2021-09-28T07:34:35-07:00 2020-12-31 561688300 C DeWitt Foard & Co PA CPAs 817 E Morehead Street Ste 100 Charlotte NC 28202 990 2020-01-01 581969605 Catawba Lands Conservancy CATA 7043423330 4530 Park Road Ste 420 Charlotte NC 28209 Charles B Landess Executive Dir. 2021-09-28 true Charles B Landess 999009999 Garrett Summers P02001620 7043721515 2 AAL1 IAL1 FAL1 2020 2022-09-23 18:48:47Z Charles B Landess 9999737 false X www.catawbalands.org X 1991 NC As a nationally accredited land trust, we conserve and manage land for public benefit in North Carolinas Southern Piedmont. We have conserved 208 properties, totaling 16,596 acres of land. We are the lead agency for the Carolina Thread Trail. 22 22 25 188 0 1699171 8778475 545345 676955 168287 116845 100043 269316 2512846 9841591 0 0 1076369 1216767 0 202042 1071753 2112553 2148122 3329320 364724 6512271 29422274 36671486 299976 592491 29122298 36078995 X As a nationally accredited land trust, we conserve and manage land for public benefit in North Carolinas Southern Piedmont. We have conserved 208 properties, totaling 16,596 acres of land. We are the lead agency for the Carolina Thread Trail. false false 1706438 Land Acquisition: Catawba Lands Conservancy (the Conservancy) protected five new properties in 2020, totaling 514 acres in two counties. The Conservancy works with willing landowners and communities to conserve land in perpetuity by placing voluntary conservation easements on land, accepting donations of land, and occasionally purchasing land. CLC serves a six-county region in North Carolina that includes: Catawba, Gaston, Iredell, Lincoln, Mecklenburg and Union counties. Our conservation efforts focus on four areas: local farms, wildlife/plant habitat, water quality and connecting people to nature. Additionally, many of our properties have important species and habitat that the state of North Carolina designated as Natural Heritage Areas. Further, some of the properties provide critical habitat for state or federally listed threatened or endangered plants or animals. 822221 Carolina Thread Trail Program (Thread Trail) is an initiative to develop a regional network of greenways, trails and blueways that reaches 15 counties and 2.3 million people. Thread Trail is a unique 15-county collaboration that will connect communities and conserved land through a network of conservation corridors and trails developed through locally designed plans. Carolina Thread Trail is a separate corporation that is a supporting organization of Foundation for the Carolinas. Under a Memorandum of Understanding with Foundation for the Carolinas, the Conservancy acts as the lead agency of the Thread Trail program and was reimbursed $676,955 during 2020 for related services. This long term project under the Conservancy's leadership will permanently protect this region's history, beauty, and diversity, while conserving local lands and providing a broad range of community benefits. The Thread Trail will also link more than two million citizens with hundreds of miles of greenways and trails as well as access to rivers for paddling in North and South Carolina, connecting points of regional significance. There are multiple public benefits including economic development, conservation of land, enhancement of water quality, cleaner air, alternative transportation, and healthy recreation activities for all regional citizens, all of which translates to enhanced quality of life. The Thread Trail will be freely accessible to everyone. At the end of 2020, there were 1,610 planned trail miles, of which, approximately 300 trail and 125 blueway miles are complete. 401056 Land Stewardship: The Conservancy intentionally stewards its conservation assets. Staff monitors activities on fee owned land through site visits. Current conditions are evaluated against the reference conditions established by the Baseline Documentation. Photographs are taken and a monitoring report is generated and archived or the site visit is documented on a site visit report. As part of perpetual due diligence, the Conservancy ensures the plant, wildlife, and other conservation values remain undisturbed and protected. Where appropriate on fee owned property, the Conservancy provides public access opportunities, including both blueways and hiking trails, independently and through Carolina Thread Trail.Facilities for public access include a canoe/kayak launch (Spencer Mt. River Access and Pharr Family Preserve access), the Adam Springs Portage Trail, and canoe/kayak take-out (R.Y. McAden Access); and natural surface or paved hiking trails at the South Fork Trail, South Fork Rail Trail, Long Creek Preserve, Seven Oaks Preserve, Pharr Family Preserve, Buffalo Creek Preserve, Sallys Y Preserve, Catawba Springs Preserve, Girl Scouts, and Eastover Ridge Preserve. The Conservancy also monitors conservation easements using the same protocols as fee owned land. On private property protected by conservation easements, the Conservancy works with willing land owners to further enhance the conservation values already protected. 84202 3013917 true true false false false false true false false false true true false true false false true false false false false false false false true false false false false true false false false false false false false false true true false false true false false false false true 18 0 true 25 true false false false false false false false 0 false false false false false false false X 22 22 false false false false false false false true true false false true true true true true true true true false X X Gail Olsen Finance Dir 7043423330 4530 Park Road Ste 420 Charlotte NC 28209 Bart Landess Executive Dir. 52.00 0.00 X 158771 0 14986 Nathan Clark Finance Chair 3.00 0.00 X X 0 0 0 Steve Scruggs Board Member 2.00 0.00 X 0 0 0 Dan Clodfelter Board Member 2.00 0.00 X 0 0 0 Jonathan Mangels Vice Chair 3.00 0.00 X X 0 0 0 Allan Baucom Board Member 2.00 0.00 X 0 0 0 Bill Carstarphen Board Member 2.00 0.00 X 0 0 0 Tom Gates Board Member 2.00 0.00 X 0 0 0 CT Anderson Board Member 2.00 0.00 X 0 0 0 Phil Kuttner Board Member 2.00 0.00 X 0 0 0 Chris Walker Board Member 2.00 0.00 X 0 0 0 Jim Hovis Land Acq Chair 3.00 0.00 X X 0 0 0 Shawn Wilkerson Board Member 2.00 0.00 X 0 0 0 Compie Newman Board Member 2.00 0.00 X 0 0 0 Julianne McCollum Board Member 2.00 0.00 X 0 0 0 John Mader Mkt & Outreach 2.00 0.00 X 0 0 0 Kelly Katterhagen Chair 5.00 0.00 X X 0 0 0 Lud Hodges Board Member 2.00 0.00 X 0 0 0 Len Botkin Board Member 2.00 0.00 X 0 0 0 Bill Mumford Board Member 2.00 0.00 X 0 0 0 Tommy Lee Land Stew Chair 2.00 0.00 X 0 0 0 Scott Phillips Board Member 2.00 0.00 X 0 0 0 William Blair Board Member 2.00 0.00 X 0 0 0 158771 14986 1 false true false 0 147 2067865 6710463 4742066 8778475 Carolina Thread Trail 676955 676955 676955 111210 111210 0 0 7200 7200 7200 7200 105651 100016 5635 5635 5635 80667 147 58130 22537 0 1123 1123 1123 Other 42679 42679 Paycheck Protection Program 195777 195777 238456 9841591 928246 112333 0 0 0 0 173757 130318 17376 26063 0 1043010 878280 50568 114162 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 90844 80431 10413 96351 62861 33490 93420 68822 14303 10295 24575 19154 644 4777 0 88399 71620 7119 9660 14317 13522 795 0 0 0 0 77910 72510 2600 2800 27431 24791 2640 Easements written off 1521500 1521500 Trail and land costs 67004 66956 48 Bad Debt 7650 7650 Training 3152 3152 0 3329320 3013917 113361 202042 1209492 1309931 781241 738730 41462 518095 0 0 0 0 0 6589 33334 988884 529678 537116 459206 0 3328612 3883751 486847 486847 0 23030915 29241592 29422274 36671486 54188 27712 241250 10904 4538 553875 299976 592491 X 27300783 33425735 1821515 2653260 29122298 36078995 29422274 36671486 6512271 444426 X false true X true false X 4238183 4678649 5962035 1699171 8778475 25356513 14859 38136 52464 68312 81790 255561 0 0 0 4253042 4716785 6014499 1767483 8860265 25612074 64155 52089 57671 63242 30955 268112 0 64155 52089 57671 63242 30955 268112 25343962 46343 55361 73370 76850 111210 363134 0 46343 55361 73370 76850 111210 363134 0 5700 7200 7100 7800 7200 35000 4305085 4779346 6094969 1852133 8978675 26010208 0.97440 0.96920 0.01400 0.01460 X RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED X X X 124 10 2 1 true false 68746 17823 50923 144725 116153 28572 775413 395702 379711 459206 3883751 Land protected in perpetuity 29241592 29241592 10286017 444426 444426 9841591 9841591 3329320 3329320 3329320 Part II, Line 3: Explanation of Each Easement Change 1.Piedmont Natural Gas pipeline project Lincoln County, North CarolinaCLC holds a conservation easement on approximately 125 acres owned by Mr. and Mrs. George Clark in Lincoln County, North Carolina. On January 10, 2019, Piedmont Natural Gas Company, Inc. (PNG) instituted a condemnation proceeding in the Superior Court of Lincoln County, North Carolina for a 60-foot wide gas pipeline easement together with a 40-foot wide temporary construction easement (collectively, the Pipeline Easement) against the Clarks and CLC (as holder of the conservation easement). CLC filed an Answer to the PNG petition on January 25, 2019. PNG then had the Pipeline Easement appraised, and based on that appraisal, on October 1, 2019, offered the parties total damages in the amount of $114,227. PNG also offered to honor the terms and conditions of an early right-of-entry agreement signed with the parties. CLC considered the PNG offer to be more than fair as CLC staff had previously estimated the value of the Pipeline Easement to be somewhere in the neighborhood of $76,000. In November, 2019, the Clarks accepted the PNG offer, and CLCs board approved accepting the PNG offer in January, 2020. 2.Legacy Shares, LLC Encroachment by Adjoining Property Owner Lincoln County, North CarolinaIn December, 2019, CLC was notified by Legacy Shares and Lewis James (Jamey) Farmer, Jr. ,an adjoining landowner, that by deed dated September 26,2019, Legacy had conveyed to Farmer an approximately .307- acre portion (the encroachment parcel) of Legacys approximately 219.7-acre property (the easement parcel) subject to a conservation easement dated October 31,2000 (the easement) held by CLC, in order to eliminate a small encroachment (980 square feet) onto Legacys property by a warehouse located primarily on Farmers adjoining property. Legacy Shares requested that CLC modify the easement to make an exception for the Legacy-Farmer conveyance from the easements prohibition against subdivision of the property under the easement. Farmer also requested that CLC release the .3-acre parcel he now owned from the CLC easement. Because of the de minimis nature of the encroachment, and the fact that when the easement was created, CLC and Legacy had made a mutual mistake (due to an apparent surveyors error) in drawing the easement boundary in such a manner as to cut through a small corner of the Farmer warehouse, and Legacys offer to add to the easement tract an approximately .7-acre portion of Legacys adjoining property not under the easement (the swap parcel), which swap parcel is over twice the size of the encroachment parcel, and has, in the opinion of the CLC staff biologist greater conservation values than the encroachment parcel (which is encumbered in part by a corner of a building), CLC, following its easement amendment principles set forth in its policy manual, agreed to the proposed two modifications to its easement and on August 28, 2020 executed and recorded in Book 2944 , at page 526 in the Lincoln County Register of Deeds an amendment to the easement. 3.M/M Odell Cook Property Tighten restrictions on Grantors use of the Property Gaston County, North CarolinaBy deed of conservation easement dated October 21, 2002, the Cooks conveyed a conservation easement on an approximately 33.1 acre-tract in Gaston County, North Carolina to CLC, which easement was recorded on October 24, 2002 in Book 3558 at Page 880 in the Gaston County Register of Deeds. On December 19, 2019, the Cooks conveyed the property to Davidson Lands Conservancy (DLC), and at its meeting on September 16, 2020, CLCs Board agreed to join with DLC in amending the conservation easement to tighten the restrictions on the owners use of the property by (i) extinguishing the owners reserved right to construct a single-family residence (along with appurtenant structures and driveways) on the property, and (ii) further restricting the owners reserved right to timber the property by limiting timber removal to only those circumstances where such removal or harvesting serves to prevent or minimize hazard, pests, disease or fire on the property, or to restore or enhance the propertys hydrology, or to support the protection of native plant or animal species. Further, there was added a requirement that any timber harvesting except for tree pruning to prevent or minimize hazard, pests, disease or fire must be done in accordance with a plan prepared in consultation with a registered professional forester or other conservation professional and designed to protect the propertys conservation values. On October 16, 2020, CLC and the Davidson Lands Conservancy entered into an amendment to the easement that further restricted the owners reserved rights to use the property by making the afore-described changes to the easement. The amendment recites that the parties believe that it will have a positive impact on the propertys conservation values because of its added restrictions on the owners rights to use the property. Part II, Line 5: Summarized Policy The land stewardship staff inspects each property encumbered by a conservationeasement or similar instrument to ensure compliance with the provisions in the easement document. Staff assesses current conditions and compares findings to thosedocumented by the Baseline Documentation Report. Staff evaluates the status ofreserved rights which may have been exercised since the last site visit. Staff assesses impacts to the conservation values associated with changes in land use onthe easement property and adjacent properties, notes potential trespass issues andsafety hazards, and makes observations on the condition of the boundary. The staff makes additions to the species list (flora and fauna), documentsnew findings and communicates with the appropriate government entity. Specialattention is given to the evaluation of plant or animal species that may be state orfederally listed (endangered, threatened, species of concern, etc.). Staff evaluatesconditions in Natural Heritage Areas and inspects significant historical and/orcultural features conserved by the conservation easement. Post monitoring, anarchival quality report is generated by the staff and includes written observationsand photographs as appropriate. Copies of the report are stored on and off site perConservancy policy. Part II, Line 9: Organization Reporting of conservation easements. Conservation easements received as a gift are recorded at the estimated difference in the market value of the associated property before and after the imposition of the easement. At that time, the Conservancy also records a like amount as an expensesince conservation easements have no future economic benefit to the Conservancy.Donated conservation easements amounted to $263,366 and $52,940 for the yearsended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively. false Clays for Conservation 72522 147 72375 1975 16078 1166 1397 72522 147 72375 1975 16078 1166 1397 20616 51759 false false false false false false false false false Bart Landess Executive Dir. 158771 14986 173757 Lat Purser Frmr brd member 80193 Rent false Julianne McCollum Board Member 24972 Newsletter & website false Schedule L, Part V Supplemental Information During 2020 the Conservancy paid Yellow Duck Marketing $8,285 for the Conservancys newsletter preparation and website design and $16,687 for the Thread Trails newsletter preparation. Julianne McCollum, a Conservancy Board Member, is the managing director of Yellow Duck Marketing. Additionally, the Conservancy paid $75,651 in rents to entities affiliated with Lat Purser, a former board of director whose term expired December 31, 2017. Also, the Conservancy holds a majority of their investments at a board members investment company, however no investment fees were charged during the year. X 2 263366 Appraisal X 1 4478700 Appraisal 5 false true false Form 990, Part III, Line 4d: Other Program Services Description OTHER PROGRAM SERVICES 4: Other - Other program expenses relate primarily to community education, outreach, and public programming. Form 990, Part VI, Line 11b: Form 990 Review Process Review of the Form 990 is conducted by the Executive Director, the Finance Director and the Finance Committee. It is reviewed before filing. Prior to filing, a copy of the Form 990 is available to each Board member. Questions and suggestions are an integral part of the review. Form 990, Part VI, Line 12c: Explanation of Monitoring and Enforcement of Conflicts Each Board member is required to sign a conflict of interest statement prior to joining the Board of Directors. Upon knowledge of a transaction involving a conflict, the details are fully disclosed to the Chairman of the Board and the member with a conflict will not participate in discussions or voting. Board members verify that there is no conflict of interest annually. Form 990, Part VI, Line 15a: Compensation Review & Approval Process - CEO, Top Management Compensation of the Executive Director is determined by the Executive Committee. Independent surveys are obtained that are used to compare the average salary for all positions, including the Executive Director. This documentation is available and reviewed annually as deemed necessary by the Executive Committee. Form 990, Part VI, Line 19: Other Organization Documents Publicly Available CLC's governing documents, minutes of Board meetings and committee meetings, and conflict of interest policy are kept in binders at our office. CLC's financial statements, audits and Forms 990 are on the website. Property and Easements Acquired for Preservation The Conservancy may acquire certain property and/or conservation easements throughpurchases as well as through donor contributions. Donors generally contribute fee title to property or conservation easements. Conservation easements are legalagreements in which the landowner gives up some of the rights to their land, such asdevelopment, but retains ownership and management of the property. The conservationeasements are permanent and run with the land and are binding upon successive owners. Contributions are recorded at the estimated fair market value of the property or easement taking into consideration the fact that the land's use may be severely limited based on the parties' intent to preserve the property in its undeveloped state. Based on these facts, the values of easements shown in the accompanying Statement of Activities are based on independent appraisal or management estimates, if an appraisal is not available. Hickory Grove LLC 4530 Park Road Ste 420 Charlotte NC 28209 464669695 Rental house NC 7200 74772 N/A false false false false false false false false false false false false false false false false false false false