Mission
The
Mission of the Division's Land Management Program is to manage the County
environmental lands in a manner that promotes the health and quality of
habitats native to the County with special emphasis on maintaining natural
biological diversity and locally rare, historically indigenous species.
Site
management on any of the Division's environmental lands consists of the
application of strategies that first transform and then maintain conditions
as defined in the Program's Mission Statement. Major modification or "transformation"
tasks (i.e., habitat restoration, removing the effects of fire suppression,
fence installation, trail establishment) have been and will continue to
be applied in the early phases of management. Maintenance tasks (i.e.,
trail and fire break maintenance, appropriate application of ecological
burns, fence repairs, site security) have been and will continue to be
applicable as long as the Preserve is owned and managed as a Preserve.
Public
Use
Public
uses vary on the County's environmental lands depending upon site conditions.
Public uses on these lands include: primitive camping, day hiking, horseback
riding, canoe trails, fishing, and nature appreciation. Within the next
year, two environmental education centers will be established as well.
Land management's responsibilities related to these uses is to decide
which uses are appropriate, where they should be sited, and long-term
maintenance.
Habitat
Restoration
Restoration
is defined by Webster's Dictionary as: "bringing back to a former
position or condition". Restoration projects on any of the County
environmental lands refer specifically to the restoration of habitats,
and more specifically the restoration of habitat function. Wetlands, for
example, perform many functions including floodwater storage, pollution
attenuation, groundwater recharge, and wildlife habitat. Our objective
on all the County's environmental areas is to restore selected areas to
their former condition. If this is not practical, our objective is to
restore these selected areas to their historic function. Types of restoration
include: wetland enhancements, removal of nuisance exotic plants and animals,
upland rehabilitation, and reintroduction of fire.
Prescription
Burns
Properties
that have been designated as Environmental Lands were managed historically
to accomplish different goals: cattle grazing, timber operations, and
future land development, to name a few. Prescribed burning is typically
done in the winter for grazing and often not conducted at all on lands
that have been set aside for logging or future development. The result
of long-term winter burning is a reduction of natural biological diversity
- winter burns do not mimic natural conditions. Fires naturally occur
in summer with lightning strikes. The result of fire suppression is transformation
of habitat into a condition for which our native flora and fauna are not
very well adapted. In other words, fire suppression eliminates the conditions
that warranted the land's purchase in the first place. Therefore, there
are two phases: the initial fuel reduction phase and the maintenance "ecological
burn" phase. Fuel reduction burns often occur in the winter when
fuels are less volatile. Ecological burns occur in the summer and mimic
natural conditions.
Ecological
Monitoring
Monitoring the application of various land management strategies is critical
to our future effectiveness and efficiency as land managers. Several monitoring
programs and studies are currently underway at several of the preserves.
