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26 <br />2. <br />3. <br />4. <br />5. <br />b. <br />7. <br />forest within the Park: However there is no guarantee that this area will <br />retain this high biological value, as the State Park lands comprise less <br />than half of the total area. Residential development in this area is <br />rapidly fragmenting the surrounding forest. If this cutting and building <br />is left unchecked, it is sure to lead to degradation of the core forest area <br />of the Park. The land between Pleasant Green Rd, Route 70, Palmer <br />Grove Church Rd and St. Mary's Rd. needs to be designated somehow <br />as buffer area, and tools developed that will protect this land as wildlife <br />habitat. <br />Occoneechee Mountain: The inclusion of much of Occoneechee <br />Mountain within the ERSP has been an important step forward. <br />However, adjacent lands remain in private hands. While private <br />ownership may be the best, most secure solution, the Gounty should <br />work with landowners to assure that this most significant of the <br />County's sites remains securely protected and buffered. . <br />Sevenmile Creek Bottoms: This inventoried bottornland forest is of <br />regional biological signifiaarice for the -species founa there, and is also <br />identified in LWWII as a forest of high wildlife value, by virtue of its <br />size, and forms part of the County's designated corridor system. <br />Central County Forests, Hills, and Corridor: Blackwood Mountain/Duke <br />Forest Blackwood Division/ Meadow Flats/ Bald Mountain/ Pegg Hill, <br />and connecting lands. From LWWII it is evident that one of the key <br />core forest areas of the county extends in a band through the central <br />County, from Blackwood Mountain to Bald Mountain. Of strategic <br />importance here is maintaining connectivity in a fragmented system of <br />uplands arid stream corridors. If connectivity to the New Hope Creek <br />Corridor (see #5) can be maintained and/or developed, this enlarges the <br />natural area substantially.,. Acquisitions or easements which help to <br />preserve forest integrity in this region are to be fostered by the County. <br />New Hope Creek Corridor, including the upper section which connects <br />to the Central County Forest (#~4). The New Hope Creek Corridor east <br />of Rt. 86, currently of relatively secure conservation status, is another <br />key core natural area in the County. While it is generally isolated from <br />the Blackwood-Bald Mountain core, New Hope Creek could <br />conceivably be. serving. as a conduit for animal and plant movement. <br />Anything that can be done to maintain or restore connectivity between <br />the New Hope Creek basin and area #4 is to be encouraged. Protection <br />of surrounding land from conflicting uses by designating it as buffer <br />zone would enhance protection of New Hope Creek. <br />Lands surrounding Mason Farm :Because of the biological significance <br />of Mason Farm and adjacent Botanical Garden Lands and the high <br />degree of threat to their integrity, the County should take what steps it <br />canto help keep further losses and fragmentation from occurring. <br />Without some secure buffers, the integrity of some of the County's <br />most unique forests and associated vertebrate communities could be <br />compromised. <br />Chestnut Ridge: This xeric forest (E01 AND EO2) is an important <br />upland forest, comprised largely of chestnut oak, a relatively large tract <br />of forest, and also is an important upland area for landscape <br />connectivity. Tt is presently privately owned and thus its long-term <br />status is insecure. Allegedly there has been some fragmentation from <br />26 <br />