FACT SHEET: LAND PROTECTION

Land Protection as a Social Justice Issue

by David Fogerty

I. Define the Specific problem

Why is it important to conserve land today in the Southern Piedmont?

• The Charlotte metro region loses 41 acres of open space a day to other land uses (Piedmont Green Plan, 1998, projected over a time span from 1980 to 2020)
• Mecklenburg County lost more than a third of its forest cover between 1990 and 2002 (US Forest Service and NC Depart, of Forest Resources, 2003)
• Union County, just south of Charlotte is the 24th fastest growing county in the nation (US Census Bureau, 2000)
• More than 86 percent of Mecklenburg County residents said it was highly or somewhat important to set aside land now in the Charlotte region for the future (UNC Charlotte Urban Institute, 2004)

Benefits of protecting land?

• Riparian buffers and wetlands protect water quality
• Open Space of any kind allows reduces run-off and allows more infiltration of ground water, which would be helpful especially in these times of drought
• Here in an ozone non-attainment area, trees and forests improve air quality
• Trees/Forests capture carbon in the atmosphere
• Open space provides habitat for plants and wildlife, including unique natural heritage sites
• Accessible land provides recreational space for our urbanizing region
• It helps give our children a place to be active
• It helps people address our growing youth obesity problems
• It provides a place for students to explore and learn about nature and science
• Land Conservation can be also be viewed as a food security issue by preserving land that can be farmed by our children and grand-children to provide safe, local, nutritious sources of food
• The bio-solids from our growing cities has to go somewhere – and land applying it to farms is the most economical and environmentally sound may to do that
• Working farms and forests actually generate more public revenues than they receive back in public services. In comparison, residential growth has great costs – in terms of schools, roads, police, etc.

Land Protection as a social justice issue

As land is developed, only the wealthiest people will have access to clean water and open spaces.
African American Farmers in the South are rapidly losing their property: CLICK TO LEARN MORE. There are examples throughout the nation, of groups working to save sacred sites.

How can our members be engaged?

1. Individuals -

2. Congregation -

• Support/ adopt a local community garden

3. Community -

• Contribute funds to land conservation efforts
• Serve as CLC and volunteers to help with stewardship, public education, fund raising
• Support Black Farmers land loss program & other social justice organizations

4. Policy

• Support greater public funding for land protection at State, Federal, and local levels