05/10/2006 P&Z Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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• • • IV. Restoration and Management Needs and Recommendations Restoration and Management Goals and Objectives • Restore, manage, and improve pre- existing moderate and low quality natural communities and natural resources within the conservation areas; • Re- establish and /or restore native vegetation cover within highly disturbed and non- native landscape areas within the conservation areas that is ecologically appropriate and suited to the environmental conditions of the site and is suitable to proposed human uses and desired site aesthetics; • Re- establish prescribed fire as a management tool onsite; • Protect and manage existing endangered plant populations; • Establish conservation signage (and other infrastructure) that help facilitate sustainable natural resource management and other programmed activities. • Provide recreational and educational opportunities for the residents of The Preserve and that are compatible with sustaining, restoring, and improving the natural vegetation and ecological functions of the conservation areas; • Implement surface water and public infrastructure planning and development within the site and adjacent landscape that compliments (and does not further degrade) the natural resources of the site (Use of alternative stormwater management techniques); and • Create required wetland mitigation basin in northeast corner of site, establishing appropriate native species cover and hydrology (wet meadow, wet prairie, emergent marsh). Prescribed Native Plant Communities Much of the existing vegetation of the conservation areas is currently in a moderate to low quality natural condition or degraded semi - natural condition. All natural areas within the designated conservation areas will require considerable resources to restore and /or manage vegetation as natural plant communities well into the future. Furthermore, areas of very disturbed semi - natural vegetation and non - native cover (i.e. degraded wet meadows, degraded shrub swamp, degraded emergent marsh etc.), will require restoration tasks such as invasive and exotic vegetation removal, chemical and manual treatments and /or biological controls of noxious weed species, and replanting/reseeding with native plant community cover. To minimize the resources require for restoring and managing native vegetation within the conservation areas, pre- existing natural communities will not be converted to other natural community types. Figure - 6 illustrates the location and extent of prescribed natural and semi - natural vegetation types within the conservation areas. Rather, existing natural communities will be managed, improved, and augmented with appropriate native species seed mixes and plantings when necessary. The following are detailed descriptions of natural community types (wet meadow, shallow /mixed emergent marsh, wet prairie, dry prairie /oak savanna, and oak forest) that have been prescribed for the conservation areas, as depicted in Figure 6. Native species list appropriate for re- seeding, planting, and re- establishing natural communities that are specified in the following text are provided in Appendix C. The Preserve Conservation Development - Restoration and Management Plan 12