The Development Task Team grew out of the Roads and Development task team. This task team has met twice, in 2008 and 2009, and has been similarly attended at both meetings. We have discussed the difficult nature of addressing development (a wide-reaching, amorphous problem similar in many respects to climate change) through the lens of a taxon-specific conservation group like PARC. Both years the overwhelming proportion of the discussion has been on both herp-specific and more general tools and strategies for individual citizens of whatever background to use in participating in the local decision-making processes where development decisions are often made. We’ve discussed the role of PARC as a support group, since in the personal experience of many of the members of the task team, the individual is the only true agent of change.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ONGOING INITIATIVES:
1. We have gathered information specific to the NC Division of Water Quality, whose regulations are effective pathways for cleaning up existing development if violated. Relevant links:
2. From 2008, Grover Barfield wrote a brief and general synopsis of his experience investigating new development and how to most effectively go about it.
3. From 2008, Hildreth Cooper wrote a fact sheet on buffer zones.
4. From 2008, Tara Muenz wrote a fact sheet on amphibians as bioindicators.
5. In 2009, we discussed the need to get the PARC Habitat Management Guidelines (HMGs) into the hands of as many people as possible.
6. In 2009 especially we lamented the reduced ability to engage with developers as Partners in PARC, compared to previous years’ meetings where more were present at PARC meetings.
7. We recognized the limited role many federal and state government employees can play in influencing developer policy and action.
8. We discussed authoring a paper to make available to PARC members and the general public, to aid in individual negotiations with developers at a local level.
9. The importance of protecting currently unprotected areas vulnerable to suburban sprawl was discussed, concomitant with the need to revitalize urban centers and encourage redevelopment of already-degraded areas.
10. We agreed that the incorporation of science supporting these recommendations was crucial, and developed a short list of peer-reviewed publications specifically dealing with buffer size (Semlitsch and Bodie 2003, Willson and Dorcas 2003, Petranka and Smith 2005, Buhlmann et al. 2009).
11. We recognized the success of groups like the Carolina Thread Trail, Catawba Land Conservancy and various riverkeeper organizations.
12. We suggested creating a talking points powerpoint template for PARC members to use when engaging developers and city councils in negotiation over new development.
13. We all agreed that the current economic climate could not be better for habitat conservation, since little new development is being initiated.
TASK TEAM PARTICIPANTS:
2009:
2008: