From creating safe spaces for children in foster care to preserving spaces for all of us to recharge, many people see Mecklenburg County's Parks as a place to walk, breathe and reset.

But those spaces didn't happen by accident.

They're part of a larger effort to protect land in the county that's growing so incredibly fast.

Carolina Impact's Heather Burgiss joins us from the Reedy Creek Park and Nature Preserve.

- And Amy, it is a beautiful day to be out on the trail.

And what you see behind me is only part of the story.

Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation has worked behind the scenes for years to help preserve and identify what areas in Charlotte need a little special attention.

And that includes with plant species and animals.

They make sure these areas are thriving.

Even as Charlotte is growing.

In a fast growing place like Charlotte, land like this can feel increasingly precious.

But across Mecklenburg County, there are still places where the noise fades, the tree canopy takes over and nature replaces the urban.

- It feels like I'm not in the city when I'm in the middle of the woods, so it allows me to rest my brain and get some fresh air and be in nature.

I love Reedy Creek.

Living so close, it's so easy for me to kind of pop in in the middle of my day to get some respite, get some sun.

It's a great park, so we love it here.

- I love that it feels like we're at the lake, but we only drive five minutes away.

So it's great for the kids to be able to walk and get out in nature and run around and have a lot of free space.

- We hope that people can come to this very urban section of town and spend a few minutes out here and in nature just walking a trail and just kind of forget the fact that they're gonna have to get on Central Avenue or get on Independence.

- [Heather] As division director for Mecklenburg's Nature Preserves and Natural Resources, Chris Matthews and his team work to keep the vibrant network of Preserves and Parks like this healthy and thriving.

But it all started decades ago with a desire to protect the land around Charlotte before it was gone.

- In 1974, Mecklenburg County decided that they would develop a park and Rec system that had a little bit different focus.

And that focus was to create these large park spaces similar to a state park type feel and to do greenways and greenway trails.

- [Heather] That early approach helped shape some of Mecklenburg County's signature natural spaces, including large preserves, early greenways, and places like Reedy Creek.

Over time, the mission grew beyond access to protecting forests, habitats, streams and open spaces in one of the region's fastest growing counties.

- One of the most important things that I think I do on behalf of the department is helping to be strategic with our land acquisition, to try and buy properties that will provide access to parks for the residents.

Also to protect what little natural resources we have left.

- [Heather] Research cited by UNC Charlotte's Urban Institute projected that as much as 97% of Mecklenburg County could be developed by 2030.

- I think that we are probably still on track to be mostly developed within the next 5 to 10 years.

- [Heather] That disappearing land makes the push to protect open space even more urgent.

For Chris Matthews, this work is personal.

He grew up watching his father renowned botanist, Dr.

James F. Matthews worked to identify, protect, and establish places like Reedy Creek.

- Dad was instrumental in acquiring Reedy Creek Park and Nature Preserve for the city of Charlotte at the time in the early 80s.

So Reedy wouldn't be there had dad not been successful at doing that.

- [Heather] But Charlotte's story of Parks and Nature is not only preserved outside on the trails, inside the Reedy Creek Nature Center is another part of that legacy.

A scientific archive of the region's natural history.

- This is the natural history of our region preserved.

I mean, these specimens go back decades, sometimes even longer than that.

- How many species are are we looking at in this room?

- Oh, thousands.

And not just from this region.

So we have specimens from every county in North Carolina and every state in the country.

And actually, from most countries in the world, - [Heather] The Dr.

James F. Matthews Center for Biodiversity Studies at Reedy Creek houses more than 52,000 preserved plant specimens along with a growing zoological collection that includes more than 2,000 moths.

It is both archive and evidence, a record of what has lived here, even when the landscape itself has changed.

- A lot of these places where these plants collected are gone.

We have cases where we have plant species that no longer occur in Mecklenburg County, and we have specimens here to prove that they once did.

- [Heather] Some specimens in the herbarium date back to 1872, and others tell a regional story of ever changing and fading habitats.

- To know that there was ever Galax in our region.

Again, we wouldn't have that knowledge, if unless it was for herbarium specimens like this.

- [Heather] The work is not only about preserving the past.

Biodiversity monitoring helps staff understand what species are still here, what habitat they need, and how to manage these preserves as development continues around them.

- Monitoring for biodiversity is super important because this tells us, you know what we can protect, you know what we can save.

- [Heather] The herbarium becomes both archive and tool.

Something scientists can return to as names change.

Species are reclassified and new research questions emerge.

Sometimes an old specimen can help reveal something entirely new.

- It was one of his original collecting spots.

So to go back and revisit that and make a collection of a specimen that, you know, he had once collected decades and decades before, that was significant.

- [Heather] That work is still happening.

Through biodiversity monitoring, Mecklenburg County is tracking what is still here and what it will take to protect it.

For Chris Matthews, his focus remains on his legacy of preservation.

- Gotta make sure that that thing keeps on going.

So I have a few more years left, not a lot, but I wanna make sure that, that they're set up for, you know, success in the future.

Charlotte's a great city.

Our park system's phenomenal.

- And as the growth continues, the bigger question is how do we hold on to these open spaces?

Because once they're gone, they're not easily replaced.