The Cabarrus Soil and Water Conservation District exists to encourage informed and responsible use of the land and all its natural resources. Financial and technical assistance is available to landowners and land users to manage natural resources -- soil, water, animals, plants and air -- on residential, commercial and private working lands. This approach to conservation is voluntary, not regulatory. Financial assistance is provided through state (Agriculture Cost Share and Community Conservation Assistance) and federal (Environmental Quality Incentives and Wildlife Habitat Incentives) programs.

Recognition of outstanding efforts is an important way that the district seeks to encourage conservation. In 1999, the National Teacher of the Year award for conservation education went to Dianne Hudson, a teacher at Mount Pleasant Elementary School. Also in 1999, the North Carolina Conservation Farm Family award went to the Thomas E. Porter family of Mount Pleasant.

In both cases, these outstanding accomplishments were the culmination of a conservation planning process that extended over a number of years. Databases of information on natural resources provide valuable information during the conservation planning process. These databases include the Cabarrus County soil survey and a countywide inventory of significant natural heritage areas.

Cabarrus Soil and Water Conservation District is part of a unique partnership of local, state and federal agencies dedicated to the conservation of natural resources. These partners include Cabarrus County, the Division of Soil and Water Conservation in the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Natural Resources Conservation Service in the United States Department of Agriculture. The Cabarrus Soil and Water Conservation District also works closely with the state Forest Service and Wildlife Resources Commission and provides staff assistance to the Cabarrus County Watershed Improvement Commission.

North Carolina has the distinction of being the home to the nation's first conservation district. Brown Creek Soil and Water Conservation district was established in nearby Anson County in 1937. The soil and water conservation movement in North Carolina celebrated its fiftieth anniversary in 1994.

Prior to 1963, Cabarrus County was part of a multi-county conservation district. In North Carolina, soil and water conservation districts are political subdivisions of state government. A five-member board of supervisors oversees set priorities for the local district. Three of these supervisors are elected in general elections and two are appointed by the state Soil and Water Conservation Commission.

Cabarrus Soil and Water Conservation District helps:

• install farm conservation practices to keep soil and nutrients in the fields and out of waterways;
• conserve and restore stream buffers and wetlands, which purify water and provide habitat for birds, fish and numerous other animals;
• protect groundwater resources;
• plant trees and other land cover to hold soil in place, clean the air, provide cover for wildlife and beautify neighborhoods;
• manage growth in an environmentally-sensitive manner, working with developers, homeowners and planners;
• reach out to communities and schools to teach the value of natural resources and encourage conservation efforts.