Clean Water Fund awards $1.3 million to land conservation in western counties
Projects in Haywood and Swain counties will benefit from an additional $4.5 million of Clean Water Management Trust Fund dollars awarded this month when the trust fund received revenue from specialty license plates and funds returned for previous award participants who wound up with unused money from their projects.
• $1 million to purchase 365 acres above Maggie Valley, protecting parts of Sheeprock Knob Natural Area and Carpenter Branch, a stream that feeds the public drinking water supply. The land will be purchased by The Conservation Fund, which has already protected hundreds of acres in this area of Haywood County to conserve water quality, viewsheds from the Blue Ridge Parkway and wildlife habitat.
• $270,000 to conserve 128 acres on the Little Tennessee River in Swain County adjacent to the Needmore Game Lands. The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, which already manages the Needmore Game Lands, will acquire the tract, with additional funding support from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for the purchase. Known as the Allen Tract, it contains critical wildlife and aquatic habitats. The project will also improve public access to a portion of the Needmore Game Land by providing contiguous state ownership of property in the area.
The trust fund is a program of the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources and is financed through a state budget appropriation and a small cut of annual license plate receipts.
A full list of awards, as well as application information for this year’s granting cycle, is online at www.cwmtf.net.
