Audubon NC’s Policy Priorities for Birds in 2026

From mountains to coast, birds are going through intense stress. The excellent news is that Audubon and our chapters are specializing in insurance policies that deal with habitat loss and different threats in an effort to reverse hemispheric chook declines. 

Financing Chicken Conservation 

The state’s conservation belief funds are top-of-the-line instruments now we have to make sure we protect North Carolina’s pure heritage. Suppose funding for native parks and recreation lands, habitat restoration initiatives, or conservation easements. With out these initiatives, we might lose locations which might be necessary for birds and folks. 

This session, we’re advocating for will increase to all three belief funds:  

• NC Land and Water Fund
• NC Parks and Recreation Belief Fund
• NC Agricultural Improvement and Farmland Preservation Belief Fund 

This 12 months particularly, we’re constructing help for the Farmland Preservation fund. It is because North Carolina is projected to lose about 1.2 million acres of farmland by 2040, rating second in america for projected farmland loss, according to one study. 

“We need to preserve working lands working for farm households and birds,” stated Coverage Director Zach Wallace. “When household landowners are capable of preserve their forests and farms prospering, we will preserve important chook habitat intact and our communities wholesome for generations to return.” 

This 12 months we’re additionally asking lawmakers to retain the Conservation Tax Credit score. In 2024, lawmakers reinstated the Conservation Tax Credit score, which offers incentives for personal land conservation that defend forests, farms, fish and wildlife habitat, buffers round army installations, and xx. We need to guarantee this necessary conservation incentive continues previous its present 2026 sundown. 

Constructing Help for Wetlands 

In 2003, the Supreme Court docket dominated that wetlands and not using a floor connection to bigger our bodies of water aren’t protected underneath the Clear Water Act, giving states a larger position in deciding how wetlands, particularly these which might be remoted or seasonal, are protected. 

Although North Carolina has taken steps to align with this up to date federal definition, this is a chance for considerate, state-led choices about the way to finest defend greater than one million acres of wetlands presently underneath risk.  

Remoted wetlands have the identical advantages as bigger wetlands in that they contribute to flood storage, water high quality enhancements, leisure alternatives, financial development, public well being, and elevated biodiversity.    

Now’s the second for North Carolina to guide, by exploring polices that defend our pure heritage, replicate the complete worth of wetlands, and guarantee they proceed to help flood-resilient communities and birds for future generations. 

A Large Win for Birds in Wilmington