| Sam Warnock, August 2026
The River That Built a Town: Ramseur’s Past Shapes Future Conservation (Part Two)
This is the second installment in a two-part series on the Deep River restoration project in Ramseur, North Carolina. For this series, I sat down with Mayor Hampton Spivey and Town Clerk Carol Akers to hear how growing up alongside the Deep...
| Sam Warnock, August 2026
The River That Built a Town: Ramseur’s Past Shapes Future Conservation (Part One)
Conservation is often framed as a series of technical challenges: hydrology, engineering, biology, and even real estate. But if you strip away the wetland mapping, the habitat surveys and the land transactions, you'll find that conservation...
| Sam Warnock, August 2026
Why Invest in Natural Capital (Part Two)
In "Why Invest in Natural Capital", the first post in this series, we made the case that natural capital functions like nature's balance sheet, and that healthy ecosystems quietly generate the clean water, flood protection, and climate stab...
| Sam Warnock, July 2026
Why Invest in Natural Capital (Part One)
In 2025, Earth Overshoot Day fell on July 24. This is the date when global demand for natural resources exceeds what Earth can regenerate in a full year. Every year this date creeps earlier on the calendar, serving as a stark reminder of ho...
| Sam Warnock, September 2025
The Enduring Impact of Wild and Scenic Rivers Act - Part Two
In our previous post, we explored the history of the 1968 Wild and Scenic Rivers Act and how it was a landmark piece of legislation born from a movement to save our nation’s threatened waterways. We saw how visionaries like the Craighead br...
| Sam Warnock, September 2025
The Enduring Impact of Wild and Scenic Rivers Act - Part One
When the summer temperatures start climbing, one of the best ways to escape the heat is spending time on or in the water. If you’re among the nearly 100 million Americans who enjoy recreational boating each year, you’ve likely felt that spe...
| Sam Warnock, May 2025
The Lahontan Cutthroat Trout’s Remarkable Comeback
No species better embodies the dramatic story of America and its relationship with nature than the Lahontan cutthroat trout. Once thought extinct in much of its historic range, this relic of the Ice Age has defied the odds. It is now making...
| Sam Warnock, April 2025
A River Under Fire: The Cuyahoga River's Comeback
Few rivers tell the story of environmental neglect and redemption quite like the Cuyahoga. Once a dumping ground for industrial waste, this Ohio river was so polluted that it caught on fire repeatedly before the passage of the Clean Water A...
| Sam Warnock, April 2025
How Dam Removals Sustain & Enhance Natural Capital - Part Two
In the first part of our series, we explored the historical significance of dams and the myriad benefits they have provided over the centuries, from hydroelectric power to flood control. We also highlighted the serious environmental drawbac...
| Sam Warnock, April 2025
How Dam Removals Sustain & Enhance Natural Capital - Part One
While dams provide significant benefits, such as reliable water sources and energy with relatively low maintenance costs, these advantages often come at a cost to the environment. Dams can disrupt ecosystems, alter river flows, and generall...
| Sam Warnock, December 2024
Building Natural Capital Through Conservation Easements: A Lasting Legacy
At Unique Places to Save, we work with landowners and communities to conserve land and aquatic resources with ecological, cultural, and economic value. One of the primary tools we use to achieve this is the conservation easement. A conserva...
| Sam Warnock, October 2024
Recent Examples of Sustainable Conservation in Real Estate Development
Today, environmental stewardship is increasingly regarded as a social responsibility. In response, many land developers are recognizing the importance of balancing economic growth with the preservation of natural ecosystems and are embracin...