Triangle Land Conservancy

Do you have a favorite place to explore outdoors or a hobby that helps connect you with nature? Protecting open spaces focuses on the future, ensuring your community and loved ones will be able to have those same experiences for generations to come.

August is Make A Will Month – a time of reflection and preparation. Think about what matters to you now and imagine how it might be in five, ten or twenty years from now. How can your legacy shape the future?

Learn more about Make A Will Month by visitinghttps://triangleland.org/blog/make-a-will-month-leaving-behind-a-legacy-for-land. If you are considering leaving TLC in your estate plans, we’d love to hear from you.

📷 Butterfly at Williamson Preserve by Don Kinney

More great news along the Neuse River! 🎉

TLC has permanently protected an additional 602 acres within the Neuse River Lowgrounds in Johnston County, bringing the total protected in this important landscape to more than 1,400 since June.

Known as the Gar Gut Mashes, this property includes more than two miles of Neuse River frontage, over 400 acres of wetlands, and diverse habitat supporting wild turkey, black bears, great blue herons, Swainson's warblers, and many other species. The land's extensive floodplain also plays a vital role in filtering drinking water and reducing flood impacts for downstream communities.

This incredible conservation milestone was made possible through the North Carolina Land and Water Fund, Johnston County Government, and the generosity of the Massengill family.

🔗Read more at https://triangleland.org/news/gar-gut-mashes-joco
📸Photos by TLC Staff

Have you heard about the Williamson Farm Program? 🌽 This program provides underrepresented beginning farmers with access to farmland at TLC's Bailey and Sarah Williamson Preserve, as well as shared use of equipment and infrastructure including a tractor and the Agriculture Pavilion. The program mitigates barriers to entry for new farmers, allowing them to devote more time to growing their business, supporting the local economy, and providing food to the community. 120 acres at Williamson Preserve are designated for the program, and five farms are currently operating at the preserve.

Are you a farmer or group of farmers looking for 1-5 acres of land? 🥬🐄🥕 TLC is looking to add another farmer to the Williamson Farm Program this Fall! Read our request for farm proposals and learn about the program's qualifications and guiding principles at https://triangleland.org/our-work/conservation-in-action/williamson-farm-program # Proposals are due by September 1, 2026.

📷 Karen Community Farm at Williamson Preserve by Jacob D. Moore

As dusk rolls around this evening, see if you can hear the sounds of summer - the call of the Nightjars. Nightjars are nocturnal birds in the Caprimulgidae family that are found on all continents, excluding Antarctica. Here in the Piedmont of North Carolina we have three species:

☆ Chuck-will's-widow (Antrostomus carolinensis)
☆ Common nighthawk (Chordeiles minor)
☆ Eastern whip-poor-will (Antrostomus vociferus)

All three of our local nightjar species have experienced concerning levels of population declines. TLC works to protect vital open space, and each year we are protecting these places through conservation easements on private property and fee simple purchases of land. Learn more about these amazing birds in our newest Species Spotlight on TLC's blog, The Dirt, at https://triangleland.org/blog/listening-for-the-sounds-of-summer-a-spotlight-on-north-carolinas-nightjars

We want to extend a big thank you to the outgoing members of our Board of Directors - Bert Fisher, Rebecca Balter, Anupama Joshi, Jenny Bo, and Paige Jackson - for their dedicated service. Their experience, guidance, and commitment to protecting local conservation has helped accelerate our work in all areas, including supporting the opening a new nature preserve, meeting and exceeding our goal of protecting 25,000 acres of land, and helping to raise over $65 million for our Force for Nature campaign.

🔗Read more at https://triangleland.org/news/recognizing-service-and-new-leadership-on-tlcs-board

📸 Paige Jackson, Bert Fisher, and Rebecca Balter at TLC's Brumley office. Photo by Olivia Bowler.

Our final National Moth Week spotlight is proof that there's always one more amazing moth to discover. 🌿

It's hard to miss the bright pink and yellow rosy maple moths (Dryocampa rubicunda) when they arrive on the sheets! The smallest of the silk moths, rosy maple moths only have a 2" wingspan. Females mainly lay eggs on maple trees (hence their name) and sometimes also on oaks. Caterpillars, known as greenstriped mapleworms, eat whole leaves on the trees they hatched on, then drop to the ground under that tree and pupate in the soil. Leaving the leaves and planting shrubs and herbaceous plants under maples helps the pupae have soft landings when they leave the tree canopies.

National Moth Week continues with another showstopper: the regal moth (Citheronia regalis)!

Bright orangey-red when not under UV lights, regal moths (Citheronia regalis) are Saturniid cousins of luna and tuliptree silk moths that can reach 6" wingspans. People may be more familiar with their very impressive, and very spiky caterpillar stage, known as "Hickory horned devils". As their name implies, the caterpillars feed on hickories, walnuts, sumacs and other local hardwood trees. Unlike their cousins, regal moths pupate in the ground, and only have one emergence every year around the time when the humidity arrives.

Help shape the future of the J Branch Rail Corridor! 🛤️

The J Branch Rail Trail Feasibility Study is seeking community input on the potential transformation of the nearly 11-mile rail corridor, also known as the State University Railroad or the J Line. This Norfolk Southern rail line is currently used to deliver coal to the UNC Co-Generation Steam and Power Plant. This study will determine potential future uses for the corridor through the Town of Chapel Hill, Town of Carrboro, NC, and OCNCGov, exploring multimodal opportunities for bicyclists, pedestrians, and transit.

There are two remaining community workshops - July 22 and August 1 - for the community to attend and share visions and priorities with the study team. 🔗Register to attend at https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=WEenlP_yPEGfcFclcBuNAng5AWOBivpOjcv2HO5eusZUNjNBTUpCUjdQSlVaNDFFU1hNMUdJNDFBRC4u

📸Photo courtesy of the J Branch Rail Trail Feasibility Study

It’s National Moth Week! 🌙✨ We’re celebrating by shining a spotlight on one of North America’s most beloved moths: the Luna Moth (Actias luna).

Who doesn't love a luna moth? How can you not love a luna moth? These light green giant silk moths are one of the largest moths in North America, and their wingspan can exceed 7". Luna moths lay their eggs on sweetgums, persimmons, hickories and other common trees, and caterpillars in the South have digestive enzymes that even allow them to feed on black walnut leaves. You can tell a male from a female lune moth by their antennae- Males have much larger antennae which they use to find the females from up to several miles away! Luna moths pupate over winter in cocoons buried in leaf litter- a good reason to leave your leaves!

📷 Luna moth (Actias luna) on light by Laura Warman

One of the highlights of Summer PINES is our annual kayaking trip to Wake County Government’s Robertson Millpond Preserve! For several students, this paddle through the cypress trees and blackwater swamp was their first time kayaking. 🚣‍♂️🌲

It’s and we’re grateful for the parks and nature preserves that make outdoor education experiences like this possible - connecting students with nature, building community, and inspiring the next generation of environmental leaders. 🌱

🔗 Check out more about our Pathways Into Natural Environments and Science fellowship at https://triangleland.org/our-work/conservation-in-action/pines