Chapter 6 Conservation Goals and Priorities
organization. The NARCDC supports the program by enhancing the councils' capacity to serve their communities through relationship building, partnership cultivation, resource stewardship, and access to GrantStation, an online funding resource. Funded by the Farm Bill’s Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002, the RC&D Councils receive technical assistance, cost sharing, and incentive payments from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and other USDA agencies to implement conservation practices that address soil erosion, wetland preservation, and wildlife habitat conservation. RC&D Councils serve defined areas approved by the NRCS and are typically sponsored by municipal, county, and state governments, tribal councils, and civic groups. The North Carolina Resource Conservation and Development (NCRC&D) Association represents 10 regionally focused RC&D Councils that serve all 100 counties in the state. North Carolina’s Councils implement conservation from plan to practice, on projects aimed to promote natural resource conservation and management, water quality, farmland preservation, community improvement, and recreation, tourism, and economic and cultural development. Information about and URL addresses for NCRC&D Councils is provided on the website https://www.ncrcda.org/about. 6.9.17 Robust Redhorse Conservation Committee (RRCC) The Robust Redhorse Conservation Committee (RRCC) was created in 1995 to improve the status of Robust Redhorse throughout its former range. The RRCC is a cooperative, voluntary partnership formed under an MOU between state and federal resource agencies, private industry, and the conservation community. Members of the RRCC MOU are working collaboratively to conserve an imperiled species and its habitat in lieu of listing the species for protection under the Endangered Species Act. Current RRCC members include Georgia Department of Natural Resources, the NCWRC, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, USFWS, USGS, USFS, Duke Energy, Georgia Power Company, South Carolina Electric and Gas Company, Georgia Wildlife Federation, and the South Carolina Aquarium. The Robust Redhorse is a large, long-lived species that occurs in Atlantic Slope rivers from the Altamaha River drainage in Georgia to the Yadkin-Pee Dee River drainage in North and South Carolina. The RRCC is facilitating recovery efforts and conservation measures by conducting research to answer scientific questions and address management needs including habitat use and movement, early life history, population dynamics, and genetics. Work has also focused on discovery of additional populations, supplemental stocking of existing populations, reestablishment of historical populations, and public education. The RRCC’s Conservation Strategy, which establishes short- and long-term conservation goals and management actions, was adopted in 1999 and revised in 2003. It is currently very close to meeting the goal of establishing or maintaining at least six self-sustaining populations distributed within a significant portion of its historic range. Wild populations exist in the Oconee River (Georgia), Savannah River (Georgia and South Carolina), and Pee Dee River (North
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2025 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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