Advocacy/Support Group Web Sites

East Coast Greenway Alliance
The Alliance is trying to connect all the major cities of the East Coast along a continuous, off-road path spanning 3,000 miles from Calais, Maine, to Key West, Florida. The non-profit groups works to ensure continuity and a consistent quality of route for the trail, which will be owned and managed by municipal, county and state agencies.

The Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation
The Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, under a cooperative agreement with the National Park Service, is authorized to request and receive money on behalf of the Parkway. It provides private funding for specific programs and projects that further the preservation, protection and enhancement of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Friends of the Blue Ridge Parkway
A non-profit, volunteer organization that is dedicated to preserving and protecting the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Friends of Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Friends of Great Smoky Mountains National Park assists the National Park Service in its mission to preserve and protect the Great Smoky Mountains National Park by raising money and public awareness, and providing volunteers for needed projects.

North Carolina Bartram Trail Society
In addition to recognizing and honoring the Philadelphia-born naturalist William Bartram, who traveled through the Southeast between 1773 and 1777, the Society seeks to establish and maintain a 100-mile memorial trail that follows a route as close as possible to Bartram's original route through Western North Carolina in 1775.

National Wildlife Refuge Association
The NWRA is the only organization dedicated exclusively to protecting, enhancing and expanding the National Wildlife Refuge System, lands and waters set aside by the American people to protect our country's diverse wildlife heritage.

Friends of the Pee Dee National Wildlife Refuge
An independent, non-profit organization dedicated to promoting conservation of the natural resources of the refuge, fostering public understanding and appreciation of the refuge and engaging in activities that will assist the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to meet its mandates.

Friends of W. Kerr Scott Lake
The Friends of W. Kerr Scott Lake works "to protect, preserve, beautify and improve the Natural Resources and facilities of W. Kerr Scott Reservoir and the adjacent Yadkin River Basin by individual service, and promoting community education and public awareness."

Friends of State Parks
A citizens' group dedicated to the understanding, enjoyment and protection of North Carolina's State Parks. The site includes links to support groups for individual state parks.

Friends of DuPont Forest
Friends of DuPont Forest is a volunteer service organization working to enhance the public use and enjoyment of the DuPont State Forest while protecting its natural resources.

Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail
Stewards of North Carolina's Mountains-to-Sea Trail provide MST information and organize trips to complete special work projects to meet annual goals for creating new trail sections and rehabilitating older sections.

Rails-to-Trails Conservancy
The Rails-to-Trails Conservancy is creating a nationwide network of trails from former rail lines and connecting corridors to build healthier places for healthier people. The RTC shows 32 trails in North Carolina.

North Carolina Rail Trails
North Carolina Rail Trails monitors the state's rail system, and actively pursues corridor preservation, retrieval and conversion to public trails. NCRT provides coordination between local, state and federal agencies, allied state and national organizations, and project funding sources.

Forest Fire Lookout Association
The North Carolina Chapter of the Forest Fire Lookout Association is dedicated to the preservation of North Carolina's lookout towers, many of which are in state and national forests, National Parks and other public lands. The N.C. chapter provides an inventory of the 121 lookout towers remaining in North Carolina and works to promote lookouts as hiking and travel destinations.

The Nature Conservancy in North Carolina
The Nature Conservancy works to preserve our lands and waters for future generations to use and enjoy, and often buys tracts of land that are eventually turned over to the state to become parks or game lands. In North Carolina, The Nature Conservancy has protected nearly 700,000 acres and currently manages 64 preserves, including Bat Cave Preserve, which is opend to hikers in the summer (click on photo for more info).

Conservation Trust for North Carolina
The Conservation Trust for North Carolina is a non-profit statewide conservation organization that works to protect the state's land and water through statewide conservation and cooperative work with land trusts. The CTNC is afilliated with 23 local and regional land trusts. The state and local groups also "support effective public policies to expand funding and incentives for land and water conservation in North Carolina."

Conservation Council of North Carolina
The Conservation Council is a statewide lobbying organization dedicated to advocating on behalf of North Carolina's environment. Check its links page for several other environmental and outdoors groups in North Carolina.

North Carolina Coastal Land Trust
The North Carolina Coastal Land Trust is a non-profit organization formed in 1992 to help protect locally and regionally valuable natural areas and waters. It has protected more than 30,000 acres of barrier island beaches, riparian corridors and other special natural areas. Among the properties it manages, some, such as Springer's Point on Ocracoke Island, are open to the public.

Triangle Land Conservancy
Triangle Land Conservancy is a nonprofit corporation that protects important open space - stream corridors, forests, wildlife habitat, farmland and natural areas - in Chatham, Durham, Johnston, Lee, Orange and Wake counties. Some TLC lands are open for low-impact public recreation, including four nature preserves with parking lots; information kiosks; bridges, benches and other amenities; well-marked trail systems; and trail maps available on-site and online.

Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy
The Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy helps landowners in Henderson, Transylvania and parts of neighboring counties protect local land and water resources vital to our natural heritage and quality of life.

Eno River Association
The Eno River Association works to conserve and protect the natural, cultural and historic resources of the Eno River basin, and since 1966 has helped to protect almost 5,200 acres of land largely contained within five public parks: Eno River State Park, Occoneechee Mountain State Natural Area, West Point on the Eno (Durham city park), Penny's Bend Nature Preserve and the Little River Regional Park. The association also sponsors the Festival for the Eno, the region's premier Independence Day celebration.

American Rivers
Through national advocacy, innovative solutions and a growing network of strategic partners, American Rivers protects and promotes the nation's rivers as valuable assets that are vital to health, safety and quality of life. Fortunately, no North Carolina rivers make the organization's 2009 list of the 10 most endangered rivers in the country (some have in recent years, and South Carolina's Saluda River does this year).

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