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DRAFT <br /> RESOLUTION SUPPORTING THE LANDSCAPE PLAN FOR WILDLIFE HABITAT <br /> CONNECTIVITY IN THE ENO RIVER AND NEW HOPE CREEK WATERSHEDS, <br /> NORTH CAROLINA <br /> WHEREAS ensuring wildlife habitat connectivity is essential to the preservation of wildlife <br /> biodiversity,which in turn is a fundamental requirement for a healthy ecosystem that can support <br /> more climate resilient communities and natural systems, cleaner air and water, spaces for passive <br /> recreation, among many other benefits accruing now and for future generations, and <br /> WHEREAS, the Orange County Commission for the Environment recognizes these benefits and <br /> wishes to establish them locally, and <br /> WHEREAS, the Landscape Plan for Wildlife Habitat Connectivity in the Eno River and New <br /> Hope Creek Watersheds, North Carolina provides information and data on a prioritized network <br /> of habitat patches and wildlife corridors to support our most vulnerable wildlife species, as well <br /> as recommendations on how to conserve these resources through a multi-pronged approach, <br /> including land use and transportation planning, open space acquisition, and public engagement, <br /> and <br /> WHEREAS, we recognize that our protected natural areas are at risk from the direct, indirect, <br /> and cumulative impacts associated with habitat fragmentation from development pressure, and <br /> WHEREAS, the Landscape Plan supports existing conservation policies that the committee <br /> abides by, as well as encourages the implementation of these policies by local, state, and national <br /> agencies, universities, land trusts, and private landowners (such as the North Carolina Plant <br /> Conservation Program, Eno River State Park, Eno River Association,North Carolina Botanical <br /> Garden Foundation, Triangle Land Conservancy, Duke University, UNC Chapel Hill, US Army <br /> Corps of Engineers, county and local governments, and others) holding thousands of acres of <br /> wild lands and natural open space in the Plan's area of focus, and <br /> NOW THEREFORE, we, members of the Orange County Commission for the Environment do <br /> hereby declare our support for the Landscape Plan for Wildlife Habitat Connectivity in the Eno <br /> River and New Hope Creek Watersheds, North Carolina, and for the need for continuing <br /> research to address the challenges posed by a changing climate, new diseases entering local <br /> ecologies, and the problems arising from changing animal populations, and <br /> THEREFORE, the information in the Landscape Plan should be integrated into land use and <br /> transportation decision-making processes to enable the protection of a functional ecological <br /> network, <br /> Resolved this [add date]. <br /> Chair, Commission for the Environment Attest <br />