Community, Conservation and Sustainable Economic Development
The Resourceful Communities program started with land conservation in 1990, when the Fund, with the Richard King Mellon Foundation, created North Carolina’s Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge. But it soon became clear that the region’s unique intersection of nature, culture and history could be a source of new hope for the economically distressed communities in the northeastern corner of the state.
Our Resourceful Communities’ “triple-bottom line” approach—a blend of conservation, community economic development and social justice—was born in this region and crafted by partner communities as they searched for sustainable ways to share their beautiful backyard with others. Our first partners engaged "disconnected" young adults in building boardwalks, trails and outdoor classrooms. They also promoted environmental education and ecotourism as a regional economic-development strategy. Along the Roanoke River, partners have developed a canoe paddle trail complete with camping platforms, preserved a historic Rosenwald School, and created a History House in Tillery, a New Deal resettlement community for African Americans.
Even as the past is protected, Resourceful Communities is helping the region prepare for the future. “In the past year we have helped a number of our partners work to plan a regional green economy, to address the fact that northeastern North Carolina is predicted to be the region that will be the third most-severely impacted by sea level rise in the United States,” said Mikki Sager, Director of Resourceful Communities. “We’re helping communities recruit and "grow" new businesses with a smaller carbon footprint, while supporting economic opportunities that arise as the region's communities adapt to global climate change.”
Photo: Opening of a farmer's market in rural North Carolina/The Conservation Fund.