Environment North Carolina has given us a great report on the disappearing state of North Carolina’s open spaces. Including the following…

– North Carolina’s forests, farmlands, and other open spaces are disappearing at the sixth-fastest rate in the nation.
– …every day, we lose another 383 acres—an area the size of 20 Wal-Marts—to development.
– Today, roughly 60 percent of the state’s acreage is forested. Ninety percent of this forested area is owned by private interests.

The Environment North Carolina backed Land for Tomorrow Initiative, which would devote one percent of the state’s budget over the next five years to land protection, could take advantage of the upcoming opportunities.

“It’s an amazing opportunity to achieve North Carolina’s million acre promise, and preserve the beauty and heritage of North Carolina,” said Environment North Carolina State Director Elizabeth Ouzts. “The Legislature will have to act quickly to avoid losing these prime areas to more out of control development.”