North Carolina Coastal Land Trust

“The organization has members who pay dues. There are no shareholders.”

“The members are invited to an annual meeting during which they may vote on the election of the board of directors.”

“Electronic copy of form 990 distributed to board of directors for review prior to filing.”

“On at least an annual basis the organization monitors compliance with the conflict of interest policy. Anyone found not in compliance must comply or risk losing his/her position.”

“The board of director's executive committee annually reviews the performance of the executive director and determines the director's compensation. Salaries are also compared to external benchmarks to ensure they are within market ranges”

“Other employee salaries are reviewed as part of the budget preparation and approval process. Salaries are also compared to external benchmarks to ensure they are within market ranges.”

“Form 1023 and form 990 are made available for public inspection upon request during regular business hours.”

“Land acquisition and community conservation: north carolina coastal land trust (ncclt) completed four (4) new conservation acquisitions during the fiscal year, protecting 1,272 acres. Additionally, ncclt placed permanent conservation restrictions on four (4) properties (through state or federal conservation or restrictive easements and/or notices of grant restrictions). Ncclt completed three (3) transfers of property for public use, namely, the transfer of one (1) property to the state to be added to state game lands and managed by the north carolina wildlife resources commission (ncwrc) and the transfer of two (2) properties to municipalities - one for use as a public nature and history park and the other to facilitate public access to the ocean-to-sound south end of topsail island purchased by ncclt. Ncclt also transferred one (1) property to the north carolina coastal federation, a nonprofit organization and leader in wetlands restoration, for long-term hydrological and forested wetlands restoration. Highlights of this year's completed transactions and other activities follow: - in october 2024, ncclt completed the bargain sale purchase of a conservation easement on 268 acres of property located near the city of new bern and the town of bridgeton, in craven county - the third phase of a four-phase project to protect more than 600 acres along morgan swamp in the neuse river basin. The predominantly forested property contains stands of naturally regenerated loblolly pine of various ages, mixed pine hardwood uplands, and coastal plain bottomland hardwoods and provides a 1,400 linear foot riparian buffer along a tributary of morgan swamp. The permanent protection of this property provides connectivity to other lands ncclt holds under conservation easement that buffer morgan swamp and contributes to the protection of the water quality of upper broad creek. - in november 2024, ncclt closed on the purchase of the 594-acre newport river ii tract, in carteret county, from weyerhaeuser company, with grants from the u.s. Dept. Of defense repi program, n.c. Land and water fund (nclwf), usfws north american wetlands conservation act (nawca), and enviva forest conservation fund. The acquisition concluded the second phase of a three-phase project involving ncclt's purchase of three (3) contiguous tracts (collectively containing almost 3,000 acres) along the newport river. The first phase was completed in may 2023 with ncclt's purchase of the 1,437-acre newport river i tract from weyerhaeuser company. Following ncclt's purchase of the newport river ii tract, ncclt placed permanent conservation restrictions on the property with the transfer of a restrictive easement to the u.s.a., a conservation easement to the state, through nclwf, and a notice of federal grant restrictions. This property is designated by the north carolina natural heritage program (nc nhp) as a state significant natural heritage site of very high ecological significance due to the discovery of a rare forest type (coastal fringe evergreen forest) on the property. The property, which also features estuarine marsh, managed loblolly pine forest, and bottomland hardwoods along four (4) miles of the newport river, provides connectivity to other conservation lands, namely, it is located across the newport river from ncclt's 530-acre newport river marshes nature preserve and is adjacent to a portion of the 160,000-acre croatan national forest. - immediately following ncclt's transfer of permanent conservation restrictions on the newport river ii tract, as described above, ncclt transferred the 594-acre property (without consideration) to the north carolina coastal federation, inc., a north carolina nonprofit organization, for long-term hydrological and forested wetlands restoration on the property, together with the newport river i tract, to enhance water quality and shellfish habitat in the newport river and reduce flooding of the neuse river estuary. - in december 2024, ncclt c”

“Land stewardship and management: - ncclt continued its ongoing work to eradicate invasive species at its 247-acre island creek nature preserve, in jones county, with brush axe removal and herbicide treatment in june 2025. - ncclt contracted with wright-mckinley forestry to conduct a prescribed burn on 33 acres at magnolia preserve in craven county in may 2025. - ncclt contracted with wright-mckinley to conduct site prep discing of 30 acres at its trent river oak grove preserve, in jones county, in june 2025. - ncclt contracted with andrew reynolds to hydro axe 30 acres of understory at mill creek preserve in march 2025. - ncclt contracted with wright-mckinley forestry for timber stand improvement work, specifically the removal of loblolly pine, on 87 acres at ncclt's bern preserve, in craven county, in january 2025. - all ncclt properties held in fee title and under conservation easement were monitored and posted by staff biologists, interns, or contractors.”

“Conservation education: ncclt hosted a series of educational outreach and special events throughout the state's coast, or entered into agreements to expand environmental education opportunities including the following: - ncclt continues to partner with camp albemarle, which has provided children's summer camps and programs for more than 70 years, to expand children's access to nature on ncclt's 367+ acre gales creek preserve near the town of newport, in carteret county, which features open, park-like stands of longleaf pine and mature mixed pine hardwood forest along more than a mile of frontage on gales creek, a tidal creek that flows to bogue sound. Ncclt allows camp albemarle to use gales creek preserve for its camper and nature study programs. This mutually beneficial partnership provides greater recreation and environmental education opportunities for children; - ncclt partnered to host the "fire in the pines" festival, an educational festival dedicated to raising positive awareness about controlled burning in the longleaf pine ecosystem, and hosted "fire in the pines" school events in new hanover county, n.c.; - ncclt hosted a "trick or treat on the trails" event with 120 attendees and a "love your land" hike at ncclt's everett creek preserve, in onslow county, n.c.; - in conjunction with the nc science festival, ncclt hosted "pollinator palooza", a free community environmental education event with 329 attendees which highlighted the importance of pollinators in nature and food supply and provided materials and guidance on creating small pollinator gardens; - americorps service members hosted by ncclt delivered environmental educational programming into elementary classrooms in 19 public schools in seven (7) north carolina coastal counties, conducted 13 field trips, and provided after school and summer camp environmental educational programs, reaching 2,249 students; - ncclt hosted monthly trail volunteer opportunities on several of its nature preserves; - ncclt hosted its 14th annual flytrap frolic on july 7, 2025, at the stanley rehder carnivorous plant garden, which is permanently protected under a conservation easement held by ncclt. The free community environmental education event, which attracted 1,105 participants and highlighted native carnivorous plants that thrive in southeastern n.c., was held in conjunction with the nc science festival; and - ncclt regularly communicated educational and volunteer events and features profiles of its conservation work, including the importance of preservation activities, in its electronic and newsletter communications and on its regularly maintained and updated website.”

“Special events expenses not netted with revenues in f/s 102,903 special events expenses included in expenses on f/s -102,903”