Agenda - 06-01-2010 - 6a - Laserfiche WebLink

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tAlr Universitv Lake Macrosite University Lake Aquatic Habitat (national significance) is a human-made impoundment in southern Orange County, protected because it serves as the water supply for the towns of Carrboro and Chapel Hill. University Lake is the most significant site in North Carolina for the federal species of concern and state endangered Savannah lilliput (Toxolasma pullus). This site is entirely within North Carolina Public Waters. Berryhill Rhododendron Bluff (regional significance) in southern Orange County contains a large stand of catawba rhododendron (Rhododendron catawbiense) and over two dozen individuals of ginseng (Panax quinquefolius). The rhododendron is disjunct from the mountains and locally rare in the lower Piedmont; the ginseng is a state - listed species of special concern. This is the only site where either of these species occurs in the Town of Carrboro. This site is partially owned by the Triangle Land Conservancy and also privately owned. Jordan Lake Macrosite Morgan Creek Bluffs (state significance) in southeastern Orange County combines several sites that had been listed separately in the original 1988 inventory, including Stillhouse Bottom, Stillhouse Bend (Graybluff) Rhododendron Slope, Stillhouse Bend Glade —Morgan Creek Anemone Glade, Hunt Arboretum Rhododendron Bluff, King's Mill Rhododendron Slope, and the Mason Farm Pond Rhododendron Slope. The driest of these areas contain slopes of the mountain disjunct catawba rhododendron (Rhododendron catawbiense) and other rare plants and animals such as Southern Anemone (Anemone berlandieri). Portions of this site are owned by the State of North Carolina and managed by the NC Botanical Garden as a natural area; other portions are protected by conservation easements held by the Botanical Garden Foundation. Mason Farm Oak - Hickory Forest (state significance) in the southeastern corner of the county is the largest forested area on diabase rock in the county. The soil weathered from this rock formation is more basic than those more typical of the Piedmont and many plant species grow over these formations that occur nowhere else in the region. The southern shagbark hickories (Carya carolinae- septentrionalis) growing in this tract are particularly numerous and this stand has been recognized by the NC Natural Heritage Program as the best in the state, if not the entire range of this species. A portion is owned by the State and managed as a natural area by the NC Botanical Garden. A large portion remains in private ownership and is unprotected. Big Oak Woods (state significance) in the southeastern corner of the county is the largest tract of old growth forest in the county, and probably the largest in the entire Triangle. It is certainly the largest tract of mature bottomland swamp forest remaining in the Piedmont. The breeding density of birds is the highest in the county, reflecting the prime conditions present in this mature bottomland forest. This state -owned site is managed as a natural area by North Carolina Botanical Garden, however it is not registered or dedicated with NC Natural Heritage Program. Morgan Creek Floodplain Forest (regional significance) in the southeastern corner of the county combines portions of two sites that had been listed separately in the original 1988 inventory as Morgan Creek Swamp and Morgan Creek Hackberry Bottom. Several animal species occur in the swamp that are far more typical of the coastal plain than the Piedmont, reaching their westernmost limit in these broad lowlands of the Triassic Basin. The floodplain along this stretch of Morgan Creek contains one of the oldest stands of alluvial forest in Orange County; particularly noteworthy is the number of large hackberries (Celtis laevigata) that occur here, forming the county's best stand of this species. Ownership of this site is by the State of North Carolina (Mason Farm Biological Reserve), United States of America (New Hope Gamelands, managed by the NC Wildlife Resources Comssion), and private landowners. Bald Mountain/Meadow Flats /Currie Hill Macrosite Meadow Flats (national significance) in the south- central part of the county combines two contiguous sites (Meadow Flats and Bald Mountain Gabbro Depression), which had been listed separately in the original 1988 inventory. This is the best example of upland depression swamp forest in Orange County. This forest is growing on the most extensive area of Iredell soil in the county, and the underlying gabbro sill is, likewise, the largest within the county. This type of geological formation is circumneutral in pH and is extremely poorly drained, covered with standing water in the spring but bone -dry in the summer. The majority of the site is within Duke Forest multiple use lands located within the Rural Buffer zoning district and the some is in other private ownership.