The Tar River Land Conservancy office takes up just a small parcel of land in downtown Louisburg, but Executive Director Derek Halberg isn’t confined to the four walls of a building – his job takes him outside to make sure that land in and around the Tar River is protected.

On Thursday’s Town Talk, Halberg shared some upcoming events with Town Talk host Bill Harris that the public can participate in to further develop a tract in Stem, in southern Granville County.

Tomorrow, as well as next Friday and Saturday, the land conservancy will sponsor a tree-planting event, he said. Saplings will be planted along some small streams that feed into Lake Holt, which provides drinking water to southern Granville County. The group is spear-heading this effort to plant hardwoods like oak and hickory along the stream, Halberg said. Please contact Tar River Land Conservancy if you would like to come out and help plant trees. Participants will receive instructions on where and when the event will take place.

“Trees play a vital role in being able to filter out water that may run off an agricultural field, and capture soil, sedimentation or runoff as well as nitrogen and other fertilizer components.” Halberg explained. The saplings also provide benefits to wildlife, he added.

“We make it as easy as possible for folks” Halberg explained. “We dig the holes ahead of time, we provide all the tools, and really try to make it an experience that people enjoy and feel like they’re getting involved in the conservation work that we do,” he said.

Another opportunity for area college students is a summer internship with the land trust, Halberg said. Each summer, the staff of 3 full-time and 2 part-time employees grows by two young people who complete a 12-week paid internship. Visit the website at www.tarriver.org to find a full description of the program. The application deadline is Feb. 1.

College students pursuing degrees in natural resources, agriculture or forestry  disciplines , as well as recent graduates, are encouraged to submit an application; the internships provide an opportunity to “get involved in the nuts and bolts of the operation – they get out in the field (and help) with management and monitoring of various properties,” Halberg said. “They actively get involved and see the inner workings of a professional organization like ours and then take their experience and move on to other things,” he noted.

The Tar River Land Conservancy, established in 2000, works in eight different N.C. counties through which the Tar River flows. The Tar River begins in Person County and winds its way east toward Pamlico Sound.

“Our mission is pretty straightforward,” Halberg said. “We try to preserve land in undeveloped states for perpetuity.” This includes land that may be in farmland or timberland production, which he said would continue in that state for a long time. “It also involves preserving land that is important for wildlife, for water quality, for drinking water that supplies local communities, he said. “And, increasingly for our organization, finding ways to acquire and get properties preserved and open them up to the public with trails and other ways for people to actually get out and enjoy nature,” Halberg said.

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Not all the 22,000 acres of land now held in conservancy are located along the Tar River. The Stem tract, for example, where the saplings are being planted, feeds into the Neuse River Basin, or Falls Lake watershed area. The bulk of the acreage is in Granville County, Halberg noted, adding that his group has been able to work with partners to plan public access areas such as nature trails in several areas in southern Granville. He hopes one will be open in the spring, and several others in May or June of 2022.

One of the completed areas is Wilton Slopes, which has walking trails at that portion of the Tar River along Highway 96 between Oxford and Wilton, Halberg said. That tract, he added, “has given us a glimpse of portions of the river that would be quite stunning to provide access to if we can do it.”

Halberg said Tar River Land Conservancy plans for the long-term. Whether landowners come to them for information or whether the conservancy reaches out to landowners, the value in sitting and talking about how their property can be preserved is important.

There are two ways that the land can enter into conservancy: Tar River Land Conservancy buys the property from the willing owner;  the landowner signs a written conservation agreement. In the latter case, the land conservancy holds the easement and can control development, but the landowner retains ownership of the property.

“We try to be strategic,” Halberg said. “We look to try to preserve land in the right places (to protect) rare wildlife and fish species. His group works with other organizations like the N.C. Natural Heritage Program and the N.C. Wildlife Commission to locate areas that may need protection and stewardship that the Tar River Land Conservancy can provide.

For some people, he explained, “land is an important part of their heritage and they want to see if it might be possible to work with us and preserve it.

Visit www.tarriver.org to learn more.