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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 11-09-2006-2ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF. COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: November 9, 2006 ' Action Agend~~-- Item No. SUBJECT: Lands Legacy Issue Papers DEPARTMENT: ERCD PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No ATTACHMENT(S): 1. Staff Memorandum 2. "Assessment of Long-Term Protection Mechanisms for Lands Legacy" 3. "Expanding the Nature Preserve Concept for Additional Opportunities" INFORMATION CONTACT: David Stancil, 245-2590 PURPOSE: To consider two issue papers prepared by staff regarding new research related to the Lands Legacy Program. BACKGROUND: At the August 31 work session, the Board received the Lands Legacy Action Plan for the fiscal years 2006 through 2008. Included as part of the Action Plan were three issue papers for Board consideration. On September 12, the Board adopted the two-year Action Plan and asked that the issue papers be brought back for subsequent discussion. One of the papers has been considered and was approved by the Board of October 3. The remaining two papers ask for the Board's authorization to study and research two topics during the rest of this fiscal year: 1. The potential to strengthen long-term protection mechanisms for lands acquired by the Lands Legacy Program, and 2. A report that evaluates the potential for expanding Counter nature preserves. FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no financial impact associated with the issue papers. Authorization of the requested studies would have an impact on staff resources and time over the next several months. RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board discuss the issue papers and authorize staff to conduct the proposed research, as defined. a ®range County Environment c~ Resource Conservation 306-A Revere Road. / PO Box 81$1 Hillsborough, NC 27278 P11one: (919) 245-2590, Fax: (919) 644-3351 MEMORANDUM TO: Board of Commissioners Rod Visser, Interim County Manager FROM: David Stanch, Environment and Resource Conservation Director DATE: November 3, 2006 RE: Lands Legacy Issue Papers At the August 31 worksession, the Board received the Lands Legacy Action Plan for the fiscal years 2006 through 2008. Included as part of the Action Plan were three issue papers for Board consideration. On September 12, the Board adopted the two-year Action Plan and asked that the issue papers be brought back for subsequent discussion. One of the papers, dealing with possible changes (to address State farmland preservation language) within the Lands Legacy Program document, was considered and approved by the Board on October 3. The remaining two papers are provided herein for Board consideration at the November 9 worksession. These papers ask for the Board's authorization to study and research two topics during the rest of this fiscal year: 1. To research and study the potential to strengthen long-term protection mechanisms for lands acquired by the Lands Legacy Program, including research on other local government land trusts and possible partnerships with existing regional land trusts. 2. To create a report that evaluates the potential for expandin Cg ounty nature preserves at Seven-Mile Creek Preserve and New Hope Preserve upstream to include other potential conservation prioritiesl. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions (245-2598, dstancilC~co.orange.nc.us). 1 As is always the case, any subsequent expansion would involve working only with willing landowners. 3 Assessment of Long-Term Protection Mechanisms for Lands Legacy . May 31, 2006 Background In 2000, Orange's County's nationally-recognized Lands Legacy Program created a mechanism for the County to acquire, hold and maintain lands of important natural and cultural resource significance. To date, over 1,600 acres have been acquired through purchase or donation, fee-simple ownership or conservation easement, and these lands are being monitored and stewardship performed in keeping with stewardship plans or easement provisions. In many ways; the Lands Legacy Program functions as a County land trust, although it is not formally such. The adopted Lands Legacy Program Policy Document (4/4/00) - envisioned that such a mechanism might bear further review over time, and suggested that the potential for formally addressing long-term protection strategies for Lands Legacy (including exploration br creating a local government land trust or open space authority) be examined after a period of years. Since May 2006 marks five years since the first Lands Legacy Action Plan was adopted (May 3, 2001), staff is prepared to examine this issue further, if the Board desires. There are a broad spectrum of permanency mechanisms that may exist, ranging from creation of open space authorities and non-profit land trusts affiliated with local governments, to partnerships with existing land trusts, to creating a formal registration of lands as being within the "Lands Legacy Program" (as done with the NC .Natural Heritage Program). Although uncommon, there were at least five (and perhaps more) Local Government Land Trusts (LGLT's) in operation in the United States in 1998, based on research conducted at that time: ^ The Annapolis Conservancy (Annapolis, MD) ^ Block Island Land Trust (Shoreham, RI) ^ Boulder Land Trust (Boulder, CO) ^ Davis Rural Land Trust (Davis, CA) ^ Narragansett Land Trust (Narragansett, RI) ^ Severn River Land Trust (Anne Arundel County, MD) Research conducted for the Lands Legacy Program Policy Document in early 2000 looked at these known LGLT's, and briefly at the potential for a different structiure permitted under N.C. General Statutes, an Open Space Authority (OSA). An Open Space Authority would require special legislation to create an "authority" (the same basic premises and statutes as OWASA is constituted, for example). No such authorities exist in North Carolina for open space, but these entities do exist in other states, such as Monroe County, FL. An alternative to this substantial and structural change is creation of a partnership with existing land trusts that have charters requiring the perpetual protection of lands. In this scenario, the County might partner with (depending on the area of the County) an organization such as Triangle Land Conservancy, the Eno River Association or the Conservation Trust for additional land protection through a granted conservation easement on lands acquired and owned by the County for Lands Legacy. The Board may recall that such an arrangement has been used with the Town of Carrboro for the County's participation in the Adams Tract, and the concept ~ of an additional-party easement holder is also proposed for the jointly-held open space portions of the Greene Tract. A less-formal measure that could also be explored is that of registering or enrolling lands in the County's Lands Legacy Program, to provide a special status and recognition. This is similar to an approach taken by the N.C. Natural Heritage Program, which encourages landowners to "register" their lands with the program, recognizing their existence and importance, without a more formal protection measure that may be accomplished at a later date. Recommendation Since it has been six years since this topic was researched, staff proposes to contact these other local government land trusts (and any new ones formed) and examine their status, successes and obstacles. In addition, staff would explore the partnership option with existing land trusts, and discuss with the N.C. Natural Heritage Program the successes and challenges in their program of registering lands. All of this information would be incorporated into the report, which may include options for long-term mechanisms. This report could be prepared and presented prior to the end of calendar year 2006, (assuming no other new substantive research assignments). Expanding the Nature Preserve Concept for Additional Opportunities (Upper Eno Preserve) May 3, 2006 Background The adopted Lands Legacy Program Policy document (April 4, 2000) formally introduced the concept of a Nature Preserve. -coordinating the protection of significant natural resource lands in close proximity to each other, as a "critical mass" for conservation purposes. Since this time, this concept has been operationalized. in subsequent Lands Legacy Action Plans, with two emergent Nature Preserves (Seven- Mile Creek, New Hope) that are being created over time. In this sense, a Nature Preserve is generally defined as an area with a primary purpose of the protection of identified natural areas and wildlife habitat, prime forests, or lands of other ecological significance or sensitivity. A Nature Preserve is something between a Park (which has generally open public access) and a Natural Area (an identified habitat site protected but not open to the public) in that the most sensitive portions of a Nature Preserve site are left undisturbed and protected from human impacts, but a secondary purpose of limited ~ public access, nature study and low-impact recreation in the less- sensitive portions of the site is appropriate. There are a number of examples, both locally and nationally, of this approach. Lands Legacy Action Plans since 2001 have elaborated on that concept to pursue the creation of a nature preserve in the Seven-Mile Creek basin southwest of Hillsborough. The Seven-Mile Creek basin is aself-contained unit of the larger Upper Eno watershed, and remains largely undeveloped and has few crossing roadways. More recently, acquisitions in 2005 by the County, other local governments, and land trust partners have begun to protect a corridor of land along the lower New Hope Creek between Erwin Road and the Durham County line. This grouping of acquisitions, known as the future New Hope Preserve, is continuing at this time. Meanwhile, at Seven-Mile Creek, acquisitions have been accomplished and are still underway to tie together 160 acres acquired by the County in the 1970's with additional adjoining lands of resource significance. Approximately 300 acres is now owned by the County for the Preserve, with ongoing activity by both the County and the Eno River Association expected to add to that total in coming years. In recent years, additional acquisitions in nearby segments of the larger Upper Eno watershed have been accomplished to protect water quality or sensitive natural resource lands, and other opportunities are presenting themselves. The McGowan Creek Preserve (63 acres of former Duke Forest lands) and the Confluence of the Eno conservation easement (24 acres) are examples of projects completed in this area to date, and there are (D other pending projects in the current Lands Legacy Action Plan that would further add protected lands along the Eno. , Looking at the larger picture .and emerging opportunities, there appears to now be potential for expanding the Seven-Mile Creek Preserve concept northward to the Upper Eno, creating a larger Upper Eno Preserve network of lands along the Eno and its main tributaries. Likewise, opportunities may exist for expansion of the New Hope Preserve westward along the headwaters of New Hope• Creek in conjunction with Duke Forest and other conservation partners. Further study and formalization of this concept may also assist other County goals, including watershed protection and growth management. For example,. a Nature Preserve could also work in tandem with a Transfer of Development Rights program, if implemented in the future, as a possible "sending area." Considerable additional detail is needed for these projects, including formal inclusion in the Comprehensive Plan, how public access would work, and what lands would be priorities for possible acquisition from willing landowners, to further the creation of such nature preserves. A draft Interim Stewardship Plan for the Seven-Mile Creek Preserve (as has already been prepared and presented for the Blackwood Farm property), has been created and will be presented to the Board in August/September. Recommendation Staff proposes to create a report during FY 2006-07 that explores the potential for an expanded Upper Eno Nature Preserve of natural areas and open space lands, including priority lands generally from the West Fork Reservoir/Lake Orange area south to the Seven-Mile Creek lands. The report would also assess possibilities for expansion of the New Hope Preserve westward along New Hope Creek. The report would further refine the components and characteristics of a Nature Preserve, which could accomplish a variety of different goals. This would be consistent with the work accomplished to date on the Natural Areas Component of the planned Natural and Cultural Systems Element of the Comprehensive Plan, and the recommendations of the State of the Environment reports of 2002 and 2004. In addition, the report would address the mechanisms for working with landowners and potential partners, and explore appropriate locations for public access areas. Possible interactions with other County goals, including transfer of development rights and watershed protection, would be explored with the assistance of County staff. Finally, the report could also examine whether the potential for other nature preserves exists for current protected lands in the County, and look at nature preserve programs in other counties around the Unites States. It should be noted that a Nature Preserve in this context is not envisioned as an area where all lands would be protected, but rather a corridor of strategic locations, working with willing landowners, where critical masses of open space lands could be acquired and linked together with other parts of the preserve. In many ways, one could view the evolution of Eno River State Park over the last 20 years as a mirror of this model. As always, the Lands Legacy Program seeks to acquire priority lands voluntarily - working only with willing landowners. The creation of a Nature Preserve by necessity would evolve over years, or even decades, as lands become available and funds permit.