Katawba Valley Land Trust Highlights Recent Conservation Successes
Katawba Valley Land Trust (KVLT) is celebrating multiple meaningful conservation achievements that reflect both regional collaboration and long-term private land stewardship. While different in scope and setting, each project contributes to protecting the natural resources that define the Catawba River Valley and surrounding areas.
In Lancaster County’s Van Wyck community, the Catawba River Water Treatment Plant plays a vital role in supplying clean drinking water to roughly 90,000 residents across Lancaster County and Union County, North Carolina. The plant draws water from the Catawba River, pumps it into an on-site reservoir, and filters it to serve both counties.
In December 2025, two conservation easements were recorded on the property to help safeguard the forests that support water quality and ecological health. One easement protects 23 acres of loblolly pines surrounding the reservoir, while the second preserves 24 acres of hardwood forest along the river. The effort was made possible through a partnership involving the Lancaster County Water & Sewer District, Union County, NC, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the South Carolina Department of Environmental Services. KVLT noted that the project’s success relied on the shared commitment of all participating agencies.
In a separate conservation action in rural Bethune, Kershaw County, longtime landowner Mr. Coleman Catoe, Jr., expanded the protection of his family’s property by completing a second conservation easement with KVLT. More than a decade ago, he placed a permanent easement on 193 acres of crop fields and loblolly pine forest along Buffalo Creek. In December, he added another 21 acres of mixed hardwood and pine forest to his protected land. Together, the easements reflect a deeply rooted commitment to preserving the multigenerational farm and the woods Mr. Catoe explored throughout his life.
In a unique area of Chester County, within the watershed of Rocky Creek, another new conservation easement was placed on a 295-acre tract of land. As a child, the landowner loved helping his uncle on the family farm. As an adult, he inherited the land and began teaching his own children to farm, just as he had. They now raise cattle, goats, donkeys, and chickens. The property includes hay fields, loblolly pine forests, and hardwood forests along Beaverdam Creek, providing multiple habitats for wildlife to thrive.
KVLT expresses its most sincere appreciation for the continued generosity and dedication to conservation, especially to the landowners and partners in Lancaster, Chester, and Union Counties, for making the above land protection possible.
