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Draft 10/8/99 <br />resources in the short term until <br />a full-scale Natural Areas element <br />of the plan was created. <br />)..Rating. Land in Orange <br />County for Its Wildlife Value: <br />A Landscape With Wildlife, <br />Part II Ouly, 1999 Triangle <br />Land Conservancy) <br />This most recent study, which <br />follows up on the. 1996. report, is <br />timely in its development of <br />rating system to identify which. <br />areas of the County are likely to <br />be most significant for habitat. <br />This work takes the ,prime forests <br />data from 1996, updates it with <br />new information, and classifies <br />the forest areas using Intrinsic <br />and Contextual formulas. New <br />mapping of these- forest areas is <br />provided, focusing in on the <br />areas where ratings are highest. <br />The report recommends the <br />County use these ratings to <br />preserve and restore large tracts <br />of forests and important <br />connections between forests and <br />other habitats, -among others. <br />Since this study is directly <br />relevant to the purpose of this <br />program, it is provided as <br />Appendix G. <br />K. New Hope Corridor Open <br />Space Master Plan (1991) <br />This-study was developed as a <br />joint venture between Orange <br />County, Durham County, Chapel <br />Hill town and Durham city. A <br />1989 resolution recognized the <br />importance and value of <br />preserving the New Hope Creek <br />in southeastern Orange and <br />western Durham counties. The <br />Master Plan recommended that <br />steps be taken to acquire <br />(through a variety of fashions) <br />.the stream and adjacent <br />floodplain, along with steep <br />slopes and tracts of significance <br />along the corridor. Athree-phase <br />,.approach to corridor acquisition <br />was developed, to result in <br />purchase of 1100 acres. All of the <br />elected boards adopted this - <br />plan, and.it is incorporated. into <br />the Orange County . <br />Comprehensive Plan.. <br />In 1993, a UNC student workshop <br />explored another idea in the .1991 <br />study, ways to connect the New <br />Hope Corridor system to Eno <br />River State Park. No action was <br />taken on this proposal <br />L. Report of the Joint Master <br />Recreation and Parks Work <br />Group (May, 1999) <br />Efforts to coordinate the long- <br />term .planning of parks began in <br />1996, with a report from.the <br />combined staffs. Afollow-up <br />report in 1997 from the County's <br />managers identified the need for <br />coordinated park capital funding. <br />In November 1997, a joint task <br />force with representatives from <br />school boards, elected bodies and <br />other interested parties began <br />work on a coordinated plan, <br />looking at park standards, an <br />inventory of existing facilities,. <br />10 <br />