By Edgar Miller, Yadkin Riverkeeper and Executive Director
Yadkin Riverkeeper Edgar Miller, Yadkin River State Trail (YRST) coordinator Ward Swann, and YRK member and Appalachian Trail Conservancy board member Bill Holman spent all day on May 12 participating in the Great Trails State Lobby Day at the NC General Assembly. YRK sponsored a reception for state lawmakers later in the day and attended a briefing by NC State Parks Director Brian Strong about the Great Trails State grant program.
We were joined by 75 other trail advocates from around the state who asked the legislators to:
1. Include $800,000 in the state budget for state trail capacity building grants, of which $50,000 would be for the YRST.
2. Provide $24.1 million for the Great Trail State grant program and $100,000 in capacity building funds for the Great Trails State Coalition.
YRK representatives meet with Senators Steve Jarvis (R-Davidson/Davie) and Eddie Settle (R-Alexander, Surry, Wilkes, Yadkin), as well as House members Cody Huneycutt (R-Montgomery, Stanly), Sam Watford (R-Davidson), Larry Potts (R-Davidson), Blair Eddins (R-Alexander, Wilkes) and Sen. Paul Lowe (D-Forsyth) and distributed information packets, including YRST and South Yadkin paddle trail maps, to legislators from across the watershed.
Meeting With Senator Steve Jarvis
Meeting With Senator Eddie Settle
We also took this opportunity to advocate for the passage of H 369, The Parking Lot Modernization Act, which would limit local government’s ability to require minimum numbers of parking spaces for certain types of buildings and commercial facilities and would allow local governments with municipal stormwater programs to provide incentives for reduction in stormwater runoff from redevelopment projects. The bill is scheduled to be heard in the Senate State and Local Government Committee on May 19.
NC State Parks Director Brian Strong speaks with Great Trails State grant program participants from across the state.
Ward and Edgar with state paddle trail partners, Nolan Carter (Haw River State Trail) and Anna Wheeler (Dan River State Trail) and long-time partner and collaborator Piedmont Triad Regional Council Planning Director Jesse Day, with the Raliegh skyline in the background at the Great Trials State Legislative Reception.
The following day, Yadkin Riverkeeper Edgar Miller participated in the NC Department of Agriculture’s “Farms Forever” lobby day requesting $25 million in funding for the state’s farmland preservation program. Sadly, North Carolina ranks second in the pace of farmland loss.
Miller also attended the NC Environmental Management Commission’s Water Quality Committee meeting to monitor progress, or lack thereof, on moving forward with new regulations for permitting Animal Feeding Operations (AFO) in the wake of the NC Supreme Court’s decision that additional permitting provisions advocated by Riverkeepers to limit water pollution from these facilities must go through the regulatory development process. He also heard presentations on the Falls and Jordan Lake nutrient management rules, which will have a major impact on how the final High Rock Lake rules will be developed and implemented.