Comprehensive Plan Summary
ECOLOGY
GOAL
Protection and restoration of the natural environment, conservation and enhancement of critical natural resources and promotion of a stable and productive balance between people and environment.
OBJECTIVES
Reforest acres depleted, or degraded, by development or natural destructive events.
Protect lakes, rivers, streams, and underground water aquifers from pollution.
Preserve areas along streambeds, adjacent water bodies, within wooded areas, and within natural floodplains.
Preserve marshes, wetlands, and drainage courses which are critical to area ecology.
Protect areas which harbor significant wildlife habitats.
Ensure that all new development responds to the natural topography, soils, water systems, and vegetation of the area and does not adversely impact upon stormwater management.
Control noxious emission of air pollutants, odors, sounds, and artificial lights which result from human activity.
Preserve the aesthetically pleasing balance of open space and development now present in the BACOG area.
Restore damaged environmental areas to a healthy state, and restore selected areas to native prairie.
Develop an extensive system of private environmental practices and publish information for use by individual citizens.
Develop a well monitoring system to measure water levels, and the effect of urbanization on the aquifer.
Develop a system of public environmental information and education with BACOG as a clearinghouse for data and programs, and coordinate with Citizens for Conservation and the Stillman Nature Center.
Form a BACOG Environmental Committee to coordinate the implementation of specific environmental programs.
THE LOCAL ECOLOGY
The BACOG area ecology is based upon the inherent capacity of natural resources to support life forms and activities of all types. This capacity is related to the characteristics of local geology, soils, climate, groundwater supply, water bodies and topography. The supportive capacity of BACOG area natural resources is considerable but not infinite. The key to maintaining BACOG's natural environment is the careful management and protection of critical natural resources and key ecosystem units.
CRITICAL WATER RESOURCE AREAS
The Plan Document identifies several environmental features which are most critical to the overall BACOG environment. These areas include wetlands, water bodies, stream courses, prairies, marshes, fens, and bogs, and represent significant natural resource concentrations. Critical resource areas are not self-contained biological units. Key interrelationships exist between resources within the same watershed. Whole watersheds - not just individual resources - are the basic ecosystem management units for the BACOG area and must be carefully managed to maintain local ecological processes.
ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT
Eleven watershed areas are proposed as basic ecosystem management units. Management of each ecosystem, and the vulnerable natural resources within it, should be subject to certain key regulatory guidelines.
Careful management of these watershed areas can maintain water levels within the area, provide natural flood retention reservoirs, preserve significant wildlife habitats and areas of natural vegetation, conserve prime agricultural land, and preserve key recreational and aesthetic amenities. Detailed ecosystem management strategies are included in the plan document.
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