PASCO COUNTY BOCC ENVIRONMENTAL LANDS ACQUISITION AND MANAGEMENT PROGRAM (ELAMP) Grace and Truth, LLC Property

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1 PASCO COUNTY BOCC ENVIRONMENTAL LANDS ACQUISITION AND MANAGEMENT PROGRAM (ELAMP) Grace and Truth, LLC Property Produced by: Ryan Long- Biologist I Tammy Odierna- Land Acquisition Coordinator Keith Wiley- Parks, Recreation, and Natural Resources Department Director Abstract: The Grace and Truth, LLC property was nominated by owners, Marvin and Kimberly Sponaugle, in April 2018 for fee simple acquisition. The property consists of 6 parcels, with a total acreage of the 318 MOL. The property is located in Spring Hill, east of the Suncoast highway and adjacent to the ELAMP acquired Black Property, Gills Property, as well as next to the DeAngelo property, with which a Sale and Purchase contract is pending. The property lies within the North Pasco to Crossbar Ecological Corridor as well as the Anclote/Cotee Watershed Ecological Planning Unit (EPU).

2 Table of Contents General Description of the Grace and Truth LLC Property... 2 ELAMP Study Area (Index) Map... 2 Land Use Land Cover (LULC) Map... 3 Soils Map... 4 Wetland Map... 6 Zoning Map... 7 Future Land Use (FLU) Map... 7 Aquifer Recharge Map... 8 Critical Land Identification Project (CLIP) Map... 8 IWHRS Map... 8 Biodiversity Map... 9 FEMA Map... 9 Edge Effect Adequate Buffer to the Wetlands Management and Restoration Potential Consistency with ELAMP Objectives Grace and Truth, LLC Property Narrative 1

3 General Description of the Grace and Truth LLC Property The Grace and Truth, LLC Property contains 318 acres MOL and is located in Springhill, east of the Suncoast Parkway. The property is composed of 6 land cover classifications and 8 soil types. The Grace and Truth, LLC property is adjacent to the acquired Black, Gills, Black, and Martinez ELAMP properties; and also abuts the DeAngelo property, which at the time of the publication of this document is pending a Sale and Purchase contract. If acquired, the Grace and Truth, LLC property would connect these properties and create 1700 acres of contiguous conservation land This property is located in the North Pasco to Crossbar Ecological Corridor and Pithlachascotee/Anclote Watershed EPU. The first map, as included at the end of this narrative, is the Location map. The map is a county-wide view, which shows the location of the property in conjunction with red arrows, which are intended to provide general acquisition guidance for the ELAMP. ELAMP Study Area (Index) Map The ELAMP Study Area map is intended to show a potential project s relationship to the acquisition target areas identified in the 2002 report entitled, Assessment of Measures to Protect Wildlife Habitat in Pasco County. The target areas visualized on the map are the Ecological Corridors and the EPUs. Ecological Corridors were identified as linkages that would maintain a continuous network of wildlife habitat between existing public lands. For the most part, the boundaries of these corridors follow the boundaries of public lands, natural vegetation communities adjacent to public lands, and natural and altered (i.e. pasture) habitats underlying high biodiversity areas. EPUs are defined as an area with high biodiversity which harbors habitat for seven or more focal species and determined to represent the high biodiversity areas in the County. Areas of high biodiversity correspond with habitats high in species diversity including sandhill, hardwood swamp, and bottomland hardwoods. The Grace and Truth, LLC property has approximately acres located within the North Pasco to Crossbar critical linkage. According to the Assessment of Measure to Protect Wildlife Habitat in Pasco County, this linkage follows the Pithlachascotee River to Crews Lake (including Crews Lake Park) along the Masaryktown Canal to the Crossbar Ranch wellfield. The Pithlachascotee River, Crews Lake, and the Masaryktown Canal were used as the backbone for this critical linkage. This linkage encompasses broad flatwoods associated with the Pithlachascotee floodplain, the extremely dynamic hydrologic basin associated with Crews Lake, and the historic sandhill communities near the Crossbar Ranch. The Grace and Truth, LLC property is also located within the Pithlachascotee/Anclote Watershed EPU. The Pithlachascotee/Anclote Watershed EPU according to the Assessment of Measure to Protect Wildlife Habitat in Pasco County, totals approximately 39,600 acres, and includes a large portion of the watersheds of these two river systems, which occur in the west-central portion of the County. These rivers have been affected by development, particularly in the western portions of their course. Still, there are substantial areas of flatwoods within the overall watersheds, as well as mesic hammocks and forested wetland systems associated with the rivers and their tributaries. Vast areas of flatwoods, and Grace and Truth, LLC Property Narrative 2

4 limited amounts of sandhill systems, separate the origins of these rivers, but their convergence in an area of high wildlife biodiversity resulted in their inclusion in one EPU. Land Use Land Cover (LULC) Map The Land Use/Land Cover data map is a representation of the various land cover types, and some natural plant communities, within a property. The data is drawn from the Florida land Use Land Cover System created by Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD) in The Grace and Truth, LLC property consists of 6 different land cover types: 1) Cropland and Pastureland, 2) Hardwood Conifer Mixed, 3) Longleaf Pine Xeric Oak, 4) Wet Prairies, 5) Freshwater Marshes, and 6) Specialty Farms. All subsequent descriptions are from 2009 South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) Photointerpretation Key, published by SFWMD. 1) Cropland and Pastureland (FLUCC ID 2100) ( acres) Unimproved pastures are often found on broad flat areas that were formerly pine flatwoods. They are usually associated with other agricultural and livestock activities. They tend to grade into improved pastures and woodlands pastures, but may grade in to almost any other land cover type, including wetlands. The surrounding landscape is helpful in distinguishing this class from hay fields (2150 Field Crops) or grasslands (3100 Herbaceous - Dry Prairie). Unimproved pastures are dominated by a variety of native grasses remaining following clearing or brush removal activities. Some introduced species are also present in most of these land cover types. Shrubs such as wax myrtle and saw palmetto are often scattered within the pasture. 2) Hardwood Conifer Mixed (FLUCC ID 4340) ( acres) - SFWMD describes hardwood conifer mixed as mixed forests. Mixed forests often occur on the upland areas adjacent to streams, waterways or surrounding wetland depressions. They can occur in almost any forested area with mesic soil conditions. The Uplands hardwoods component may include forest communities such as oak-pine-hickory, Brazilian pepper, live oak, wax myrtle-willow (non-hydric), mixed temperate or tropical hardwoods and beech-magnolia. Upland pine component includes slash, longleaf and sand pines. Moist sites should support this community type in non-wetland situations. 3) Longleaf Pine Xeric Oak (FLUCC ID 4120) ( acres) This class includes naturally generated longleaf pine and xeric oaks. The canopy closure must be 25 % or more. The pine canopy, dominated by longleaf pine, is typically sparse and irregular, revealing its oak mid-story, which may include bluejack oak, turkey oak, sand post oak and other drought-tolerant oaks and hardwoods. This community is similar to and occupies the same sites as the xeric oak community, except that longleaf pine is the dominant species. Longleaf pines are very tall with large flattened crowns. 4) Wet Prairies (FLUCC ID 6430) ( acres) - This class is used for wetlands communities characterized by herbaceous plant species that occur on sites where surface water is present for extended periods during the growing season, but is absent by the end of the growing season in most years. Freshwater marshes tend to be open expanses of grasses, sedges, rushes and other types of herbaceous plants. Periods of inundation are intermediate between deep marshes (6440 Emergent Aquatic Vegetation) and wet prairies - sites are usually covered with water at least two months of the year and undergo prolonged periods of soil saturation. Grace and Truth, LLC Property Narrative 3

5 5) Freshwater Marshes (FLUCC ID 6410) (.936 acres) - This class is used for wetland communities characterized by herbaceous plant species that occur on sites where surface water is present for extended periods during the growing season, but is absent by the end of the growing season in most years. Freshwater marshes tend to be open expanses of grasses, sedges, rushes and other types of herbaceous plants. Periods of inundation are intermediate between deep marshes (6440 Emergent Aquatic Vegetation) and wet prairies - sites are usually covered with water at least two months of the year and undergo prolonged periods of soil saturation. 6) Specialty Farms- (FLUCC ID 2500) (.297 acres) This class describes operations that maintain animals and does not include pasture or feedlot operations. In the SFWMD classification system, 2500 is an active, general class that includes any specialty farms that are not described in one of three active subclasses Horse Farms, 2520 Dairies or 2540 Aquaculture. Soils Map The Grace and Truth, LLC property contains 9 different soil types: 1) Millhopper Fine Sand, 2) Basinger Fine Sand: depressional, 3) Sparr Fine Sand 4) Tavares Fine Sand, 5) Pomello Fine Sand, 6) Adamsville Fine Sand, 7) Palmetto-Zephyr-Sellers Complex, 8) Nobleton Fine Sand, and 9) Basinger Fine Sand. The data for the soil map was taken from the Soil survey of Pasco County, produced by United States Department of Agriculture Soil Conservation Service in cooperation with University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agriculture Sciences Agriculture Experiment Stations, Soil Science Department, and Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. 1) Millhopper Fine Sand ( Acres) - This soil is nearly level to gently sloping, moderately well drained soil on uplands. In an unaltered state, this soil has a water table perched above the loamy horizon. The water table is at a depth of 40 to 60 inches for 1 to 4 months and at a depth of 60 to 72 inches for the 2 to 4 months in most years. The available water capacity is low in the surface and subsurface layers and is medium in the subsoil. The native vegetation is live oak, laurel oak water oak, sweetgum, hickory, slash pine and longleaf pine. The understory is lopsided indiangrass, hairy panicum, low panicum, greenbrier, hawthorn, persimmon, fringeleaf paspalum, chalky bluestem, creeping bluestem, and pineland threeawn. 2) Basinger Fine Sand: Depressional ( Acres) Basinger fine sand: depressional is nearly level, poorly drained soil in depressional areas in the flatwoods. It is also along the edges of some lakes. Aread are circular or elongated. Typically the surface layer is dark gray sand about 5 inches thick. The subsurface layer is light gray fine sand about 10 inches thick. The subsoil is mixed dark brown and gray fine sand about 20 inches thick. The substratum to a depth of 80 inches or more is pale brown fine sand. The soil is ponded 6 to 9 months or more in most years. Natural fertility of this soil is low and fertilization raises the fertility to moderate level. Permeability is very rapid. A large part of acreage is in natural vegetation of bay, cypress, cabbage palm, and water oak. Other areas are covered by maidencane, St.-Johnswort, waterlily, picklerweed and other plants that tolerate wetness. 3) Sparr Fine Sand (21.529) Sparr fine sand is nearly level to gentle sloping, somewhat poorly drained soil is on seasonally wet uplands. Slopes are smooth to concave. Areas are irregular in shape. Typically the surface layer is dark gray fine sand about 6 inches thick. The subsurface Grace and Truth, LLC Property Narrative 4

6 layers is about 37 inches thick. It is grayish brown fine sand fine sand in the upper 5 inches, pale brown fine sand in the next 24 inches, and yellowish brown fine sand in the lower 8 inches. This Sparr soil has a water table, commonly perched above the subsoil, at a depth of 20 to 40 inches for 1 to 4 months during most years. Permeability is rapid in the surface and subsurface layers and is moderate in the subsoil. The native vegetation is oak, hickory, magnolia, sweetgum, slash pine, longleaf pine, and loblolly pine. Some areas have an understory of gallberry, waxmyrtle, scattered saw palmetto, and pineland threeawn 4) Tavares Fine Sand ( Acres) - The Tavares series consists of very deep, moderately well drained soils that formed in sandy marine or eolian deposits. Tavares soils are on hills, ridges and knolls of the lower Coastal Plain. Slopes range from 0 to 8 percent. Mean annual temperature is about 22 degrees C (72 degrees F), and the mean annual precipitation is about 1397 millimeters (55 inches). Some areas of Tavares soils are used for citrus. A few areas are used for corn, vegetable crops, watermelons, and improved pasture. In most places the natural vegetation consists of slash pine, longleaf pine, a few scattered blackjack oak, turkey oak, and post oak with an undercover of pineland threeawn. In some places natural vegetation consists of turkey oak, blackjack oak, and post oak with scattered slash pine and longleaf pine. 5) Pomello Fine Sand (18.53 Acres) Pomello find sand is nearly level to gently sloping, moderately well drained soil is on low ridges in the flatwoods. Individual areas are irregular in shape. Slopes are smooth to concave. Typically the surface layer consists of dark gray fine sand 3 inches thick and below that, gray fine sand 3 inches thick. The subsurface layer is white fine sand extending to a depth of 32 inches. The subsoil is fine sand. It is dark reddish brown in the upper 9 inches and dark brown in the next 9 inches. The water table is at a depth of 24 to 40 inches for 1 to 4 months and at a depth of 40 to 60 inches for 8 months during most years. The natural vegetation on this soil is dwarf live oak, sand live oak, saw palmetto, longleaf pine, slash pine, pineland threeawn, gallberry, waxmyrtle, running oak, fetterbush, creeping bluestem, broomsedge bluestem, splitbeard bluestem, lopsided indian grass, switchgrass, panicum and paspalum. 6) Adamsville Fine Sand (11.60 Acres) - The Adamsville series consists of very deep, somewhat poorly drained, rapidly permeable soils on broad flats, low knolls, and lower side slopes. They formed in thick sandy marine or eolian sediments in central and southern Florida. Near the type location, the mean annual temperature is about 74 degrees F., and the mean annual precipitation is about 52 inches. Slopes range from 0 to 5 percent. The depth of sand or fine sand extends to 80 inches, or more. Soil reaction ranges from very strongly acid to moderately acid in the A or Ap horizons, and very strongly acid to slightly acid in the C horizons. Silt plus clay content is less than 5 percent in the 10 to 40-inch control section. With adequate water control, many areas are used for citrus. Some areas are in improved pasture. Natural vegetation consists of pines, laurel, and water oaks with a ground cover of saw palmetto, pineland threeawn, indiangrass, bluestem grasses, and several low panicums. 7) Palmetto-Zephyer-Sellers Complex (7 Acres) This complex consists of areas of nearly level, poorly drained, Palmetto soils and closely similar soils and small areas of nearly level very poorly drained Zephyr and Sellers soils. The soils are so intermixed that they cannot be separated at Grace and Truth, LLC Property Narrative 5

7 the scale selected for mapping. The complex occurs as elongated areas in the flatwoods. Palmetto soils are on long narrow, interwinding sloughs about 50 to 200 feet wide, which are intersparsed with circular depressions contained Zephyr and Sellers soils. Palmetto soils make up 45 to 60 percent, Sellers soils make up about 10 to 15 percent and Zephyr soils make up about 10 to 15 percent. The natural vegetation in the wet depressions is bay, cypress, cattails, maidencane, sawgrass, pickerelweed, and various native perennial grasses. 8) Nobleton Fine Sand (4.631 Acres) - The Nobleton series consists of deep, somewhat poorly drained, moderately slowly permeable soils that formed in thick sandy and loamy sediments of marine origin. These soils are on broad nearly level and gently sloping coastal plain areas in Peninsular Florida. They have a perched water table above the argillic horizon during the summer rainy season. Water runs off the surface slowly. Slope ranges from 0 to 5 percent. Solum thickness is 60 inches or more. Reaction ranges from very strongly acid to medium acid in the A horizon and from strongly acid to extremely acid in the Bt horizon. Large areas of these soils are cleared. Improved pasture is the dominant use. Some cleared areas are used for citrus, tomatoes, corn, peanuts, and watermelons. Native vegetation consists of slash and longleaf, pines, hickory, magnolia, sweetgum, and live, laurel, and water oaks. Understory vegetation is southern bayberry, briers, and native grasses. 9) Basinger Fine Sand (3.523 Acres) - The Basinger series consist of very deep, very poorly and poorly drained, rapidly permeable soil in low flats, sloughs, depressions and poorly defined drainageways primarily in (Southern Florida Flatwoods), and to a less extent in (South-Central Florida Ridge), (Florida Everglades and Associated Areas) and (Southern Florida Lowlands). They formed in sandy marine sediments. Near the type location, the mean annual temperature is about 72 degrees F., and the mean annual precipitation is about 55 inches. Slopes range from 0 to 2 percent. Thickness of the sand exceeds 80 inches. Soil reaction ranges from extremely acid to neutral throughout the profile except where the surface has been limed. Most areas of Basinger soils have been cleared and are used for improved pasture and rangeland. With water control, they are used for winter truck crops and tame pasture. The natural vegetation consists of scattered slash pine, long leaf pine, southern slash pine, scattered cypress with an understory dominated by gallberry, pineland threeawn, cabbage palm, scattered saw palmetto, St. Johnswort, cutthroat grass, blue maidencane, low panicum, wax-myrtle and sand cordgrass. Wetland Map The State of Florida defines wetlands in Section (17) of the Florida Statutes, and Section (19) of the Florida Administrative Code as areas that are inundated or saturated by surface water or ground water at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soils. Soils present in wetlands generally are classified as hydric or alluvial, or possess characteristics that are associated with reducing soil conditions. The prevalent vegetation in wetlands generally consists of facultative or obligate hydrophytic macrophytes that are typically adapted to areas having soil conditions described above. These species, due to morphological, physiological, or reproductive adaptations, have the ability to grow, reproduce or persist in aquatic environments or anaerobic soil conditions. Grace and Truth, LLC Property Narrative 6

8 The Grace and Truth, LLC property contains acres of Category I Wetlands and acres of Category III Wetlands. Per the Pasco County Future Land Use element, Category I, II and III wetlands are defined as follows: Category I- Category I conservation areas shall mean those wetland areas which meet at least one of the following criteria: 1) Any wetland of any size that has a hydrological connection to natural surface, water bodies or the Floridan aquifer, 2) Any wetland of any size that is within a lake-littoral zone, 3) Any large, isolated, uninterrupted wetlands 100 acres or larger, and 4) Any wetland of any size that provides critical habitat for Federal- and/or State-listed, threatened or endangered species. Category II- Category II conservation areas shall mean those wetland areas which meet any of the following criteria: 1) Consist of isolated wetlands or formerly isolated wetlands which, by way of man's activities, have been directly connected to other surface-water drainage and are greater than or equal to five acres, and 2) Are less than 100 acres and do not otherwise qualify as a Category I conservation area. Category III- A category III wetland meets all of the following criteria: 1) Isolated wetlands less than five acres, and 2) Does not otherwise qualify as a Category I or Category II conservation area. Zoning Map The Grace and Truth, LLC Property, is zoned AC for all acres. Per the Pasco County Land Development Code, the purpose of A-C Agricultural District is to preserve the rural and open character of various lands within the County. These lands are agricultural lands; sites of vital, natural water resource functions; areas with highly productive, natural plant and animal communities; and areas with valuable topographic and/or subsurface features, all of which are necessary to sustain and enhance the quality of life in the County. Future Land Use (FLU) Map Pasco County adopted the 2025 Comprehensive Plan in 2013 that dictates the future land use (FLU). The Grace and Truth, LLC property will be zoned into 2 future land use codes, depicted in the Future Land Use 2025 Map. *dwelling units / per gross acre (du/ga) Res-1 (acres ) - Density 1 du/ga AG/R (acres ) The intent of the Agriculture/Rural (AG/R) FLU is to to maintain rural and agricultural character in appropriate areas and to minimize infrastructure needed in those areas to accommodate future development. This limits the ability for the land to be commercialized and protects and conserves the natural communities and wildlife from being further impacted. AG/R is required development consisting of more than twenty residential units within the AG/R (Agricultural/Rural) Land Use Classification to preserve fifty (50) percent of the project site as open space. Grace and Truth, LLC Property Narrative 7

9 Aquifer Recharge Map The Florida Natural Areas Inventory (FNAI) subcontracted with Advanced Geospatial, Inc. (AGI) to develop a statewide Recharge Potential model. Input data layers for the model are consistent with those used in the Florida Aquifer Vulnerability Assessment (FAVA), developed by the Florida Geological Survey and consisted of soil hydraulic conductivity, proximity to karst features, depth to water, and overburden. The aquifer recharge map identifies conservation priorities for the protection of Florida s groundwater systems, including the Floridan, Intermediate and Surficial Aquifer systems. The map is represented by levels of priority with Priority 1 being the highest and 6 being the lowest. The prioritization also addresses the intent of Florida Forever to acquire recharge areas important for springs and water supply. The Grace and Truth, LLC Property contains: Priority acres Priority acres Priority Priority Critical Land Identification Project (CLIP) Map The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWCC) funded the Critical Land Identification Project (CLIP) initiative, which is a hierarchical database consisting of 20 core natural resource data layers grouped into 5 Resource Categories. These categories are: Biodiversity, Landscape, Surface Water, Groundwater and Marine. A Resource Priority model was developed using simple rule-based selections for the Biodiversity, Landscape, and Surface Water categories. Those three models were then further combined into an Aggregated CLIP Priorities model based on both rule-based selections and overlap between resource category priorities. That data was compiled, analyzed and formed into qualitative categories, rendering a map that prioritizes all of Florida habitats for protection. Priorities are numerically ranked. Priority 1 is ranked the highest and priority 5 is the lowest. The Grace and Truth, LLC Property contains: Priority 2 approximately acres Priority 3 approximately acres Priority 4 approximately acres IWHRS Map Per the FWC website, the Integrated Wildlife Habitat Ranking System (IWHRS) is a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) tool that ranks the Florida landscape based upon the habitat needs of wildlife as a way to identify ecologically significant lands in the state and to assess the potential impacts of land development projects. The IWHRS incorporates a wide variety of land cover and wildlife species data and presents it in an easy-to-understand classification scheme. The IWHRS is provided as part of the FWC's continuing technical assistance to various local, regional, state, and federal agencies and to entities interested in wildlife needs and conservation in order to (1) determine ways to avoid or minimize project impacts by evaluating alternative placements, alignments, and transportation corridors Grace and Truth, LLC Property Narrative 8

10 during early planning stages; (2) assess direct, secondary, and cumulative effects on habitat and wildlife resources; and (3) identify appropriate parcels for public land acquisition for wetland and upland habitat mitigation purposes. The ranking system is a 1 to 10 scale with 1 as the least important and 10 as most important. The Grace and Truth, LLC Property contains: Rank acres approximately Rank acres approximately Rank acres approximately Rank acres approximately Biodiversity Map The Biodiversity Map is produced by FNAI. Biodiversity per the Critical Lands and Water Identification Project (CLIP) is defined as the variety and variability among living organisms and the ecological complexes within which they occur including genetic diversity, species and natural communities. The Biodiversity category is comprised of Strategic Habitat Conservation Areas, Biodiversity Hotspots, Rare Species Habitat Conservation Priorities and Priority Natural Communities. The Biodiversity map includes all species and natural communities tracked by the Florida Natural Areas Inventory, including all federal listed species. The Biodiversity map is categorized by priority levels. The Priority levels are ranked from 1 to 5, 1 being the highest and 5 the lowest. The Grace and Truth, LLC Property contains: No Resources Identified acres Priority 1 0 acres Priority acres Priority acres Priority acres Priority 5.79 acres FEMA Map The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has placed more than 20,000 communities in the United States into a category of flood zones. Flood hazard areas identified on the Flood Insurance Rate Map are identified as a Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA). SFHA are defined as the area that will be inundated by the flood event having a 1-percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year. The 1-percent annual chance flood is also referred to as the base flood or 100-year flood. SFHAs are labeled as Zone A, Zone AO, Zone AH, Zones A1-A30, Zone AE, Zone A99, Zone AR, Zone AR/AE, Zone AR/AO, Zone AR/A1-A30, Zone AR/A, Zone V, Zone VE, and Zones V1-V30. Moderate flood hazard areas, labeled Zone B or Zone X (shaded) are also shown on the FIRM, and are the areas between the limits of the base flood and the 0.2-percent-annual-chance (or 500-year) flood. The areas of minimal flood hazard, which are the areas outside the SFHA and higher than the elevation of the 0.2-percent-annualchance flood, are labeled Zone C or Zone X (unshaded). Grace and Truth, LLC Property Narrative 9

11 The Grace and Truth, LLC property contains: AE Zone X Zone acres A Zone.775 acres AE Zone Area is quantified as an area inundated by 1% annual chance flooding, for which Base Flood Elevations (BFEs) have been determined. Zone AE is described as the base floodplain where base flood elevations are provided. X Zone Area of moderate flood hazard, usually the area between the limits of the 100 year and 500 year floods. B Zones are also used to designate base floodplains of lesser hazards, such as areas protected by levees from 100 year flood, or shallow flooding areas with average depths of less than one foot or drainage areas less than 1 square mile. Zone A Areas with a 1% annual chance of flooding and a 26% chance of flooding over the life of a 30 year mortgage. Because detailed analyses are not performed for such areas; no depths or base flood elevations are shown within these zones. Edge Effect Edge effect is the negative impact of exterior conditions on interior species, habitat and populations. When a patch has a large amount of edge, it exposes the patch to greater perforation and permeability of non-habitat conditions, such as light, noise, disease, parasites, predators, pollutants, pathogens, temperature, and exotic species. Small patches, with more edge for a given area, experience proportionately greater negative effects than large patches. The number of species and health of populations are maximized when patches are large and compact, providing abundant interior areas, free from the impacts of edges. The simplest method to calculate edge effect is to determine the ratio of edge to area. The perimeter of the Grace and Truth, LLC property is more than 15% contiguous with adjacent conservation land, assuming the BCC approves the Sale and Purchase contract of the DeAngelo property. The Grace and Truth, LLC property is contiguous with ELAMPS s Jumping Gully Preserve to the south and will abut the DeAngelo, Martinez and Black properties to the east. The ratio of perimeter to area for the property is.0048 resulting in a Matrix score of 3 (with 1 being the lowest and 5 being the highest score). Adequate Buffer to the Wetlands The alignment of the Ecological Corridors was prioritized to follow the existing riverine and water based resources of the County. An average upland buffer width, perpendicular to the wetland line, can be used to determine the value of the buffer from the adjacent wetland systems. This determination can be made by using the conceptual wetland data set in the GIS, and then determining the average linear footage distance from the wetland to the upland. Scoring is from a 1 to 5 based on the available buffer in linear footage of For example, a score of 1, indicates an available buffer of 100 feet. Available buffer of 500 feet or more is scored 5.0. Grace and Truth, LLC Property Narrative 10

12 The Grace and Truth, LLC property has a score of 5 given the distance the property boundary is located to the category 1 wetland on southeast of the property. Management and Restoration Potential The Property would most likely be maintained to preserve the existing site conditions, while expanding the County s Jumping Gulley Preserve. Portions of the Grace and Truth, LLC property currently contain a cattle operation. ELAMP would have the option to use the current LULC 2100 (pasture/cropland) as a cattle lease to generate revenue for management of ELAMP properties. The property would benefit the surrounding ELAMP acquired properties and extend the availability of natural communities to perform scheduled wildlife surveys. The property has very little exotic/invasive species, however staff would continue to monitor and treat on an as-needed basis. Access to the property would be possible via the Jumping Gully Preserve. The property would connect multiple acquired ELAMP properties and is an important part of protecting the wildlife corridor and EPU. Consistency with ELAMP Objectives The overall goals, objectives, and policies of ELAMP were stated in Resolution The grid below lists these goals, and attempts to measure the Grace and Truth LLC property alongside them. The criteria used in this determination was derived from the information included in this narrative, associated maps, GIS analysis, site evaluations, property research, and staff knowledge. Protection of natural communities including uplands and wetlands Connection of natural linkages Conservation of viable populations of native plants and animals Protection of habitat for listed species Protection of water resources and wetland systems Protection of unique natural resources Enhancement of resource-based recreational opportunities Expansion of environmental education opportunities. Yes No Unsure X X X X X X X X In particular, ELAMP is designed to focus on the acquisition of environmentally-sensitive lands within the following target areas: 1) Land within the Ecological Corridors, 2) Land within the Ecological Planning Units (EPUs), and 3) Land within Agricultural Reserve areas. Land that is adjacent to public lands is also prioritized. This property is located in the North Pasco to Crossbar Ecological Corridor and Pithlachascotee/Anclote Watershed EPU. It is also adjacent to ELAMP land.. Grace and Truth, LLC Property Narrative 11

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