Or so it seems to some Johnston citizens who want to explore ways the county can conserve land. According to members of a fledgling group, the county and its 10 towns are paying little mind to how development affects the environment.

Sue Roberts of the Cleveland community is among those hoping to champion the cause for conservation in Johnston. Roberts, a Connecticut native who moved to Johnston in 2002, says she is frustrated by what she perceives as a lack of concern over the dwindling amount of open space in the county.

“It’s very unsettling that there seems to be no regard for trying to conserve land,” she said. Roberts says she often hears complaints from friends and neighbors about the rapid pace of development in the Cleveland community, especially the commercial interchange of N.C. 42 and Interstate 40. “Every one of my neighbors complains about it,” she said. “There’s shop after shop after shop that springs up with no vision for the traffic problems and how all of it contributes to our environmental problems.”

Dan Bertrand couldn’t agree more. Bertrand, who is moving from Youngsville to Roberts’ neighborhood in Cleveland, says it troubles him to think that the kind of growth that “swallowed up” the Cleveland community could be repeated elsewhere in Johnston.

“I grew up in Louisiana and also lived in Florida,” he said. “But I moved to North Carolina because I loved the fact that there were trees everywhere. When the trees had all their leaves, you couldn’t even see through them. That was so pleasant to me.”

“But with development, every bit of life is being bulldozed,” Bertrand said. “The reason I moved here is being destroyed.”

A solution will require commitment, says Roberts’ mother, Rebecca Roberts of Benson. Before change can take place, she says, elected leaders across the county must development a mindset of “conservation, long-range planning and an appreciation of nature.”

“As it stands right now, it’s like when someone comes along and wants to build, they all say, ‘Oh, tax dollars,’ and there’s no thought about the impact of the development,” Rebecca Roberts said.

But like her mother and Bertrand, her neighbor, Sue Roberts says she is prepared for the challenge. And she hopes others will join the fight for land conservation.

“I think we all know that growth is inevitable, but we also realize that our elected leaders can be proactive about preservation,” she said. “I think the goal is to have landowners and homeowners work better with town and county officials and developers. We want them to know there are citizens who are truly concerned about this.”

“I think that’s been part of the problem,” Sue Roberts added. “There just haven’t been enough people speaking up about this issue. But we hope to change that.”