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17. Preservation status 

 Cat. - 6 - 100% 



18. Regulatory protections in force State and Federal laws protecting 

 endangered species, Sec. 404(b) of the clean water act. 



19. Attitude of owner or custodian toward preservation. Unknown. 



20. Threats 



a. Cat "SF b. Description of threat 



Possible logging and development of entire 

 area by First Colony Farms. 



21. Management and preservation recommendation. 



This large tract of bay forest should be preserved as an 

 exemplary tract of such habitat. Also, it serves as a refuge for 

 what I feel may be a good county-wide population of black bear. If 

 it is to be preserved as bay forest, it should be managed against 

 any successional trends away from this community type. This would 

 not be necessary if the site were preserved only as a bear sanc- 

 tuary, since bear do well in a variety of similar habitats. The 

 key to bear management should be tract size as bear have large home 

 ranges . 



There are no problems to be corrected on the area at present, 

 but the owners could try to log and develop the area at any time. 

 They claim to operate under an informal policy whereby any land 

 within 1/2 mile of an estuary or river is not developed (Buck 

 Island falls within this limit) . 



22. Rating (County perspective): 



1) X high priority 



2) medium priority 



3) low priority 



State Natural Heritage rating: regional (medium) significance. 



23. Prose statement of site significance 



Buck Island is a mature (70-80 years) example of bay forest. 

 These systems are probably fire controlled and thus few such 

 systems can be expected to reach such an age. This lack of fire 

 has yielded many large pond pines (Pinus serotina ) , loblolly bays 

 (Gordonia lasianthus ) , and red bays (Persea borbonia ) . For the 

 same reason, the shrub layer is unusually robust. Certainly there 

 are few remaining superior examples of this community type in the 

 state. The area is remote from human habitation or development, 

 thus it retains a "natural" flavor which is readily apparent to the 

 visitor. This feeling is slightly marred by low-level jet over- 



