
	Triangle Land Conservancy 1101 Haynes Street Suite 205 Raleigh, NC 27604 919.833.3662

Dixon steps down; Martin steps up

Kate Dixon has stepped down after 11 years with TLC, nine as executive director. D.G. Martin has been hired as interim executive director while the TLC Board conducts a nationwide search for Dixon's successor.

Dixon was the first full-time staff member when she began at TLC 11 years ago, and was named TLC’s first executive director in 1994. She has been directly involved in saving more than 4,000 acres including the Johnston Mill Nature Preserve near Chapel Hill, the Endor Iron Furnace Preserve on the Deep River near Sanford, Theys Farm outside Cary, and Durham and Orange counties’ Little River Regional Park. She initiated TLC’s biennial State of Open Space reports and TLC’s leadership in the effort to develop the Triangle GreenPrint, an open space plan for the region.

For her final act at TLC, Dixon wrapped up the acquisition of the 760-acre Justice land on the Deep River in Chatham County, by far the single largest conservation project in TLC's 20-year history.

TLC has been receiving contributions in honor of Dixon's leadership of the organization. Those gifts will be directed to TLC's campaign to raise the $1.5 million needed to complete the purchase of the Justice land. (Learn more about the "In Honor of Kate" fund.)

During Dixon’s tenure at TLC, the organization’s membership has grown to 2,000, its endowments now total almost $600,000, and it has held four successful capital campaigns that raised $1.7 million in private donations to match almost $7 million in government grants for land protection.

Martin, a Chapel Hill resident, recently completed a one-and-a-half-year stint as interim director of the Charlotte-based Carolinas office of the Trust for Public Land, a national conservation organization.

Martin worked as an attorney in Charlotte from 1968 to 1988, during which time he twice ran for Congress in the mid-1980s. He spent another 12 years with the University of North Carolina system, mostly as vice president for public affairs. In 1998, he vied for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate. He writes a syndicated newspaper column, “One on One,” that appears in more than 40 newspapers around the state, and he is host of UNC-TV’s “North Carolina Bookwatch” series.

“D.G. Martin is someone who cares very deeply about the natural and historic values of our state,” said Liz Rooks, president of the TLC Board. “We appreciate him filling in to allow our long-term director Kate Dixon to pursue her new career goals and for us to have the time to find someone to fill the big shoes Kate leaves behind.”

Rooks said the search for a new director will take about 4 to 6 months.

Former Executive Director Kate Dixon's Departing Message

News Release: After 11 years, Kate Dixon resigns from Triangle Land Conservancy

News Release: D.G. Martin Hired as Triangle Land Conservancy Interim Director