Orange County NC Website
efforts should focus on protection of the Upper Eno River basin, and along both the North and <br /> South Forks of the Little River, for water quality protection, rare species protection, and for the <br /> maintenance of wildlife corridors . <br /> 9 . Forest southwest of Cedar Grove : a large tract of forest was identified southwest of Cedar Grove by <br /> LWW4 and -II . This forest was identified from aerial photographs solely based on its size . It should <br /> be surveyed for biological importance . Its current status is not known. Conservation effort would <br /> then reflect results of such on- site survey. <br /> 1-0 . Pickard' s Mountain: While Pickard' s Mountain is now relatively secure, in environmentally <br /> responsible private hands, it remains an area of biological importance, primarily by virtue of its size <br /> and its unfragmented status . The County should be kept apprised of the status of this land and <br /> perhaps work with the landowner to encourage putting the tract, or parts of it, under conservation <br /> easement . Also , the County should work to encourage habitat connectivity between Pickard' s <br /> Mountain and Bald Mountain, through easements and/or acquisition. <br /> B . A Dynamic Biological Inventory <br /> Biological systems are dynamic entities , changing over time and shifting spatially on the <br /> landscape . What we see today is merely one point in the history of the landscape , and not a static <br /> reflection of the " Balance of Nature " . In addition, new sites are identified through increased <br /> exploration of the landscape , acquisition of new knowledge, and temporal changes in biotic <br /> communities . County protection efforts need to take this spatial and temporal dynamism into <br /> account . <br /> To keep its biological information current , Orange County needs to develop a dynamic <br /> biological inventory that builds the 1988 inventory by Sather and Hall and the two recent <br /> Landscape with Wildlife reports from TLC . This dynamic inventory will respond to changes that <br /> occur as new sites are described and as documented sites are lost through land use changes . <br /> Updating the inventory could be the joint responsibility of an Inventory Review Committee <br /> comprised of biologists and conservation workers , and the Land Resources Conservation <br /> Manager . The updated inventory could both be made available as a resource to entities working <br /> to protect natural areas within the county, and could serve as the repository for biological data <br /> gathered by these groups . NC Natural Heritage Program has indicated that funding may be <br /> available for such an update (Rich Shaw, pers . comm . ) <br /> C . Improved Inventory of Resources in Northern Orange County <br /> While the greater presence of agricultural activity, as well as the nature of the soils , <br /> makes it less likely that unusual species will be found in northern Orange County, there remains <br /> a need for greater biological exploration in the northern County. This area was not thoroughly <br /> investigated by Sather and Hall , for both biological and logistic reasons . But LWW4 and 41 have <br /> pointed to several areas of prime forest that may warrant exploration . <br /> D . Update GIS Data <br /> 10 <br />