SALISBURY — As more and more land development happens close to Rowan County and the rest of North Carolina, it can be easy to forget that in order to create sustainable communities, there still needs to be places that are untouched by apartment complexes and fast food restaurants. 

Three Rivers Land Trust, a nonprofit organization based in Salisbury, has been a leading proponent of conserving land in North Carolina across 15 counties including Rowan. All told, they have conserved close to 50,000 acres of land and they have protected 350 miles of local streams and 18,000 local family farms. 

“We conserve the local rivers, whether the scenic rivers, family farms, national areas of the central Piedmont, and historic places of the Piedmont,” Executive Director Travis Morehead said. “We expand public lands by adding on to the local parks, state parks; gain lands and national forest; we save family farms, which is a big push for us right now, trying to help farmers keep the farm going and stay on the farm; and we protect local waters.” 

Morehead and his staff concentrate on a multitude of different jobs like focusing on land protection projects, overseeing lands, communications, raising money and recruiting people to work with the organization. 

Morehead said many people come to them about their land if they have no one to inherit it, but still want it preserved. They will do this by “direct acquisition” or put a conservation easement on the property to make sure it is always a farm going forward. 

“Every land is different. We try to stay away from small tracts and we try to stay away from urban tracts. We generally do better, from a conservation perspective, in the county areas, in the rural parts of the county, rural parts of the region. That way we’re not competing with development,” Morehead said. “We try not to do a lot of work inside municipalities because that’s where development should occur. They have public water, public sewer, public utilities.” 

Conservation Lands Manager Katie Stovall said her job is to manage land the trust owns and “to improve the land for natural community restoration or for a particular wildlife species.” 

“That’s a really, really important thing for farming and our food or even wildlife communities that are sensitive species to help ensure they’re going to be around for many years,” Stovall said. 

According to Associate Director Crystal Cockman, Three Rivers Land Trust conserves lands through direct acquisition or conservation easement. They also conduct transfers to public agencies like state parks, national forests and local parks. Large portions of their time is engaged with grant writing, grant administering and collaborating with private landowners.

“People who want to conserve their land are generally good folks. So we get to work with some of the best people you would ever meet,” Cockman said. 

Like many nonprofits, Three Rivers Land Trust is always on the lookout for funding to pay for their operational duties. 

“We’re often limited with the monetary aspect or the time or the manpower to do so many things. So we can have a much bigger impact if we had all the resources to do so,” Stovall said. 

Even with those restrictions, Morehead said Three Rivers Land Trust has been put in a great position to do their jobs adequately. 

“We’re in the best financial shape we’ve ever been in thanks to a loyal base of donors, primarily here in Rowan County. We’re doing well, we’ve never had as much land on the docket that’s fully funded and ready to close,” Morehead said 

The logistics and process of acquiring and conserving land bears down on the people who are employed at the trust. The amount of larger properties is declining due to land becoming more sparse and surging developments under construction. 

“Anything with real estate is going to be challenging because you’re going to encounter issues, whether it be mineral rights or title issues or surveying encroachment,” Cockman said. “It takes time and is intensive, but the results are that you see a tract permanently protected, which is very rewarding.” 

Morehead said he grew up in Stanly County and when he looks back on his childhood and where he was raised, he feels as if Three Rivers Land Trust will be able to allow others to have the same kind of upbringing he did. 

“I feel like I grew up in Mayberry. You knew your neighbors, you could fish in the neighbor’s pond, go hunt arrowheads in the field, all of that was how I grew up and I’d love for my children and eventually grandchildren to have that same opportunity, to have that rural aspect of our region,” Morehead said.