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6 <br /> <br />Portions of the plan would involve road construction within the Oosting Natural Area and also <br />through the Northwoods residential community. The resolution opposes NCDOT incursion into <br />the Oosting Natural Area, which is part of the “Rural Buffer” and defers comment on <br />Northwoods until more information is presented. <br /> <br />Commissioner Jacobs said he and Commissioner Marcoplos were at the elected <br />officials DOT meeting, and they saw a map that mentioned Duke University, without any further <br />differentiation. He said the consultants discussed the environmental impacts, but failed to <br />mention the significance of the Oosting natural area. He said as a result, he is proposing the <br />following resolution, which he read: <br />: <br /> <br />ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />RESOLUTION OPPOSING <br />NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION <br />INCURSION INTO THE OOSTING NATURAL AREA <br /> <br />WHEREAS, Orange County has a longstanding commitment to environmental protection; and <br /> <br />WHEREAS, for more than 30 years Orange County, in partnership with Chapel Hill and <br />Carrboro, has been committed to development according to a joint land-use plan that protects <br />significant natural areas in the central part of the county, including large sections of Duke <br />Forest in area designated as the "Rural Buffer"; and <br /> <br />WHEREAS, the Henry J. Oosting Natural Area, a segment of Duke Forest adjacent to Whitfield <br />Road at the northeast quadrant of the Interstate 40 intersection with NC 86/Martin Luther King <br />Boulevard, is within the area recognized by local governments for protection; and <br /> <br />WHEREAS, the Oosting Natural Area is a Registered Natural Heritage Area, placed in 2004 in <br />the protection program stipulated by the North Carolina Nature Preserves Act, providing crucial <br />connectivity of natural habitats in an increasingly urban and suburban setting across Orange <br />and Durham counties; and <br /> <br />WHEREAS, the Oosting Natural Area was recognized in 1979 by the North Carolina <br />Department of Transportation's (NCDOT) own Planning and Research Branch for "protective <br />measures" during the design and construction of I-40; and <br /> <br />WHEREAS, the Oosting Natural Area, managed by Duke University for "long range ecological <br />research and related activity" since 1959, currently is host to extensive research activities; and <br /> <br />WHEREAS, any environmental assessment conducted by or on behalf of NCDOT that fails to <br />take into account the rare value of the Oosting Natural Area is insufficient and misleading; <br /> <br />NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED the Orange County Board of County Commissioners <br />calls upon NCDOT to avoid any additional road or construction incursion into the Henry J. <br />Oosting Natural Area in association with redesigning this interchange or widening I-40 now or in <br />the future. <br /> <br />BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Orange County Board of County Commissioners <br />requests that NCDOT carefully consider alternatives to disrupting not only this key segment of