Catawba Lands Conservancy

“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 thos”

“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.”

“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.”