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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.

• Acquire lands that provide links between existing fragmented areas.

• Create and maintain wildlife corridors that allow for free and safe passage between fragmented woodlots, parklands and open areas.

• Establish a plan for invasive management and follow guidelines

for eradication; re-establish native plant communities from buffer zones, corridors and woodlots.

• Create new or expand existing habitats by allowing dead and dying trees to remain as long as hazardous situations are not an issue; create and maintain hollow trees and logs for nesting and feeding.

• Add trees and other native plant communities that produce edible nuts, berries, seeds and fruits recognized by native fauna.

• Add stumps, rock piles and large branches to prairies and wetlands to increase wildlife diversity and visual interest.

Policy 20: Establish wetlands and prairies, where warranted and

beneficial, as part of a comprehensive open space management plan

Issues

• Many areas that previously were wetlands have disappeared or been damaged due to development.

• A lack of wetland areas impacts the entire ecosystem, diminishes the land’s natural ability to eliminate pollutants and promotes flooding and erosion.