This is the Wilmington Standard Daily Update for Wednesday March 18 2026.

New Hanover County just demonstrated that it understands the private sector can do a better job than the government at just about everything – including managing and protecting the environment.   On March 16^th, the county commissioners authorized their staff to enter into negotiations to sell a tract of land known as the Flossie Bryan tract to the Coastal Land Trust. 

Flossie Bryan – who owns the tract – simply wants the land to be set aside for use by the public as a nature preserve. 

According to their website, the Coastal Land Trust is an accredited regional land trust serving 31 counties in North Carolina.  They are non-partisan and science-driven.  But most importantly – while they are a non-profit organization – they are also a private organization.

In a post on Facebook, Commissioner Dane Scalise stated that the sale of of this tract of land:

further ensure that the land will never be developed, but it also allows the county to receive back most of the money paid to acquire it and saves any additional public funds from being spent to create the nature preserve itself.

He is exactly right.  While the preservation of green spaces might be a top issue on people’s minds here in New Hanover, the BUSINESS of doing so is best left to the private sector who can do it more efficiently and effectively – because they have their own stakes in the game.

Government at all levels can learn a lesson here.  From trash collection to street repairs to human services to janitorial staff, when cities and counties and states and even the national government divest of these programs and put the in the hands of the private sector we end up with better services, better jobs, less waste, and smaller government.

And smaller government is always a good thing.

For the Wilmington Standard, I’m Reuel Sample.  Thanks for listening.

.