On December 18, 2016, TLC protected a 204 acre historic farm in the Silk Hope Region of Chatham County through conservation easement. The property is a cattle farm that has been in the owner’s family for hundreds of years. The property includes pasture, cropland (corn and wheat), woodland and over 1.5 miles of South Fork Cane Creek and intermittent streams. The easement is TLC’s 5th project in the Silk Hope Area and brings our total protected area of land in Silk Hope to almost 750 acres.
TLC partnered with Chatham Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) on the project who received funds from both the NC Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Trust Fund and the USDA’s Farm and Ranchland Protection Program (FRPP) to purchase the conservation easement through a bargain sale. TLC holds the conservation easement and will be responsible for annual monitoring and stewardship.
The conservation easement encumbers four parcels totaling ~204 acres, including several agricultural structures and barns. Stream buffers will be designated along South Fork Cane Creek and the unnamed tributaries and TLC is working with Wildlands Inc on a restoration project along the stream.
