The Rural
Lands of the
Why are they
important? How can you help protect
them?
Land, Water, and
People in the
The
Even if you try, you cannot separate our land, water, and people. The land provides people with opportunities for recreation and income, and certain lands called floodplains receive and hold floodwaters during major storm events. The uplands support black bear, deer, and other wildlife, while the river hosts many aquatic species, including trout and the Appalachian elktoe mussel. The river also provides water for drinking, residential use, crop irrigation, and industrial production. Many people choose to visit, work, and live in the area because of its beautiful lands and waters, but new developments can adversely impact these valuable resources.
Water
Quality
When we alter the land to make
way for farms, houses, or businesses, we introduce changes that can impact river
systems. When we clear land for a
road, a crop, a pasture, a house, or other type of building, we often increase
the chance for soil erosion and the possibility of filling our waterways with
sediment. If we eliminate trees
near streams and rivers, we increase the chance of eroding streambanks, while
also increasing water temperatures due to the loss of shade, making the streams
less suitable for trout and other cool water species. Meanwhile, rainfall washing off hot
roofs and asphalt in summer also increases water temperatures. When we use chemicals and fertilizers to
treat our farmlands and lawns, the next storm may wash these potentially harmful
products into our streams and into the
Water
Quantity
Land use changes also impact water quantity and can lead to floods of increasing height and frequency. This is especially true when the natural landscape is replaced with hard surfaces like roofs, driveways, parking lots, and roads, where rainfall can’t soak into the ground. Instead, it rushes off into ditches and streams, quickly filling and sometimes overflowing our stream and river channels. In turn, these fast-moving waters can further erode streambanks, creating additional water quality problems. Meanwhile, if we fill up floodplain areas with soil or houses, we force more floodwaters onto other lands, ever increasing the potential for more severe and more frequent floods.
Finding a Balance
Not all land use changes are
necessarily bad, and there are many ways to reduce our impacts on the quality
and quantity of water flowing into the
Current laws and regulations limit certain land use activities in order to protect the river, the floodplain, and human health. Fortunately, we also have many voluntary options, including several programs that help landowners keep their lands as farms or forests. These land conservation tools can help safeguard the natural or near-natural control of both water quality and water quantity, while also providing positive economic benefits for individual landowners and protecting the area’s rich cultural heritage and rural economy.
· Present Use Tax Valuation – This program helps reduce property taxes on land in agricultural production. Three categories of land (agricultural, forestry, and horticultural) have specific criteria for the tax break. For more information, contact the Haywood County Assessor’s Office. (Please see below for “Contact Information.”)
·
Voluntary Agricultural Districts – VADs are county-based programs that allow farmers to
voluntarily keep their farms as part of a local agricultural district in
exchange for certain benefits related to development pressures, taxes,
cost-share monies, and more.
· State and Federal Conservation Programs – Through the Conservation Reserve Program and similar efforts, government agencies will pay landowners to place long-term restrictions on portions of their farmlands. The length of the agreement can vary, from only a few years to 15- and 30-year contracts to permanent agreements. For more information, contact the local office of the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service or the Haywood Soil and Water Conservation District.
· Conservation Easements – A conservation easement is a voluntary, legally-binding, and permanent agreement that limits certain development on a property in exchange for certain federal and state tax benefits and/or cash. Conservation easements can be tailored to suit the landowner’s present and future needs. Through a “working land” easement, for example, a property owner still owns the land and can continue activities related to farming and forestry. For more information, contact the Haywood Soil and Water Conservation District or the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy.
Keeping It Rural
In return for doing your part to
help keep the
The future of the
Contact Information
To learn more about how you can
help protect the rural resources of the
· American Farmland Trust - www.farmland.org, (336) 221-0707
·
· Haywood County Assessor’s Office – www.haywoodnc.net/taxassessor.html -(828) 452-6734
· Haywood Soil & Water Conservation District - www.haywoodnc.net/soil.html, (828) 452-2741 x. 3
· Haywood Waterways Association - www.haywoodwaterways.org, (828) 452-9077
·
·
Southern Appalachian
·
USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service -
www.nc.nrcs.usda.gov, (828) 456-5132 x. 3
The Southwestern NC Resource
Conservation and Development Council and the Bethel Rural Community Organization
thank the Pigeon River Fund for its financial support for these efforts to
protect the rural lands of the