Mainspring’s Executive Director Sharon Taylor was featured in a piece by Stephanie Carson on Public News Service on May 2, 2016. Listen to the radio piece here, or read the transcript below.

BRASSTOWN, N.C. – Farmers’ markets are in full swing across North Carolina, with tables full of locally-sourced produce, meats and crafts. In addition to water, sunshine and sweat equity to create the bounty of crops, land also is needed to meet the demand.

That’s what North Carolina’s land trusts bring to the table.

They secure agricultural easements on farmland to protect it from development, explains Sharon Taylor, executive director for the Mainspring Conservation Trust.

“What that allows in a lot of cases is for some families to hold on to their property long-term,” says Taylor. “It also allows for it to stay available for agriculture, which is important for the greater public because then, the property is available for growing our food.”

Mainspring holds the conservation easement for Ridgefield Farm, home of Brasstown Beef.

By definition, an agricultural land easement prevents land from being used or sold for non-agricultural purposes.

Taylor says farmers who might be interested can connect with the local land trust in their area through the group Blue Ridge Forever.

Hickory Nut Gap Farm outside of Asheville is protected by an easement with the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy.

William Hamilton, farmland program director with the conservancy, says easements are important because farmland is often just as appealing to developers as it is to farmers.

“Our river bottoms and creek bottoms and our soils that we can actually grow food on are extremely limited,” says Hamilton. “They’re also the types of properties that are very often easiest to develop, because they’re flat; they’re usually right next to an existing road.”

Taylor says in addition to protecting the land, agricultural easements protect a food supply that’s becoming even more valuable as consumers demand to “buy local.”

“Conservation and farming go hand in hand, and so it’s really important, as more and more land gets developed, that some land is available to produce the food for the future generations,” she says. “We need to keep land available for that too, and particularly good, rich farmland.”

These easements receive funding in part from the North Carolina Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund, and the USDA’s Agricultural Conservation Easement Program.

Stephanie Carson, Public News Service – NC

The Winter 2016 issue of Plough to Pantry includes the story “Farm philosophy and the art of raising local sustainable beef” by Frances Figart and Tina Masciarelli, that features the Mainspring-conserved Ridgefield Farm in Brasstown, North Carolina.

Read the full digital issue of Plough to Pantry online.

Excerpt:

At the other end of the sustainable spectrum is Ridgefield Farm in Brasstown, which houses anywhere from 500 to 1,200 Braunvieh and Angus on 1,023 acres. The farm operation provides more than 20 full-time jobs. “We actively manage our land, pasture and forest alike to maintain a healthy ecology that supports organisms at every level,” says owner-operator Steve Whitmire, whose family has been farming in western North Carolina since the 1700s. “From a sustainability standpoint, through rotational grazing, cattle can help control the growth of noxious weeds.”

Written by Tim Reaves at The Franklin Press

Franklin’s leaders are laying out ambitious plans for next year and beyond.

They want to restore blighted areas, make the town bike- and pedestrian friendly and prepare for growth.

“The town has quite a busy schedule ahead,” said Town Manager Summer Woodard.

Actual construction should begin on the water treatment plant upgrade and inspection, with project bidding scheduled to start in April, she said.

The plan is to increase capacity from 2 million gallons per day to 3 million gallons per day as part of a $15.1 million capital improvement plan for water and sewer infrastructure.

“That will be the town’s really, really big project for 2016,” Woodard said.

The Memorial Park stream restoration project should wrap up by April, she said. The combined effort of the town, Duke Energy and Land Trust for the Little Tennessee (now Mainspring Conservation Trust), included bank restoration and the removal of debris along Crawford Branch as part of Phase I. Phase II, now underway, includes planting trees and putting a fence around part of the creek.

The town also is considering adding steps on either side of the creek to a popular wading area to protect the bank, Woodard said.

Town Planner Justin Setser added there will be signage explaining the work that was done and why.

“It’s actually a pretty cool project,” he said.

Setser said his biggest project for the coming year is the new bike and pedestrian plan, funded through a $36,000 grant from the N.C. Department of Transportation Division of Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety.

The town wants to become safer and more attractive to cyclists and pedestrians and will be considering new infrastructure, sidewalks and upgrades to intersections, Setser said.

“We’re still in the fact-finding stage right now,” he said.

But by the end of January, he hopes to have a working document that he can show at upcoming meetings. Setser’s department will use guidance from citizen surveys, meetings and a steering committee to fine tune the proposal.

A rough draft of the plan should be ready by April or May, he said.

“If it’s something we can incorporate in our budget, I think we should begin as soon as possible,” Woodard said.

It’s part of a larger plan to make Franklin more livable, Mayor Bob Scott said. That concept includes everything from fixing Franklin’s parking situation to renovating older buildings and revitalizing blighted neighborhoods to adding better crosswalks.

In the spring, the town plans to repaint its downtown crosswalks with a brick-stamped pattern, Woodard said. The design looks like brick pavers, but actually it’s just painted and stamped asphalt, a less expensive alternative.

“We don’t have to have the crosswalks, but they’d really help,” Scott said.

Alderman Joe Collins said he wants to give the square – at the corner of Main Street and Iotla Street – a facelift.

“It’s just an area of town that serves as the central location for events,” he said. “A piecemeal approach has been what’s been in effect, and I just think it’s time to step it up to something better.”

He said the square needs a more substantial stage area, and the town needs to do something about the former fountain, now just a concrete slab.

“If that’s where we end up congregating, let’s put some money there and make it nice,” he said.

He and Scott both said it’s time the town does something with the 14-acre Whitmire Property.

Scott said he would like the property to include a park, farmers market, outdoor theater or a combination of the three.

“I want to see it put to public use,” Scott said, “but that would be up to the board to make that decision.”

“For too long it’s sat idle,” Collins said. “It’s too valuable to let sit idle, so I’m anxious to see what the board wants to do with it.”

Alderman Barbara McRae said she wants to get to work fixing up Green Street, which she said has become blighted.

“It’s just a street that needs attention,” she said.

She said she would like to see the old AME Zion chapel renovated. It could be the start of a community revival, McRae said.

“I’d like to get some resources to help them with it,” she said.

Downtown has improved greatly because of the attention it’s seen from the board, McRae said.

“I’d like to spread some of that energy around,” she said.

That idea and many more likely will come up at the board’s annual planning retreat later this month.

Collins said the three new board members would benefit from a longer and more substantial retreat.

Scott agreed and said he’s doing something different this year – inviting the public to the discussion.

“This town doesn’t belong to me,” he said. “Ever since I took office I’ve wanted the public more involved in this town.”

The planning retreat is scheduled for Jan. 23.