North Carolina Natural Heritage Program and the Buckhorn Area Plan
John Dempsey
Dear Orange County Commissioner,
The North Carolina Natural Heritage Program recently compiled 2 lists of plants, insects and animals living in the Sevenmile Creek watershed that they identify as Significantly Rare, of Special Concern, Threatened or Endangered. One of the lists covers the Buckhorn Area Plan’s Growth Areas ‘C’ and ‘D’ and identifies 10 species that meet this criteria. In addition to the species cited there are also four Natural Communities identified as Rare. An example of a Rare Natural Community is the Sevenmile Creek Sugar Maple Bottom. It consists of a large stand of southern sugar maple, hackberry and swamp chestnut oak; and includes a variety of herbs growing in its understory.
Their second list covers Growth Area ‘E’. It names 16 species as Significantly Rare, of Special Concern, Threatened or Endangered and identifies 8 Rare Natural Communities. The North Carolina Natural Heritage Program’s list is not definitive and they advise people to check with other agencies, such as the US Fish and Wildlife Service, for species not included in their survey that may also be considered threatened or endangered. In this case the Neuse River Waterdog is not included on the North Carolina Natural Heritage Program’s lists. However the US Fish & Wildlife Service includes areas C, D and E within its range and has proposed to Congress that it be classified as an Endangered Species.
It is also of note that the North Carolina Resources Commission published a conservation plan for five rare aquatic species in the Neuse and Tar-Pamlico Rivers just this past December. It calls for “Establishing and maintaining working relationships between governing bodies (federal, state, and local), universities, private landowners, private companies, and conservation organizations” in order to protect these species from extinction.
This is not the first time that a critical watershed has been crossed by an Interstate Highway. When a highway does cross a watershed then you get a corridor that suddenly has increased economic market value and market interest. Those market forces that determine value for economic purposes do not factor for the environmental costs of development. That is the task of local government with zoning jurisdiction. What is the value of Sevenmile Creek? What dollar amount can be placed on a system as rich and as beneficial to Orange County as Sevenmile Creek? It is the upper reach of our watershed, recently studied as a viable potential municipal water reservoir. Considering the projected future growth in our part of Orange County and the beneficial environmental resource that it is, then we should follow the North Carolina Resources Commission’s lead and protect Sevenmile Creek with appropriate zoning restrictions while working towards long term protections for this priceless resource. Thank you.