Trust Takes Message to Tobacco Farmers

Source from:  December 27,2005 BY PATRICIA SMITH DAILY NEWS STAFF WILMINGTON 12/28/2005

The North Carolina Coastal Land Trust will begin a campaign in January to educate farmers, participating in the tobacco buyout program, about conservation agreements. Bolstered by a portion of a $200,000 grant from the N.C. Tobacco Trust Fund Commission, the organization plans to initiate contact with tobacco farmers in certain counties by sending out a letter, said Camilla Herlevich, Coastal Land Trust executive director. Staff will then arrange personal meetings with those who show an interest, she said. "What we're hoping is that it will lead to at least one conservation agreement with at least one farmer, maybe more," Herlevich said. The Coastal Land Trust is a nonprofit organization that works with private individual and corporate landowners to conserve open spaces and natural areas. The grant money will be split between 10 land trust organizations in North Carolina. The Coastal Land Trust share will be $20,000, Herlevich said. "We're going to use it primarily on outreach," Herlevich said. The idea is to make sure that the farmers involved in the tobacco buyout program understand the different conservation opportunities available to them, she said. The most popular is an agricultural easement program that allows farmers to get state and federal tax benefits in return for giving up development rights on their land. The Coastal Land Trust has chosen to concentrate its outreach efforts in Northampton, Chowan, Hertford, Bertie, Martin, Pitt and Beaufort counties - where the most farmers are involved in the buyout program, Herlevich said. "It's a way we can get the most bang for the buck," she said. However, the Coastal Land Trust covers 29 counties in the coastal plain and would be glad to speak to any farmer interested in finding out more about such tax benefits, Herlevich said. Those in the central coastal area who are interested should contact Janice Allen in the New Bern office at (252) 634-1927, she said. Enditem