Preserve Rural Durham (PRD) is a nonprofit advocacy organization and grassroots movement working to ensure that growth in Durham is managed to protect people, water, and the environment—not just developer profits. PRD is powered entirely by volunteers who care deeply about this community and who bring professional expertise as civil engineers, data systems administrators, educators, and environmental advocates.

As Durham rapidly urbanizes, PRD works to hold local government accountable to its own ordinances and policies, ensuring that development is not permitted at the expense of public health, environmental justice, or residents’ homes.

While our core leadership team is small, PRD is supported by hundreds of engaged residents, students, scientists, attorneys, environmental organizations, and community partners. These supporters consistently participate in public meetings, policy development, legal actions, and community education. Our strength is measured by sustained civic engagement and concrete results—not by a simple membership count.

Our advocacy has led to meaningful change. PRD played an instrumental role in the 2023 amendments to Durham’s Stormwater, Erosion Control, and Tree Protection amendments. These efforts strengthened protections for waterways, limited destructive land clearing, and reduced sediment pollution from development projects. We also supported Sound Rivers’ successful Lick Creek lawsuit, which will stop years of sediment runoff into Falls Lake, a critical regional drinking-water source.

Preserve Rural Durham has also been a leading voice on blasting oversight, advocating for revisions to blasting permits, increased transparency, stronger homeowner protections, and the creation of a public blasting-information webpage. In addition, we developed tax-assessment guidance and hosted community workshops that assisted more than 1,600 property owners, helping residents understand how land-use decisions, the Urban Growth Boundary, and Critical Watersheds affect their communities and property value.

Our mission is to advocate for development that truly benefits communities. Our members and supporters have attended more than 150 Planning Commission and City Council meetings, organized work groups, and fought for meaningful public input in Durham’s Comprehensive Plan. Each month, we reach an average of more than 12,000 people through social media and community outreach. We reject the false narrative that affordable housing must come at the cost of environmental protection—Durham deserves both.

In 2026, Preserve Rural Durham will intensify its advocacy by closely examining proposed changes to the Comprehensive Plan and pressing for stronger safeguards for drinking water, tree buffers, blasting impacts, and strained infrastructure. We will also actively engage in the Unified Development Ordinance rewrite, which governs how land is used across Durham. Our work will continue to focus on educating residents, organizing neighborhoods, and defending property owners impacted by flooding, blasting, and ordinance violations.

We encourage all residents—especially students and first-time civic participants—to get involved by attending public meetings, asking questions, and using their voices to shape Durham’s future. Durham’s growth should be guided by informed residents, not unchecked development. Preserve Rural Durham exists to make sure residents’ voices are heard.