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25 <br />recourse we have when an area is in danger and what policies need better means of <br />enforcement. <br />- The existing Environmental Impact Ordinance lacks the instruments to offer full protection to <br />inventoried sites. We strongly encourage amendment of this ordinance to provide for <br />effective protection of significant biological resources. <br />- Clear-cutting and the damage it inflicts on wildlife habitats, biological diversity, water quality <br />and quality of life is a significant problem faced throughout the county. The county's current <br />ability to regulate clear-cutting is limited, and the role of timber harvest in the local rural <br />economy cannot be overlooked. However, a balance needs to be established between the <br />rights of private property owners and the needs of the community. Finding such a balance <br />needs to be addressed sooner rather than later, as this means of harvest both exacerbates the <br />biological impact of forest loss from clearing for residential development and contributes to <br />conflict between rural and suburban populations. <br />- - -- -- -- - Finally; there is a significant lack~f coordination of protection efforts with surroundinb <br />counties.. Forests, watersheds, wildlife corridors and development projects do not abruptly <br />stop at county borders. Efforts in one location maybe impeded by lack of effort in a <br />neighboring county or vice versa. Effective protection of resources must include coordinated <br />effort among all the affected jurisdictions. <br />IV. Needs and Recommended Actions to protect biological diversity in Orange County: <br />A. Hi hest riori areas for conservation effort. <br />Based on can ently available information, (biological inventory, Natural Heritage data and both <br />TLC reports), we rank the following areas as of highest conservation priority areas for the <br />County, in order of importance. <br />l . Lands surrounding Eno River State Park <br />2. Occoneechee Mountain buffer <br />3. Sevenrnile Creek Bottoms <br />4. Central County Forest, Hills, and Corridor: Blackwood Mountain/Duke <br />Forest Blackwood Division/ Meadow Flats/ Bald Mountain/ Pegg Hill, <br />and connecting lands <br />5. New Hope Creek Corridor, including upper section which connects to <br />the Central County Forest (#4) <br />6. Lands surrounding Mason Farm <br />7. Chestnut Ridge <br />8. River corridors: Upper Eno River, N and S-forks of the Little River <br />9. Forest southwest of Cedar Grove <br />10. Pickard's Mountain <br />justifications: <br />Lands surrounding Eno River State Park (ERSP): This area is identified <br />in LWWI and II as the most important intact prime forest in the County, <br />by virtue of its area, the presence of the River, and the undisturbed <br />25 <br />