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-7 3 <br />1 <br />2 <br />3 <br />4 <br />5 <br />6 <br />7 <br />8 <br />9 <br />10 <br />11 <br />12 <br />13 <br />14 <br />15 <br />16 <br />17 <br />18 <br />19 <br />20 <br />21 <br />22 <br />23 <br />24 <br />25 <br />26 <br />27 <br />28 <br />29 <br />30 <br />31 <br />32 <br />33 <br />34 <br />35 <br />36 <br />37 <br />38 <br />39 <br />40 <br />41 <br />42 <br />43 <br />44 <br />45 <br />46 <br />47 <br />48 <br />49 <br />50 <br />51 <br />52 <br />ERCD Advisory Boards and Staff Revisions to NCSE -Attachment #7 <br />Land protection has accelerated over the past few decades. Prior <br />to 1981 there was an estimated 4,400 acres of protected land in <br />Orange County. Another 4,900 acres were protected during the <br />1980s, and then 7,150 acres in the 1990s). Since 2000 an estimated <br />5,000 acres have been protected thus far and it appears that figure <br />may reach 8,000 by 2010. <br />By the end of 2007 a total of 22,650 acres (8.8% of the County) were <br />protected through various means, including parks, nature <br />preserves, historic sites, and dedicated private open space. More <br />work is needed to meet the Commission for the Environment's goal <br />of 10% of the County's land area being conserved by the year 2010. <br />Many important natural resource lands remain completely <br />unprotected. Map 6-8 illustrates the location of protected lands in <br />Orange Count <br />The amount of protected land continues to increase in Orange <br />County thanks to the efforts by the local land trusts, OWASA, and <br />other land conservation entities active in this region. Eno River <br />State Park continues to expand, but is still several hundred acres <br />short of completing the park master plan. <br />Although considerable progress has been made to conserve land in <br />Orange County, many highly significant natural heritage areas <br />remain vulnerable to being damaged or destroyed by future <br />development. The State of the Environment (2004) found that <br />about 4,000 acres (40%) of the County's 10,000 acres of <br />documented natural areas remained unprotected. <br />By the end of 2007 the County, through its Lands Legacy program, <br />had protected 2,275 acres, including land for seven new county <br />parks and conservation easements on 1,300 acres of privately <br />owned farms and forestlands. Many of the earlier acquisitions <br />were to satisfy a deficit of parkland in the County. Later efforts <br />focused on an initiative to protect farmland using conservation <br />easements. <br />Over the remainder of this decade the Lands Legacy program is <br />expected to focus more effort on the protection of significant <br />natural areas. One objective is to establish larger areas of natural <br />lands (including prime forests) as nature preserves. This effort <br />was envisioned in the ERCD report that lead to the adoption of <br />Lands Legacy (2000). The concept was also discussed in the Joint <br />Master Recreation & Parks Work Group report (1999). <br />Envisioned is a system of nature preserves jointly owned and <br />managed by different entities, including Orange County. The <br />purpose is to protect critical masses of undeveloped land <br />(including significant natural areas) surrounded by low-density <br />development and working farms and managed forests. Less <br />e'1i~'Co~c.~.ty Co-wipreh.~a-v+~~~'klrxw Public Hearing Draft 5-6-08 Page C-~ <br />