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0 RESOLUTION BY THE CABARRUS SOIL AND WATER 179 CCONSERVATION DISTRICT BOARD REGARDING CONSERVATION OF CLARKE CREEK HERON ROOKERY r ` SIGNIFICANT NATURAL AREA WHEREAS, Revolutionary War General Paul Barringer hid for an extended period from enemy troops in canebrakes along Clarke Creek and African- American farmer Benjamin Walker purchased land on Clarke Creek in the early part of the 20th century along the road that now bears his name and; WHEREAS, the area along Clarke Creek has a long history of identification for protection and preservation. The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission targeted the Clarke Creek wetland for land acquisition as early as the 1960s for the protection of the state - designated, regionally- important two hundred -acre wetland complex known officially as the Clarke Creek Heron Rookery Significant Natural Heritage Area. The area was included in an Inventory of the Significant Natural Areas of Cabarrus County, North Carolina that was published in 2002. The Land Trust for Central North Carolina purchased 33 acres within this unique natural area in part with a $50,000 grant from the North Carolina Clean Water Management Trust Fund for the dual purposes of environmental education and water quality protection and the Land Trust for Central North Carolina in turn transferred the title to this property to Cabarrus Soil and Water Conservation District in 2007 for protection; and WHEREAS, the 2010 Cabarrus Soil and Water Strategic Plan goals included establishing a conservation field school, which the Cabarrus Soil and Water Conservation District now operates as The Conservation Field School at Clarke Creek. The field school is on land purchased from the Benjamin Walker descendants by the Land Trust for Central North Carolina before this land was donated to the District; and WHEREAS, Clarke Creek is listed on the state and federal 303(d) list of streams with impaired water quality. This wetland provides flood protection estimated at $28 million worth of environmental services. The significance of this wetland and the collective efforts to restore and protect it may qualify it for a national wetland award; and WHEREAS, Davidson College (along with the University of North Carolina at Charlotte) has conducted significant scientific research on the importance of buffers in mitigating the impact of residential development on wildlife inhabiting the significant natural area. The Carolina Darter found in the Clarke Creek wetland complex is officially designated as a "species of special concern'. The National Wildlife Federation has certified Concord as a Community Wildlife Habitat on Earth Day 2015. The North Carolina Wildlife Federation, in partnership with the City of Concord, formed the Concord Wildlife Alliance in 2014. Remaining open space adjoining the Clarke Creek Significant Natural Heritage Area is increasingly scarce. Attachment number 1 F -8 Page 111