2007-DEC > Lynch Creek Farm – a TRLC Conservation Property

Tar River Land Conservancy Signage for Conservation Easement
Tar River Land Conservancy Signage for Conservation Easement

After nearly two years of work, and the expert help of the Tar River Land Conservancy (TRLC), a Conservation Easement was “closed” on our entire property that will keep Lynch Creek Farm in agricultural use in perpetuity. The Conservation Easement was donated to TRLC – who assumes the responsibility to ensure that the conditions of the Easement are met by all future property owners. The costs associated with this effort were largely funded through a grant from the North Carolina Clean Water Management Trust Fund.

By this action, we have permanently: relinquished our right to subdivide or develop the property; created a 12+ acre Stream Buffer along a 3165′ reach of Lynch Creek to conserve its water quality as an upland tributary of the Tar-Pamlico River Basin; and constrained the future use of the property to agricultural use.

A recombination property survey was required to combine the two parcels that together had formed Lynch Creek Farm. A stream buffer survey was required to precisely delineate the stream location and adjacent buffer area that varies from 100′ to over 250′ along Lynch Creek. Additionally, a Baseline Documentation Report (BDR) was prepared to document the present state of the property using descriptive, photographic and map representations (location, topographic, soil).

This action is permanent and cannot be rescinded. Our farm has been, and will remain, in the VAD (Franklin County Voluntary Agricultural District) however. Together, the Conservation Easement and Voluntary Agricultural District designations, provide the maximum protection for the continued and future operation of this property as a Franklin County farm.

This donation is a tangible expression of the commitment on our part to the future conservation of the land that we care for and the water that we share. This Conservation Easement also creates an extended conservation area along Lynch Creek with our adjoining downstream neighbor the Brittains – who had previously granted a Conservation Easement to TRLC.

We are committed to continue working to encourage other landowners along Lynch Creek to consider the options they have to create an even larger conservation area along Lynch Creek for the benefit of future generations. Additionally, we also are diligently working to accurately document the Local History of Rocky Ford, the mills along Lynch Creek and the Indian habitation and paths through the area.

We thank TRLC for their invaluable assistance in helping us transform our conservation objectives into reality. Without an organization like TRLC, we could never have permanently conserved our property as we now have.

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