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Protecting data, protecting land: Mainspring Conservation Trust uses Veritas Backup Exec

BackupMikko
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Employee Accredited Certified

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North Carolina’s Mainspring Conservation Trust is dedicated to protecting lands throughout seven counties in North Carolina and Georgia, in what Mainspring employees and volunteers call the “heart of the Southern Blue Ridge mountains.” An effort made easier with Veritas’ donation of Backup Exec through its TechSoup partnership.

Since Veritas confirmed its partnership with TechSoup in April 2017, it has donated 1,300 licenses of Backup Exec and 335 of System Recovery to nonprofit recipients like Mainspring – a total market value of over $1.8 million.

Protecting data, protecting land

In order to protect the lands within its purview, Mainspring must maintain accurate records. With many conservation agreements valid in perpetuity, Mainspring requires an assurance that documents between the organization and landowners will remain secure for decades to come. To backup these files, Mainspring uses Backup Exec.

“Keeping good records over time is very important to us, so having a good backup system is a key part of that,” says Desmond Dennis, Mainspring’s Land and Easement Stewardship coordinator. Mainspring currently owns and protects over 1,300 acres in the region and has negotiated conservation easements — legally binding agreements — on approximately 10,000 acres of land.

Once slated for protection, the areas are often made more environmentally stable through tree planting, as well as soil and stream restoration projects. But rather than restricting the land, Mainspring remains an advocate of responsible use of these natural resources for farming, hiking, swimming, hunting – “appreciating the beauty of it all,” as one representative expresses.

Before Backup Exec

Prior to using Backup Exec, Mainspring data was stored on a single server at the organization’s headquarters, as well as in physical files – approaches to data backup that don’t account for the event of a disaster. Using a cloud-based backup solution like Backup Exec provides an added layer of security to Mainspring documents. And because Backup Exec performs scheduled backups daily, information is routinely, securely updated.

Conservation every step of the way

Mainspring is the steward of the natural region and the documentation securing its protection rights. “As time goes on and a property changes hands, a new landowner, either through ignorance or willful intention, will sometimes violate the terms of the easement,” Dennis says. “It’s important to be able to show the condition of the property 20 years ago versus what the condition of the is property now. Having those records is particularly important especially if it becomes a legal matter.”

Dennis and those at Mainspring remain dedicated to permanent land protection, and this requires a contingency plan if something happens to the documentation that supports their authority to conserve outdoor spaces.

According to Dennis, the Backup Exec license Mainspring received through TechSoup plays a meaningful part in the organization’s ability to refer to the data it needs to protect lands. “Having this data — the written descriptions, photographs, and maps, and being able to refer to them throughout time using Veritas Backup Exec will help guarantee that the lands will be protected into the future.”


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