If it wasn’t for shade trees and sweet tea, I don’t think anyone would be able to survive the heat we’ve had this summer. Nevertheless, we’re running at full speed on the stewardship side of things where we’re managing almost 5,000 acres of TLC owned and protected property here in the Triangle region! We’ve had a wonderful year so far here at TLC and as we begin to reach the end point of our summer swing, we can look back on an already successful 2016. We’ve built around 5 miles of new trails, planted over 500 native plants across Wake, Durham, and Orange counties, and preformed 2 very successful prescribed burns at Temple Flat Rocks in Wake County and Horton Grove in Durham.
I have to give a huge shout out to all of our awesome stewardship volunteers who, as of the end of July, have volunteered over 800 hours of work for us in 2016! With work at Brumley Forest Nature Preserve fixing to ramp back up to get things ready for the November opening of this brand new preserve, we will quickly break the 1,000 hour volunteer mark for stewardship on the land. That’s an amazing mark and thank you to everyone for making it possible! From trail building to milkweed planting, they’ve done it all and helped us improve our properties greatly.
Monarch feeding on newly planted milkweed at Irvin Farm Nature Preserve
Just as we’ve started strong, I’m positive we’ll finish the year strong. My 2’X3’ foot white board with my to-do list is full with tasks to manage our current preserves and many tasks to get Brumley ready to roll for the November grand opening. There are many signs to be made, trails to be built, kiosks to be put up, and trails to be trimmed. With this will come many opportunities for you to help! Keep track of all our events by subscribing to our e-news and keeping track of us on Facebook and here on our website. We hope to see many new smiling faces joining us to sweat it out and get things done. If you need an economic reason to join, trail work is a great workout without having to pay a gym membership! Honestly, one of the most enjoyable parts of my job is working with all the volunteer groups we have here at TLC. From corporate workdays to our weekly conservation corps, we get to meet and work side-by-side with so many awesome people and I hope to meet many more as this year wraps up.
Volunteer Eagle Scout cemetery cleanup project at Brumley Forest Nature Preserve
So as the sweltering summer continues, I’ll enjoy as many minutes as I can underneath the shade tree that can be found beside every old barn or home site here in NC. We are excited to grow at TLC. Who would have thought a small organization that was started to hold an easement on a granite rock outcrop in 1983 would grow to help protect over 18,000 acres 33 years later. Thank you to all our members, volunteers, and organizations for joining us in working to create a healthier and more vibrant Triangle region!
