Meeting |
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Report |
Meeting |
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Report |
February 5, 2002 |
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| D. G. Martin returned to Charlotte Rotary with
the same passion, the same enthusiasm he had some fourteen years ago when he left
Charlotte for Chapel Hill and the University of North Carolina system. But this time that
enthusiasm and passion is directed toward a new cause: keeping all open space, farms,
pastures, pristine woods and undeveloped land in the Carolinas from being turned into
housing developments and strip malls. "The open land in Mecklenburg County has almost all been gobbled up. When I left, there were plenty of places, especially in my native North Mecklenburg, where you could drive for miles and see pastures and woods," he said. "When I was growing up — and many of you too — Mecklenburg County was very rural, and very beautiful." "This gobbling up of open space in my home county is a part of the reason that I am back here working with the Trust for Public Land," the Davidson native declared. "TPL's work encompasses my passions—love for the environment and the opportunity to continue public service. The Trust for Public Land has done a remarkable job in the past three decades, and I am eager to contribute to that success story." The Trust's mission is simple, said the former attorney with Kennedy, Covington, Lobdell, and Hickman: "to conserve land for people, to improve the quality of life in our communities, and to protect our natural and historic resource for future generations." The Trust, the former Charlotte Rotarian said, has discovered that "fast growing areas like Charlotte need a particular brand of help that we call 'green-printing.' " It's a process where TPL works with communities at their request to help them identify land most precious for conservation and then to develop non-regulatory, voluntary strategies to protect it. The Trust for Public Land also works with communities through its national office, the former UNC official said, "to scour Washington and the state capitals to find funding for land conservation that is available for those who know how and where to look." Said the Carolinas director, TPL started conserving land in the Carolinas in 1985. The first project was to protect an eight-acre tract that was added to the Guilford Courthouse Revolutionary War Battlefield near Greensboro. Other early "'projects protected land near the headwaters of the Chattooga River in the Nantahala National Forest and the Pisgah National Forest. In the mid-90s TPL worked with Winston-Salem to acquire land for a greenway connecting downtown and Old Salem. Most recently, the former Democrat candidate for U.S. Congress in the Ninth District said, our efforts have included the Mountain Island Lake Initiative, an innovative public private partnership working to protect the water source for more than half a million people in the Piedmont. "The goal is to protect 80 percent of the undeveloped shoreline and stream banks," D. G. said, "and to date the Initiative has protected 2,361 acres, including nine miles of shoreline and more than fifteen miles of stream banks." TPL is also working to protect another important resource for the Charlotte metropolitan area, he said, the Sugar Creek watershed—an initiative headed by the Club's own Tony Zeiss. "Did you all know, by the way, that Tony is a fisherman?" D. G. asked. "I found a photo of him out on a wild and scenic stream." The picture was on all tables. Turns out the photo was taken in Mecklenburg County last Saturday "as Tony and I and several others walked from the South Carolina line up Little Sugar Creek to Park Road Park." "Tony shares a vision that will take Sugar Creek from the center of Charlotte to acres and acres of open space in the southern end of our county, on a winding, free-flowing, mountain-type stream. This long line of parks and activity along our creek will be a great asset, and it's going to happen," the former basketball player for Lefty Driesell said. "With a little luck and persistence, we can also build access to an open area for Charlotte that will define it and set it apart. It can be our Central Park—except much better and richer." We pledge our partnership with this effort. And when everybody is ready we will put the expertise and experience of the Trust for Public Land to work finding the resources in Washington and Raleigh that will help our city and county do the job. D. G. explained that the Trust for Public Land is a partner with hundreds of conservation groups—wildlife and plant protection, water quality, and air quality. One of the most prominent is the Sierra Club. "We are different from the Sierra Club in the sense that we are not an advocacy organization. We work on specific real estate projects, often negotiating and working with developers and government," he said. "It's not our role to achieve or try to achieve our goals through regulation. Our expertise is in the area of voluntary, non-regulatory ways to protect land." "Many people ask me how we relate to the 25 or 30 local land trusts and land conservancies in North Carolina, like our own Catawba Lands Conservancy," he said, TPL is not a land trust or land conservancy. "We do not hold land or manage land over a long period of time." Local land trusts work to persuade landowners to donate easements to protect land while the owner continues to live on the property. These local groups then raise resources to enforce and manage the easements. "We work hand-in-hand as partners with local land trusts in every community," the former Green Beret intelligence officer said. "On Mountain Island Lake, we have worked closely with the Catawba Lands Conservancy." (Frank Bragg spoke to the Club earlier this year about CLC's work.) D. G. said Rotarians can become involved "if you are worried enough about (he disappearance of open land to want to try to save even a little piece of it." He told the story of Lindsay Pettus in South Carolina, whom D. G. described as "A one-man walking land trust. He has single-handedly arranged for the acquisition of most of the lands adjoining creeks in Lancaster. His legacy is an enclave of acres and acres of undeveloped land in the middle of land that is going to be developed, but will forever be attracting wildlife and open to people to enjoy them." President Jim wielded the gavel. Katie Tyler introduced visiting Rotarians and guests, and Chuck Lew gave Health and Happiness, ensuring himself of at least one more chance with a strong effort. Don Steger led the Club in a topical version of "Amen" featuring lyrics by Chuck Lineberry about the Charlotte Coliseum, of all things. Andy Calhoun gave the invocation, and of course Thomas Moore provided his usual fine accompaniment on the piano. Others at the head table were Brent Trexler, Tony Zeiss, Arnie Webb, George Wilson and Jim Kothe, who introduced our speaker. * * * |
IZAAK WALTON? LINVILLE GORGE? No — It's Tony Zeiss on the bank of Little Sugar Creek in Mecklenburg County! ! !
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