Orange County NC Website
may be insecure . Allegedly there has been some fragmentation from residential development . The <br /> extent of this fragmentation needs to be assessed, and the current biological value of the site <br /> determined . Conservation strategy would then be based on current integrity . <br /> 8 . River corridors : Eno River, N and S forks of the Little River (See III .B above) : Conservation <br /> 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 <br /> should be surveyed for biological importance . Its current status is not known . Conservation effort <br /> would then reflect results of such on- site survey . <br /> 10 . 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 <br /> size 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 /> 10 <br />