Three Rivers Land Trust has remained committed to conserving land in their 15-county region in the Piedmont and Sandhills of North Carolina. TRLT aims to take their conservation efforts to the next level by astutely managing their own lands for wildlife habitat. Recently, TRLT received a $25,000 grant from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to facilitate a habitat improvement project. The Creating and Improving Avian Habitat Quality along Critical Corridors in Central North Carolina restoration project will improve habitat quality for numerous songbirds and declining species like northern bobwhite.

This grant funding will broaden TRLT’s capability to create and manage habitat for species that have declining population trends. This project will directly restore and enhance over 300 acres by creating and maintaining critical acres that provide crucial food and cover resources for birds. This project will improve habitat quality for target songbirds through land management practices that include prescribed fire, snag and canopy gap creation, invasive plant control, and ecosystem restoration. Restoration work will occur on oak hickory forests, bottomland hardwood forests, pine woodlands, and old fields.

Katie Stovall, TRLT Conservation Lands Manager said “This grant funding is instrumental to the stewardship of our lands and provides an opportunity to create and maintain plant communities that support avian species that have declined precipitously in our region within the past 50 years.” It is TRLT’s hope that this grant funding will impact many more acres, in addition to their own, on adjoining lands or from private landowners that see the results of their management work.

Habitat management is an extremely important aspect to successful land and wildlife conservation, which is why Three Rivers Land Trust has developed the Habitat Enhancement Lands Program (H.E.L.P.). This for-fee service is designed to assist landowners in achieving their conservation needs and desires. This program includes sound wildlife and forest management advice, cost-share guidance, and assistance with implementation of desired practices. Visit trlt.org/help for more information.

To learn more about how to conserve your own lands or how you can support Three Rivers Land Trust in their conservation mission, please contact Emily Callicutt, Land Protection Specialist at Three Rivers Land Trust by calling 704-647-0302 or by email at emily@trlt.org.