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RESOLUTION BY THE CABARRUS SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT BOARD REGARDING CONSERVATION OF CLARKE CREEK HERON ROOKERY SIGNIFICANT NATURAL AREA WHEREAS, Revolutionary War General Paul Barringer hid for an extended period from enemy troops in canebrakes along Clarke Creek. 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. The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission targeted the Clarke Creek wetland for land acquisition as early as the 1960s. The state - designated, regionally- important two hundred -acre wetland complex known officially as the Clarke Creek Heron Rookery Significant Natural Heritage 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. The Land Trust for Central North Carolina in turn transferred the title to this property to Cabarrus Soil and Water Conservation District in 2007; 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 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, wetlands of southeastern United States regional significance were flooded during the construction of a water supply reservoir on Coddle Creek built to provide water to a rapidly - growing population. A sewer utility right -of -way easement granted by the Land Trust for Central North Carolina to the Water and Sewer Authority of Cabarrus County made possible the development of land in the Clarke Creek watershed. The protection of the Clarke Creek Significant Natural Heritage Area was the catalyst for the development of the Upper Rocky River Local Watershed Plan released by the State of North Carolina in 2004. 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 Attachment number 2 F -8 Page 113