Agenda - 11-18-2003-8g - Laserfiche WebLink

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21 EXHIBIT C The Property is located adjacent to New Hope Creek in Orange County. The Properly contains 18.67 acres, 14.67 acres of which is considered under this Conservation Easement. The Property contains no structures. One of the purposes for protectir~.g this Property is to provide a 300-foot water quality buffer on New Hope Creek and to provide pedestrian access reserved for the placement of future trails as part of the future New H ope Creek Trail. A proposed trail system will traverse the property and will run along New Hope Creek. This buffer is intended to remain in natural condition. This easement is intended to preserve, enhance, restore, and maintain the natural features and resources of the Property, to pro~~ide habitat for native plants and animals, to improve and maintain water quality, and to cc ntrol runoff of sediment. The Easement Area is a signific~mt natural area that qualifies in its present condition as a "...relatively natural habitat of fi:~h, wildlife, or plants, or similar ecosystem," as that phrase is used in P.L. 96-541, 26 UCS 170(h)(A)(ii), as amended, and in regulations promulgated thereunder. Specifically, the Eas~wment Area is habitat for a variety of native plants and animals described for this area o ri Pages 176-180 of the Inventory of the Natural Areas and Wildlife Habitats of Orange County, North Carolina, written by Dawson Sather and Stephen Hall and conducted for the Triangle Land Conservancy in coordination with the North Carolina Natural Heritage Progr~tn in December 1988. The native plants and animals known to exist in this river corridor include white oak, red oak, beech, mountain holly, red-shouldered hawk, green-backed heron, green snake, pickerel frog and the dwarf waterdog. The Easement Area provides lard area for outdoor recreation by, or the education of, the students and members of the fac ulty of Trinity School and the general public, specifically the trail corridor along New Hope C reek, which is expected to receive heavy recreational use by the citizens of both Orange and Durham counties. The Easement Area includes land within the New Hope Creek riparian comdor, which has been recognized by Orange County as having significance as a wildlife corridor and is identified on Pages 2.2-41 of the Land Use Element of the Orange County Comprehensive Plan as the Korstian Division/Di ilce Forest section of the New Hope Creek Refuge System. It is a primary purpose of this Easement to protect the undeveloped nature of the Grantors' Property and, in doing so, helping to protect the natural area and wildlife habitat associated with this area.