Project Summary

This study assessed the potential for conservation purpose, public benefit, and residential development on a 73.10 acre wooded tract located near Creedmoor, North Carolina. The research methods and resulting findings informed conservation planning and programming that support the responsible and sustainable stewardship of this property’s unique and high-value land and water assets.

Landscape planning approaches to conservation, development, and management best practices guided the process. The project team considered environmental, social, and economic factors within the surrounding region, including ecosystem services, transportation, infrastructure, population trends and development patterns, and recreation. The resulting analyses investigated existing site conditions; city, state and federal codes and standards; spatial and temporal socio-ecological scales; and conservation-based programmatic uses.

Project objectives included:

+ Employ expertise in land and water resource management to advance conservation and sustainable design best practices
+ Use best available research to protect natural resources and promote them as civic infrastructure assets
+ Explore planning, design, and management strategies to identify natural areas whose highest and best use is publicly accessible, conserved open space
+ Develop assessments related to responsible and resilient land management tools and techniques to sensitively locate residential home sites that conserve and minimize impacts to high-value natural systems and features
+ Evaluate the importance of environmental conservation in protecting the health, safety, and welfare of the environment and society

Awards

Award of Excellence: Research
ASLA North Carolina | 2020

Funding Source

Conservation Purpose, LLC