters gave a series of agency updates at the meeting. A representative said North McDerris Ridge closed recently and that the group completed a donation of a conservation easement at the community farm (Jenkins Branch Farm expansion), noting easements help nonprofits secure property-tax deferment so they can continue to hold land.

On funding, one speaker reported a major state budget increase for farmland preservation: "we had lobbied for 25,000,000 recurring funds. And though we got a $2,000,000 increase in recurring funds, we got a $46,900,000 one time allocation of funds to that trust fund," the speaker said, calling it "historic level of funding."

Tom (staff) said the Doug Branch project moved off a provisional list and that the group has accepted a grant award from the North Carolina Land and Water Fund they applied for in March 2025, allowing the project to move ahead without waiting until October.

Staff also noted an operational change in county support: Buncombe Countythrough its budgetfunded a stewardship coordinator position to support monitoring and baseline documentation of conservation easements; staff said the posting should appear in August. A board member said the county voted to keep the existing tax structure, so the LCAB budget looks stable.

Not all state funding was positive for local land acquisition: one board member said the state shifted funds that could support acquisitions into maintenance, reducing available money for expanding state-park land and delaying renovations or openings for some park projects.

These updates frame near-term work: closed projects that expand conserved acreage, a now-funded Doug Branch project, and new county staffing to support easement monitoring. Members applauded the fundraising and the state allocation but acknowledged trade-offs where acquisition funding was reduced.