Summary: North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper on Monday signed an executive order designed to support sustainable management of the state’s forests, farms and wetlands. In North Carolina, these natural and working lands provide numerous social, economic and environmental benefits, including sequestering carbon and supporting ecosystem and community resilience.
Comments from two Duke University experts who are part of a statewide working group on natural and working lands are available to use in your coverage.
Lydia Olander
Quotes:
“Gov. Cooper’s executive order ensures the continuity of work started across the state in 2019 by agencies, land trusts, conservation organizations and others to build a shared strategy for protecting and sustainably managing North Carolina’s natural and working lands for the benefits they bring today and into the future,” says Lydia Olander, director of the Ecosystem Services Program at the Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability at Duke University.
“It has been an honor to be part of the state’s natural and working lands working group for the last five years supporting development of their action plan and helping to bring together data to support conservation planning and priorities. We look forward to continuing to support the state in implementing this new executive order.”
Bio:
Lydia Olander directs the Ecosystem Services Program at the Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability at Duke University and is an adjunct professor at the Nicholas School of the Environment. Olander recently completed a two-year secondment at the White House Council on Environmental Quality, where she served as director of nature-based resilience.
For additional comment, contact Lydia Olander at:
lydia.olander@duke.edu
Katie Warnell
Quotes:
“It is inspiring to see recommendations from the state’s Natural and Working Lands Action Plan being elevated as priorities in this executive order,” says Katie Warnell, senior policy associate at the Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability at Duke University. “The order’s ambitious goals for land conservation and restoration will preserve and enhance the many benefits North Carolina’s natural and working lands provide to everyone who lives in or visits the state.
“The executive order also addresses many data gaps and limitations previously highlighted in the action plan, which hinder planning for the sustainable management of North Carolina’s lands and waters.”
Bio:
Katie Warnell is a senior policy associate at the Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability at Duke University. Warnell specializes in the use of geospatial analysis to map the benefits that natural and working lands can provide.
For additional comment, contact Lydia Olander at:
katie.warnell@duke.edu
Additional resources:
The Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability has developed numerous tools to inform the 2020 North Carolina Natural and Working Lands Action Plan and make information about these lands more accessible.
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Media Contact:
Jeremy Ashton
jeremy.ashton@duke.edu