TRLC Receives Regional Award from City of Raleigh
Tar River Land Conservancy received the Regional Environmental Award at the City of Raleigh’s eighth annual Environmental Awards ceremony. The awards ceremony was held on April 22 at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. Raleigh Mayor Nancy McFarlane presented the award to the Conservancy for its work on the Haynes Tract Conservation Project located near Creedmoor in Granville County.
The Haynes Tract project led to the permanent protection of 117 acres of wetlands and forest located along Robertson Creek in Granville County, just one mile upstream of Falls Lake. The Conservancy went above and beyond traditional watershed conservation projects by working with partners to clean up a 600,000-gallon abandoned hog waste lagoon on the site and then to replant the area in native hardwood trees. The cleanup of the hog lagoon eliminated the threat of catastrophic discharge of wastewater into Robertson Creek which feeds Falls Lake, the City of Raleigh’s primary drinking water supply.
“We are honored to be recognized by the City of Raleigh for our work to protect and clean up the Haynes Tract,” remarked Derek Halberg, the Conservancy’s Executive Director. “We thank not only Raleigh but all our partners whose support and expertise made this project possible. It is very rewarding to combine the protection of a sensitive watershed area with the cleanup of a lingering water quality threat.”
Tar River Land Conservancy leveraged funding awarded by the City of Raleigh’s Watershed Protection Program for the Haynes Tract project to secure additional support from local, state and federal sources. Other partners on the project included the City of Creedmoor, Granville County Soil & Water Conservation District, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, NC Foundation for Soil and Water Conservation, Environmental Enhancement Grant Program, Clean Water Management Trust Fund, Conservation Trust for North Carolina, and Bio-Green Services, Inc.