Triangle Connectivity Collaborative
Landscape Habitat Connectivity Conservation
Our Mission: To conserve and restore landscape habitat connectivity that ensures long term protection and resilience of biodiversity and natural resources.
In 2023, the TCC completed a habitat network analysis of the New Hope Creek and Upper Neuse watersheds. This analysis identifies and prioritizes wildlife corridors and habitat blocks within these watersheds. This analysis builds on the 2019 analysis of habitat connectivity within the Eno and New Hope Creek watersheds. The 2023 analysis was funded by Durham County and the Burt Bees Foundation. To learn more about this analysis, see A Landscape Analysis for Wildlife Habitat Connectivity. The data are available for download from the TCC webpage.
The Triangle Connectivity Collaborative Strategic Action Plan outlines the priority actions needed to conserve and restore habitat connectivity for wildlife in the Upper Neuse and New Hope Creek watersheds. It was developed through a stakeholder process representing local governments, state and regional transportation planning organizations, conservation groups, universities, and ecologists. The Strategic Action Plan was funded through the Network for Landscape Conservation’s Catalyst Fund.
To view the Strategic Action Plan, visit https://connectedconservationnc.org/
Eno-New Hope Conservation Plan: A landscape plan for wildlife habitat connectivity in the Eno River and New Hope Creek watersheds in North Carolina.
The Eno-New Hope Landscape Conservation Plan was produced by a collaboration among local governments, conservation groups, universities, and ecologists and focuses on the critical importance of habitat connectivity for wildlife in the Eno River and New Hope Creek watersheds in Chatham, Durham, Orange and Wake counties. The Landscape Plan is a Partners for Green Growth project funded by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission and Orange County, NC, and administered by the North Carolina Botanical Garden Foundation, Inc.
Actions to Note: In 2021, the Durham County Open Space Program | Durham County (dconc.gov) contracted with the North Carolina Biodiversity Project to conduct a comprehensive biological survey of the New Hope Creek Corridor. This study involved intense field research to tally species in over a dozen taxonomic groups—everything from birds, mammals, and plants to fungi, lichen, and slime molds. Their report is a remarkable achievement. It describes a diverse ecosystem kept healthy by decades of concerted conservation efforts, a landscape home to rare plants, intriguing animals, and—possibly—organisms previously unknown to science. It unflinchingly documents the pressures that threaten the New Hope Creek Corridor and details what must be done to keep them at bay. Finally, in its scope, its methods, and its recommendations, it is an invaluable contribution not only to the protection of the New Hope Creek ecosystem, but to conservation science as a whole.
Survey efforts and report were funded through a grant from the Burt’s Bees Foundation.
To view the report, visit https://www.dconc.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/38779/638188879513070000
Green Growth Toolbox
The Green Growth Toolbox is a technical assistance program led by the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission. It is designed to help communities conserve high quality connected habitats as communities and developers continue to build new homes, workplaces, and shopping centers. The toolbox will help your community plan for growth in a way that will conserve your natural assets—fish, wildlife, plants, streams, forests, fields, and wetlands.
https://www.ncwildlife.org/conserving/programs/Green-Growth-Toolbox
The Triangle Connectivity Collaborative (TCC) is working to bring the habitat network analysis into local government land use planning and decision-making by the following:
Land use planners from Orange County, Carrboro, Chapel Hill, Cary, City and County of Durham have been trained on how to interpret and use the data in planning, policy, and ordinances.
The data is being used as part of the Complete Communities guidance in the Town of Chapel Hill.
The data has been used to support land use decisions in Durham.
The Durham Open Space and Trails Commission has signed a Resolution of Support in support of the Eno-New Hope Landscape Conservation Plan.
The New Hope Creek Corridor Advisory Committee is using the data analysis in their recommendations on development proposals along New Hope Creek.
Presentations on the habitat network analysis and the Triangle Connectivity Collaborative have been made to the Orange County Board of Commissioners, Durham County Open Space and Trails Commission, Town of Chapel Hill Environmental Stewardship Advisory Board, and the Town of Chapel Hill Planning Department.
The Triangle Connectivity Collaborative has also been working to bring habitat network analysis into local transportation planning and decision-making through meetings and coordination with transportation planners. The TCC has been using the habitat data to identify priority transportation crossings for assessment and possible improvement. Members have been conducting site-visits of transportation infrastructure within priority habitat areas to support these efforts. The TCC has been working closely with the Durham Chapel Hill Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization to support its work integrating wildlife crossing concerns into its own planning documents.
The Triangle Connectivity Collaborative Steering Committee
Celeste Burns, Durham County
Sara Childs, Duke Forest
Chris Hirni, Orange County
Bo Howes, Triangle Land Conservancy
Kim Livingston, Eno River Association
Brooke Massa, NC Wildlife Resources Commission
Johnny Randall, North Carolina Botanical Garden
The TCC meets quarterly, if interested in learning more about these meetings or other actions of the TCC, please email info@connectedconservation.org!