Campaign Projects
The Protecting the Nature of the Piedmont campaign will enable us to move forward on projects vital to our community.
The Fisher Peak Natural Heritage area provides important wildlife habitat, presents significant views from the Blue Ridge Parkway and shelters sensitive headwater streams of the Fisher River. The Fisher River later joins the Yadkin, which provides drinking water for many North and South Carolina citizens. Thanks to the campaign, the two phases of this three-part land project have been completed. In March 2007 PLC purchased 350 acres. Additional campaign funds secured the acquisition of a second, 413-acre tract. We are in beginning stages with landowners for the final 900 acres, comprising the remainder of the project. The result will be the permanent preservation of Surry County’s most prominent landmark.
The Piedmont Regional Greenway (PRG) is a multi-year, cross-jurisdictional effort to connect northwest Greensboro to southeast Winston-Salem through Kernersville and Triad Park. The 10-foot-wide trail will provide safe, public outdoor recreation along a 19-mile route. Easily accessible opportunities for healthy recreation promote an active lifestyle. An adequate trail system also provides transportation alternatives, contributing to the improvement of air and water quality through reduced pollution. Last fall, the Weaver Foundation’s $100,000 gift enabled the Conservancy to complete the first phase of the Greenway, a 1.5-mile stretch from Bur-Mil Park in northwest Greensboro to the Town of Summerfield. The next segment is a joint effort of PLC and the Town of Kernersville that will anchor a public green space for a low-income neighborhood. (Pictures of PRG) The Land Protection Revolving fund will give Piedmont Land Conservancy the capacity to move quickly on additional projects as opportunities arise. Each project accepted by PLC undergoes rigorous scrutiny by the Land Protection staff, the Land and Resource Committee of the Board and the Board itself. Sites are selected according to their conservation value, level of immediate threat and relation to other protected areas.