2010-252A (09) - Laserfiche WebLink

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Comprehensive Plan Conservation Element improvements. In the future, the County should consider reserving a certain percentage of County environmental land bond funds for initial management improvements. For upland and wetland enhancement projects, mitigation accounts may also be used to fund resource management on conservation lands. A third source of funds for resource management activities is the County's tree removal violation fines account. On an annual basis, operations, staffing and development funds are budgeted from these sources by the County Parks Division, subject to County Commission approval. Matching funds may be obtained through various grant programs and from donations of cash, materials or labor by local businesses and citizens. Going forward, the County should adopt a comprehensive plan policy that reflects use of these funding sources for conservation land management. Over the past several years, private development off-site mitigation projects have been allowed to occur on County conservation lands. This allowance helps the County achieve its management objectives of eradicating invasive plants and restoring disturbed areas to natural conditions without expending county tax dollars. To formalize the allowance of mitigation and to establish parameters, the County should develop mitigation policies. The mitigation parameters in those policies should include: requiring that private developers carry out the mitigation work (instead of paying the County to do the mitigation); requiring that developers be responsible for annual reporting to permitting agencies; and requiring that developers be responsible for follow-up treatments and plantings (as warranted) for a minimum of five years to ensure that the mitigation project is successfully established. Moreover, the County should reserve certain opportunities for mitigation on County conservation lands for County public works and utilities projects, as the need may arise. Although natural resource protection is the County's primary reason for acquiring conservation lands, the County always tries to make acquired conservation lands accessible to the public for resource-based passive recreation compatible with natural resource conservation. For that reason, each of the conservation areas acquired has an individual management plan which calls for public access improvements. While all management plans incorporate public access improvements, some conservation areas are more conducive for public access than others due to site characteristics. Over the next ten years, the County's policy should be to open at least 500 acres of acquired conservation lands for public access. • Nuisance Exotic Plant Control Nuisance exotic plants, also referred to as invasive exotic plants or natural -area weeds, are non-native plants found in natural areas that disrupt natural processes, such as fire and water flow, and displace native plant communities and wildlife habitat. In Indian River County, Brazilian pepper (Schinus terebinthifolius) is the most prevalent nuisance exotic species, followed byAustralianpine (Casuarina spp.) and melaleuca (Melaleuca quinquenervia). Community Development Department Indian River County 116