Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
Natural Areas and Wildlife Habitat <br />Acquire or otherwise Protect Identified Natural Areas and Wildlife <br />Habitat and Prime Forests <br />• Acquire unprotected portions of remaining N.C. Natural Heritage natural <br />areas and wildlife habitat sites (as identified from Inventory of Natural <br />Areas and Wildlife Habitats) <br />• Acquire unprotected Prime Forest (top tier) areas from "A Landscape <br />with Wildlife" reports <br />• Complete the Seven-Mile Creek Preserve <br />• Preserve key pieces of the Upper New Hope Corridor (New Hope Creek <br />Corridor plan) <br />• Protect lands adjacent to or tying into Eno River State Park (ERSP), the <br />Duke Forest open space network and UNC/Jordan Lake public lands <br />(related to trails projects shown below) <br />(Work with Eno River Association (ERA), Triang/e Land Conservancy <br />(TLC), Duke University, UNC, towns, State Parks and citizen groups as <br />partners: Look for overlaps with other priorities -acquisitions that meet <br />mu/tiple objectives) <br />Farmland Preservation <br />Protect Prime and Threatened Farmland in Watersheds <br />• Two new agricultural conservation easements through Lands Legacy each <br />fiscal year (average 100 acres per year - 1000 acres total over 10 years) <br />• Focus on farmlands in Cane Creek, Upper Eno, Back Creek and Little River <br />- build "critical masses" of farmland with adjoining farms where possible <br />• Farms must be good stewards, use Best Management Practices and have <br />good conservation record. <br />• Partner with OWASA and Qrange Soil and Water District where possible. <br />Pursue NC Farmland Preservation Trust Fund and new USDA Farmland <br />Preservation program grant funding, along with other new sources. <br />Parklands and open Space <br />Acquire Lands for a Countywide System of Parks, with equal emphasis for <br />active recreation (soccer fields, other playing fields, picnic shelters, other) and <br />low-impact (trails, picnic areas, environmental interpretive areas). This includes <br />the following priorities: <br />• Complete projects identified in the adopted 1.988 County Master <br />Recreation and Parks Plan (please see Appendix for list), working both <br />short-term and long-term on priority acquisitions <br /> <br />