Page 160 - parks-master-plan

Issues

• Currently, no formalized management plan exists for natural areas.

• Ecological assessments are currently underused for management plans.

Strategies

• Partner with outside organizations such as Ohio Department of Natural Resources to develop management plans for all appropriate natural areas.

• Use City staff with past experience in woodlot maintenance to determine management plans.

• Continue to acquire stream corridors, establishing buffer zones along streams and the Scioto River when possible.

• Promote plantings around ponds, retention basins, detention basins and throughout parks containing native plants that are beneficial to wildlife.

Policy 19: Manage and maintain parks to ensure wildlife diversity, allowing for change and improvement for habitat and diversity in a way that benefits not only wildlife but also adds to quality of life for Dublin residents

Issues:

• Allowing for change and

improvement for habitat and diversity benefits not only wildlife but also adds to quality of life for residents of Dublin.

• Habitat can be broken into four parts: food, water, shelter and space. When all parts blend together, wildlife not only survives, it thrives. Remove any one of the four and wildlife must travel to find the missing component.

Strategies:

• Perform ecological assessments as soon as possible for all new parklands where warranted.

• Assess all current parklands for potential improvements and create new habitat in woodlots, along boundaries and buffer zones.

• Add native plants and forbs (including brambles and berries) to parklands and along existing wildlife pathways, where appropriate, to increase density, improve cover and provide food sources and browse.

• Add native plants, trees and shrubs along stream banks and ponds to prevent erosion and improve cover for wildlife.

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