A winter pasture edged with bare trees and cedars under a clear blue sky.

Reaper | Conservation Mitigation Easement

Total Acres

19

Project Year

2026

 
Located in Randolph County of North Carolina

The Reaper conservation easement protects the stream corridors and streamside habitat being restored on the Reaper site near Denton, North Carolina. It covers 19 acres and includes the unnamed tributaries to South Fork Jackson Creek, along with the wetlands and riparian buffer areas that support them.

The restoration work focuses on improving degraded pasture streams by stabilizing eroding banks, rebuilding more stable channel shape, and improving how high flows access the floodplain. The easement protects the areas where native riparian vegetation will be established and maintained (generally at least a 50-foot buffer), where invasive plants are controlled, and where livestock are excluded to reduce bank damage and sediment inputs.

To keep those improvements intact over time, the easement restricts activities that would damage the restored aquatic and habitat features such as new construction, grading/filling, dumping or storage of debris, and other land disturbance within the protected areas. It also anticipates a few defined “breaks” and limited uses (such as existing utility access and certain stream crossings/drive access), while keeping the protected stream and buffer areas intact.

 

Mitigation Partner

Naturion logo

Our Role

Conservation Easement Grantee

Mitigation Type

Stream & Wetland Restoration

 

About the AuthorMichael Scisco

Michael brings nearly 20 years of experience to his role as Trusted Conservation Advisor at Unique Places to Save. He has worked to conserve over 200,000 acres across the U.S. while securing over $200M in funding and transacting $500M in land and other real estate.

Learn More

We are a trusted non-profit partner for mitigation banks seeking high-quality conservation projects

 

Learn More
Mandi Taylor smiling beside a tree in bare winter woods, wearing a cap and a daypack, with pine needles covering the slope behind her.

Mandi Taylor, September 2026

What Does a Land Steward Actually Do?

When people think of conservation wins, they usually picture all the work and coordination required to place land with rich ecological, historical, or cultural value into a conservation easement. And they are right to celebrate those effort...

A shallow rocky river running through summer woodland.

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...

A calm river reflecting overhanging trees, seen from a leaf covered bank.

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...

A view over layered blue mountain ridges, with a lake in the valley below.

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...