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Shy Conservation Easement BOOK 2757 57 PAGE III <br /> B. The Grantee is a body politic existing under Chapter 153A of the North Carolina <br /> General Statutes. <br /> C. The Easement Area is a significant natural area that qualifies in its present <br /> condition as a"...relatively natural habitat of fish,wildlife,or plants, or similar ecosystem,"as <br /> that phrase is used in P.L. 96-541, 26 UCS 170(h)(A)(ii), as amended, and in regulations <br /> promulgated thereunder. Specifically,the Easement Area is habitat for a variety of native plants <br /> and animals described for this area on Pages 41-42 of the Inventory of the Natural Areas and <br /> Wildlife Habitats of Orange County,North Carolina,written by Dawson Sather and Stephen <br /> Hall and conducted for the Triangle Land Conservancy in coordination with the North Carolina <br /> Natural Heritage Program in December 1988. The native plants and animals include chestnut <br /> oak,red oak, shagbark hickory,red-tailed hawk, scarlet and summer tanagers,yellow-throated <br /> vireos,white-tailed deer,red foxes, eastern chipmunks and gray squirrels. Following is an <br /> excerpt from the Natural Heritage Inventory: <br /> "Reasons for significance: Three of the low peaks surrounding the Cane Creek Reservoir <br /> are still relatively undeveloped and possess good examples of upland hardwood forests <br /> typical of the Piedmont. Collectively, these uplands are extensive enough to provide <br /> good habitat for several animals sensitive to human disturbance. Situated in the Cane <br /> Creek valley, it is an important habitat node within an extensive wildlife corridor <br /> connected to the Haw River system." <br /> The Easement Area also includes land within a zone designated by Orange County as a <br /> "critical area"of a protected water supply watershed for the Cane Creek Reservoir. Another <br /> primary purpose of this Easement to protect the largely undeveloped nature of the Grantors' <br /> Property and,in doing so,helping to protect the high quality of that drinking water supply <br /> serving the people of southern Orange County. <br /> The Easement Area also includes productive agricultural land. The majority of the soils <br /> on the Grantors' Property are classified as "prime soils"by the Natural Resources Conservation <br /> Service,U.S. Department of Agriculture,which in part has allowed the property to qualify for the <br /> special use ad valorem property tax assessment for lands used for silvicultural, agricultural or <br /> horticultural purposes, set forth in N.C. Gen. Stat. 105.277.3 et seq. It is a secondary purpose of <br /> this Easement to protect the agricultural soils and agricultural viability and productivity of the <br /> Grantor' Property. <br /> The Easement Area also contributes to the rural and scenic character of Bingham <br /> Township in southwestern Orange County. Bradshaw Quarry Road(State Road 1115)is <br /> identified as a scenic road corridor in the Orange County Comprehensive Plan. Although <br /> forested buffers along that road obscure views of the Easement Area, interior views are highly <br /> scenic with mixed woodlands surrounding rolling pastures,meadows and a pond. It is a further <br /> purpose of the Easement to help to protect the rural character and open space of Bingham <br /> Page 2 of 16 <br />