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Attachment 3 11
<br /> 1 99 /
<br /> i[iiiiii i0iiliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiii� (�. P f 1111111� i ������� f
<br /> Where the Buffalo Used to Roam
<br /> Historical
<br /> landscapes accounts explorers found open
<br /> n th the region of the Carolinas, long , �S, ,, ' �f
<br /> with bison and elk. These open landscapes may have been primarily .rr f ;„ °°t �� �„
<br /> maintained through fire by Native Americans in order to drive game, '°"'°°° �°,w'A,,'P"^' ""�
<br /> records indicate t at these maintain
<br /> assadomin td o eninepeweret historical � � " ' '7 T 74
<br /> openings ro ' :' 1' l "d �'�
<br /> important part of the Carolina Piedmont region. Many of the plant and ,e i„,/„„1„/,, ? ,47,4,aR , o
<br /> animal species indicative of this ecosystem are considered ,, 1' ;";11 da"°,�/r,t ^,,, ,,e / ,' °' ' ,
<br /> "disturbance dependent,"requiring periodic fire or grazing to maintain "1,A , "�t
<br /> the health of the overall ecosystem. By the 1800's,Europeans had � � - � � ",
<br /> displaced the Native Americans and settled into the Piedmont, ,,q n , ,.oA4
<br /> �h d , p -:M ', rr °•
<br /> converting prairies into pastures or allowing the open land to succeed \,,,,,,,, 1 4 q �
<br /> qrk wti ,'rt°' " }. \ rt"� , ,
<br /> into forest. Today,as a natural community,the Piedmont Prairie
<br /> ecosystem has almost disappeared from our landscape. C. 1718 map showing"Grand Savane"of Piedmont
<br /> �� % ', „ ; ,Y From Roadsides to Prairies ono,
<br /> oo 110,4, ilir„„ ,lo
<br /> viii �, ��ou!i"�� �� � Since 1994,Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation
<br /> �' y�� ''/'r� 7� '' , e� Department's Division of Natural Resources(DNR)has been
<br /> �� �l t actively involved in the protection,management,and restoration 111� / of Piedmont Prairie habitat sites and the protection of rare,prairie
<br /> (,111111,0 j !i� associated plant species. The program began with a collaboration III,1111,' 1 °� Z
<br /> , � i� between the County,the USFWS' NCDOT,and Professor L.S.
<br /> / atr f� r
<br /> � 1111 111111111 Barden of UNC3-Charlotte for a NCDOT mitigation project
<br /> ii ; ° � i ) ,,,,,, ' 1 le resulting in transplanting the federally endangered Helianthus
<br /> ����'�°i �f ,! 'w' J �O �� �' schweinitzii(Schweinitz's sunflower)from a NCDOT road-
<br /> r
<br /> ' i ) rf widening •site to two protected county-owned sites. These two
<br /> l�il �f i` prairie restoration sites,known as Latta Prairie and McDowell
<br /> PIODO11111' Ill 01(1111111,01Ai,1111,1101101 ill 111111.111111:21111 011 11111'111 )1/11. ; 1, 1h111111111111111111111111111111 1;11111 / Prairie,were the initial focus and foundation of the Division's
<br /> 11111111111111"1111111111111"1111111111111 00001I1111S40,*;11' ''' 0i9 uioi' � ongoing Piedmont Prairie Restoration Program.
<br /> 1111111111111 III 1„1, 10 IN:1;1 „1111111111111110111 ,f Schweinitz's Sunflower 0 Y" 1?1-1 ;�rd " "'r /
<br /> r
<br /> ,t?'0'
<br /> More than Sunflowers and Grasses ��1 �r 7 (4,1 1 L �� ru� 0,,
<br /> The Prairie Restoration Program has since expanded to include six additional fl m
<br /> properties,and restoration activities at the first two prairie sites have expanded as well. I o, i
<br /> The six additional Piedmont Prairie sites were identified by the presence of mafic soils, J;�1, aka<� r ' .11
<br /> native grasses,and rare prairie plants including Helianthus schweinitzii, Echinacea 4 ,r' �� °�4 .II 11111.0 1111111.. ./laevigata(smooth coneflower), and Symphyotrichum georgianum(Georgia aster). ° �iq 4 1 sae
<br /> The Prairie Restoration Program later expanded from a rare and endangered plant
<br /> w , � r ",' ' y�ll„ ��'
<br /> community focus to a comprehensive,adaptive conservation strategy known as the r,�a mi� �„ ( 0, i rrr �,eA
<br /> Management of Early Successional Habitats(MESH)Program,including management � ` 1 or
<br /> goals for common native plants and target wildlife species. Agricultural fields were fit`”" � �� �''' �,,
<br /> 1Q �` L C
<br /> designated for conversion to warm-season native grasslands utilizing funding from o,, , , '$1i q�� 1 ,
<br /> NRCS4 WHIP'contracts. Another warm-season native grass community restoration If. II a �Y4f vII ,, q
<br /> site,Dodge City Prairie(McDowell Nature Preserve),was created through the USFWS i t '' ���/4 p'%, , , ,
<br /> Partners Program beginning in 1999. Several of Mecklenburg County's high quality ,";,, ;)0'
<br /> 'f a, »,° 1 11
<br /> prairie sites are small utility right-of-ways or roadsides that have been continuously "Y„ ', 4 7a,, i R,yi ' '
<br /> disturbed and harbor remnant rare plant populations. Mecklenburg County DNR has ,. ', ,,'';t „ ' 4 � �)�ti'
<br /> either purchased these sites or assumed their management. Smooth Coneflower
<br />
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