Cost is major factor, and development runs at a fast pace THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

ASHEVILLE

North Carolina is well off track of its goal to preserve 1million acres of land by 2009, and environmentalists say that the state should pair more conservation with development as other states have done.

"It’s not ending development, because that is not feasible," said Matthew Schaffer of the Trust for Public Land in San Francisco.

"It’s inevitable. It is how you grow that can be really important," he said

Since North Carolina began the N.C. Million Acre Initiative in 1999, the state has protected about 405,000 acres.

That rate doesn’t come close to matching the state’s development rate of 100,000 acres a year.

The main problem is the rising cost of land.

"One of the major issues is obviously the cost of property is going up and there is not enough conservation funding in order for us to meet our million-acre goal," said Richard Rogers, the state’s assistant secretary for natural resources. "And that has been the case since the beginning." (more…)