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Draft 10/8/99 <br />Low Presence of species/resources of economic value (is there <br />an hin other than timber? <br />PRIO <br />::~~ <br />O E <br />High Meeting multi, multiple biological/conservation criteria across <br />lines <br />Hi h Availabili of second fundin source <br />PRIG ITY'= - E "S:.- . , . C71ON °~k'~, ~ ~ ~ <br />High Presence of wetlands: hydrologic buffering, contribution to <br />water story e. <br />Medium Vegetation: thermal buffering, water storage natural areas <br />serving. as sites for insect pollinators and predators, which <br />serve a riculture nutrient clin . <br />Medium Ve etation as ri rian buffer. <br />In addition to -this criteria,: the new Triangle Land Conservancy <br />report "Rating Lands in Orange County By Its. Wildlife Value" takes. <br />the use of criteria to a new level. The report uses a .formula _on <br />contextual ratings. and intrinsic. ratings to evaluate the County's <br />remaining prime forests, and actually identifies areas of significance <br />that are recommended to be the focus of acquisition efforts. A map <br />is generated showing the forest areas with highest ratings (see <br />Appendix G). <br />The Commission for the Environment is currently evaluating this <br />new report, and will. report back on how it envisions using .the two <br />tools together to identify critical habitats. <br />C. Criteria for: Prime Farmland <br />(deve%ped in conjunction with the Agricultural Districts Advisory Board) <br />Prime Farm/and -Land .that has the best combination of physical <br />and chemical characteristics for producing food, feed, fiber, forage, <br />of/seed, and other agricu/tura/ crops with minima! inputs of fu% <br />ferti/izer, pesticides and labor. (US Department of Agriculture) <br />Currently, over 67,000 acres of land in the County is used for farm <br />purposes (27% of the total County land area). Whi{e this is a <br />substantial amount of land, it is only one-third of the acreage that <br />was in farming a generation. (30 years) ago. <br />The identification of prime farmland and ways of protecting the <br />County's most viable farmland has been subject to a great deal of <br />discussion in previous years. To define prime farmland, the <br />Agricultural ~ Districts Advisory Board has used the definition from <br />the Land Evaluation and Site Assessment (LESA) program, <br />originally developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. <br />19 <br />