Agenda - 05-01-2001-8l - Laserfiche WebLink

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~> ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: May 1, 2001 Action Agenda Item No. ~~ SUBJECT: Contract for Update of the Inventory of Natural Areas and Wildlife Habitat .. DEPARTMENT: ERCD PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: Request for Proposals David Stancil, ext 2590 Proposed Contract Rich Shaw, ext 2591 TELEPHONE NUMBERS: Hillsborough 732-8181 Chapel Hill 968~5p1 Durham 688-7331 Mebane 336-227-2031 PURPOSE: To consider awarding a professional services contract to Longleaf Ecological for conducting the update to the 1988 Inventory of the Natural Areas and Wildlife Habitat of Orange County, a reference document used to identify and protect the County's remaining unique and exemplary natural areas. BACKGROUND: An inventory of Orange County's most significant natural areas and wildlife habitat was completed in 1988 with a grant from the N.C. Natural Heritage Program. The project was developed by the Triangle Land Conservancy and authored by biologists Steve Hall and Dawson Sather. The inventory is the most widely used and recognized assessment of the County's natural resources. The inventory is an important reference document used to identify and protect the county's remaining unique and exemplary natural areas. The 1988 inventory identified 64 sites of importance in the County and ranked them in terms of significance and threat. The final report also proposed a wildlife corridor network concept. Many of the findings of the Inventory were incorporated into the Land Use Element of the Orange County Comprehensive Plan and the Flexible Development section of the Subdivision Regulations. The information is used to help guide and facilitate the design of ecologically sound development projects. In its 1999 State of the Environment Report, the Commission for the Environment recommended that Orange County update the Inventory by re-surveying the 64 sites identified in 1988 and searching for other significant sites that may have been overlooked. Infom~ation from the update will be incorporated in the new Natural Areas Element of the Comprehensive Plan. In October 2000, Orange County was awarded $5,000 in matching funds from the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NC DENR) to complete the update. Orange County ERCD had requested the funds from NC DENR through the North Carolina Natural Heritage Program. The Natural Heritage Program had received a grant from the Natural Heritage Trust Fund to support county natural area inventory work across the state. The