Despite the recent torrential rains, we are currently experiencing the second-dryest year in North Carolina since 1895. This exceptional drought is one of many effects of climate change that will continue to change the landscape of the Eno River valley. How we deal with climate change and its effects can take multiple forms, and land stewardship has a role to play for all of them.
Climate change resilience is preparing for the effects of climate change and taking steps that allow people and ecosystems to recover from these impacts more effectively. For the Eno River Association, this means protecting and stewarding healthy ecosystems that contribute to resilience by retaining water, creating refuge for wildlife, and stabilizing the soil to prevent erosion. Stewardship of these ecosystems can involve removing invasive species, planting native species, conducting prescribed burns to reduce fuels that can cause extreme wildfire, and a multitude of other strategies.
Climate change mitigation reduces the effects of climate change. To work towards climate change mitigation, in 2025 and 2026, volunteers planted more than 1,200 trees and over 200 pounds of native prairie seed to convert old agricultural fields at the Confluence Natural Area into forests and prairies. These ecosystems mitigate climate change by removing carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, from the atmosphere and storing it in plant materials or soils.
Climate change adaptation means making adjustments to changing conditions, including the current drought. The importance of climate change adaptation has been emphasized for our land stewards this year by the impacts of the drought on our tree plantings at the Confluence. Despite watering these plantings in April and June, the survival rate for these tree plantings may be as low as 40%, because the drought has hit them before they can establish the deep roots and energy reserves that allow mature trees to tolerate these extremes. As disheartening as that sounds, we anticipated this. We planted over a dozen species of trees, each with a different tolerance for the extremes of climate change. With help from volunteers, we collected data on which species have had the greatest survival rates during the drought, and we will use that data to decide which species to plant over the next year to replace the trees we lost.
This is not a story about being defeated by climate change.
The work of the Eno River Association and its supporters over the last 60 years has already made our community more resilient to climate change. We have adapted by adjusting our approach to reforestation projects to make sure new native forests can establish themselves. These forests, along with other ecosystems throughout the Eno River valley, will mitigate the effects of climate change by turning greenhouse gases into trees our grandchildren can sit under. Over the last few years, we have faced unprecedented droughts, flooding, and summer heat, but we have come together to overcome these challenges. With your support, we will keep fighting against climate change so that the Eno River valley remains a place of beauty, community, and hope.
Thank you for being a part of our community.
Indigo Roper-Edwards
Land Stewardship Manager
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