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Montgomery Natural Areas Inventory
Botanical
View the Inventory Click Here to Open the Inventory (Opens in a new window) About the Natural Areas Inventory In 2007 Dr. Timothy Block and Dr. Ann Rhoads and the staff of the Botany Department at the Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania completed the Montgomery County Natural Areas Inventory Update. The main purpose of this project was to identify sites that still harbor intact communities of native plants and animals. These areas are the focus of protection efforts under the second county open space bond issue approved by the voters in 2003.  The first Montgomery County Natural Areas Inventory was completed in 1995 by The Nature Conservancy. The initial inventory identified sites based primarily on the presence of endangered, threatened, or rare plants or animals. Several of the sites, such as Spring Mountain, Mill Hill, and the Unami Creek Valley were targeted for protection under the first county open space bond issue. The current NAI update is an extension of the earlier work with the emphasis on linking individual rare species sites through corridors and buffer areas to provide sustainable conservation landscapes. Protecting these landscapes is critical to the overall effort to save the "special places" remaining in Montgomery County. While not pristine, there remain many good examples of intact, ecologically functional natural communities that provide important habitat for native plants and animals.
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