Boiling Spring Wilderness shows how one protected property can do much more than stay undeveloped. This 1,040-acre project helps connect a broader protected landscape in Brunswick County, protects the headwaters of Orton Creek, and helps safeguard wetlands linked to the Castle Hayne Aquifer.

Did you know that wetland-based stormwater treatment can cost 30–80% less than traditional engineered systems? 📉✨ In our latest deep dive, we look at why the best infrastructure isn't always made of concrete. Here's why aquatic green infrastructure is a powerhouse for community resilience:

Not all easements are created equal. 🧪 At Batiste Creek, we’ve partnered with a mitigation bank to restore hydrology that was lost decades ago. We’re not just stopping damage; we’re reversing it. See how we’re conserving 964 acres of riverine wetlands: uniqueplacestosave.org/news/batiste...

Our team and board members had a productive week at the Environmental Markets Conference (EMC) in Chattanooga! It was a fantastic opportunity to reconnect with longtime partners and meet new collaborators who share our passion for the land.

It’s official. 🖊️ The conservation easement for the Boiling Spring Wilderness has been recorded. This creates a continuous 10,000-acre corridor for wildlife in Brunswick County. Read the full "Conservation Win" press release on our blog: uniqueplacestosave.org/news/boiling...

🌱Unique Places to Save is proud to announce the permanent protection of the Hopkins Farm Conservation Easement in Caswell County, NC! This 39-acre easement safeguards critical headwater streams, wetlands, and riparian buffers in the Cape Fear River Basin.

Conservation is a marathon, not a sprint. 🏃‍♂️ Our 5-year plan doubles down on stewardship. We currently manage a $4M fund to defend our lands in perpetuity, and we’re aiming for $8M by 2030. Because "perpetuity" means forever.

1,218 acres. 8 miles of waterways. Forever protected. 🌳 The Batiste Creek Conservation Easement in Texas is a masterclass in preserving increasingly rare intact wetlands and hardwater streams.

Momentum is building 🌊 We’re still excited about the 1,000-acre Boiling Spring Wilderness project that secured $3.68M in funding from the NC Land and Water Fund. This "Exceptional" ranked natural area is now protected forever as a piece of a much larger 10,000 acre landscape conservation effort!

Earth Day is about more than appreciation. It is also about understanding what healthy landscapes are quietly doing every day. Wetlands help store and slow water. Forests support habitat. Open land helps keep larger systems connected and functioning over time.

🌿 We are pleased to announce that Unique Places to Save is headed to the Environmental Markets Conference 2026! As a national non-profit conservation partner, we are dedicated to providing our partners with the consistency and professional services they need to make a real impact.

We don’t just save land; we secure the future. 📍 We recently unveiled our Five Year Strategic Plan. Our goal? Expanding our impact to protect 20,000 total acres by 2029. This isn't just a document. It’s a commitment to the millions of Americans downstream who rely on these watersheds.

Some of the most important cost-saving systems are not built. They are natural. Healthy landscapes can help reduce erosion, store and slow water, protect water quality, and lessen pressure on more expensive downstream interventions over time.

A conservation easement can last forever. But “forever” only works if the agreement holds up in the real world.

Conservation is long-term work. The strongest projects depend on thoughtful planning, scientific rigor, and stewardship that lasts well beyond the moment a project is completed. That kind of protection takes consistency.

Batiste Creek is now permanently protected. Beyond its scale, this project helps protect water quality, support wildlife habitat, and strengthen the health of the broader landscape for the long term.

April is Earth Month. A time to celebrate the wetlands, streams, forests, and natural systems that quietly support life all around us. Conservation starts with protecting the places that matter most.

On World Health Day, it’s worth remembering: public health doesn’t start at a clinic. It starts upstream. Protecting land and water is public health work. Learn more at uniqueplacestosave.org #WorldHealthDay #publichealth #cleanwater #watersheds #conservation

World Health Day reminder: public health isn’t only hospitals and vaccines. It’s also clean water systems that keep communities stable.

Public lands are a cornerstone of the American experience. But they don’t function in isolation. Read the full piece: uniqueplacestosave.org/news/how-pri... #conservation #publiclands #watersheds #stewardship #landprotection

Development doesn’t have to choose between growth and stewardship. Read the full piece: uniqueplacestosave.org/news/conserv... #conservation #landuseplanning #development #stewardship #watersheds

Restoration can be built fast. Durability is built over time. Long-term protection and stewardship are what keep restored streams, wetlands, and working lands delivering real ecological value years after the work is done. Because impact only counts if it holds up. Learn more: uniqueplacestosave.org

A “land win” becomes a community win when it protects connected systems. Read the full story: uniqueplacestosave.org/news/boiling... #conservation #northcarolina #watersheds #wildlifehabitat #landprotection

Development has faced the same paradox for decades: meet demand for housing and mixed-use growth while addressing concerns about sprawl, water quality, climate risk, and loss of open space.

On World Water Day, a simple reminder: water reliability starts upstream. Healthy streams, wetlands, and riparian buffers help protect water quality and reduce downstream risk for communities. Long-term protection is how those systems stay strong over time.

Dugger Creek is what watershed-scale protection looks like. Learn more: uniqueplacestosave.org/dugger-creek... #conservation #watersheds #waterquality #stewardship #northcarolina

Outcomes don’t happen in isolation. Explore our projects: uniqueplacestosave.org/projects #conservation #landprotection #watersheds #stewardship #habitat

Easements are permanent. That’s why the partner you choose matters. A strong conservation partner brings real project experience, science-based decisions, clear and defensible terms, and the long-term stewardship capacity to protect outcomes well after signing. #conservation #conservationeasement

Camp Creek is what long-term water protection looks like in practice. In Durham County, North Carolina, this project permanently protects a mitigation site focused on restoring stream and wetland functions in the Neuse River Basin.

When you give to conservation, you’re not just donating - you’re deciding what gets funded. Some organizations spend big on offices and administration. We’re built differently.

If you only protect one piece, the rest still breaks. Land, water, habitat, and access don’t live in silos. So our projects aren’t built that way either.

Most people think conservation is about “saving nature." But the strongest projects do something more practical: they protect systems we depend on.

It's time to stop treating water like a utility bill. What we pay for is delivery. What keeps water reliable is the upstream system: land, streams, wetlands, and forests working together.

Natural capital is the value your land produces without a factory, a pipeline, or a power plant. Clean water. Flood protection. Healthy habitat. Carbon storage. Recreation. These are real services that support communities and local economies, and they only keep working if the land stays healthy.

A working forest isn’t “nature vs. economy.” It’s what happens when stewardship is the plan.

🗺️ We don't just save land. We follow a plan. The Boiling Spring Wilderness isn't just a lucky find—it’s the "Gold Standard" of our Five-Year Strategic Plan.

Mitigation work is only as strong as what protects it after the build. Restoration gains take time to establish, and long-term stewardship is what keeps a project delivering outcomes years later. That’s why legal durability matters just as much as the construction plan.

🎥 Local press coverage about a big win for Brunswick County! Thank you to WWAY TV3 for covering our latest announcement! We are excited to share that Unique Places to Save has officially protected more than 1,000 acres of land right here in Brunswick County. 🌲💧

Securing an easement isn't the end of a project - it's just the beginning! An easement can seem "final" the day it is closed, but the outcomes people care about can take years to establish. And the real risk shows up later: ownership changes, land pressure increases, priorities shift.

🚰 Your water starts right here. Did you know that the 1,040 acres of the Boiling Spring Wilderness acts as a giant, natural Brita filter?

Most people treat water like a utility bill. Pay, receive, done. But what you’re paying for is delivery. Not the system. The real system is upstream: land, wetlands, forests, and streams working together long before water reaches a tap. That’s infrastructure, just not the kind made of concrete.

Surface water isn’t just a scenic feature. It’s working infrastructure. Healthy watersheds help filter runoff, buffer floods, and support more reliable water systems downstream. When those natural systems degrade, costs and risk increase.

🗞️ Extra! Extra! Read all about it! We are grateful to see our work making headlines again! A big thank you to the Greater Wilmington Business Journal for their recent feature on our latest conservation success. 🌲📄

🏟️ How big is 1,000 acres? Visualize 800 football fields laid end-to-end. Or think of New York’s Central Park... and then make it even bigger.

Surface water does more than just “look pretty.” It works. In the U.S., surface water supplies about two-thirds of drinking water. And when wetlands and forests are healthy, they act like built infrastructure: they filter pollutants, reduce sediment, and store floodwater.

Thank you WECT News for featuring our latest conservation milestone! 🌿🐻 Their team covered Boiling Spring Wilderness, a new wildlife corridor in Brunswick County that officially connects 10,000 acres of vital habitat.

Values aren’t words on a webpage. They’re how we show up, especially when decisions get hard.

🤫 There are secrets in these woods worth keeping. The Boiling Spring Wilderness is home to some of the rarest residents in North Carolina. These ""Silent Residents""—Rare, Threatened, and Endangered plants and animals—have found a final stronghold in our Carolina bays and sand ridges.

We're proud to be part of this incredible project to: 1. Remove a dam 2. Build a trailhead 3. Restore a river 4. Protect wildlife habitats 5. Reconnect a community around nature 6. Illustrate nature-driven economic development Much more to come soon about this work in Ramseur!

Natural capital is the stock of natural assets. Ecosystem services are the flow of benefits we derive from them.