NC DENR, Div. of Parks and Recreation, Natural Heritage Program 20100101 vector digital data Raleigh, North Carolina NC DENR, Div. of Parks and Recreation, Natural Heritage Program NCCGIA distributes this dataset withheld Significant_Natural_Heritage_Areas The North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Division of Parks and Recreation, Natural Heritage Program in cooperation with the NC Center for Geographic Information & Analysis, developed the Significant Natural Heritage Areas digital data to determine the areas containing ecologically significant natural communities or rare species. NOTE: Due to its dynamic nature, this data becomes outdated very quickly. This data was created to assist governmental agencies and others in making resource management decisions through use of a Geographic Information System (GIS). An extensive tabular database is maintained by the Natural Heritage Program. Other data that can be accessed include natural area identification code. Supplemental materials are also available that indicate the state, national and global status of the rare plants and animals of North Carolina. These publications are available from the NHP and are helpful in understanding each natural heritage site record. (See Cross References) NATURAL HERITAGE PROGRAM DATA The Natural Heritage Program is the state's most comprehensive source of information on rare and endangered animals and plants, and exemplary natural communities, known collectively as "elements of natural diversity." Since 1976, the program has systematically gathered information on the occurrence and the status of the state's ecological resources. The inventory consists of information compiled from a broad range of sources including herbarium and museum collections, published and unpublished literature, and field surveys by volunteers, contracted workers, and staff. Information from and interpretation of this database for specific sites is available from the Natural Heritage Program. This is generally the preferred method of getting information on elements of natural diversity. The geographic content of the Natural Heritage Program element occurrence database has also been incorporated into the NC OneMap database where it can be combined with other geographic data for planning and analysis. Users of the data must, however, be aware of the nature and limitations of the data. LIMITATIONS OF POLYGON DATA The polygon locations contained in the data represent the approximate boundaries of ecologically significant natural areas. The natural areas database contains data from a variety of sources, which vary in the quality of their locational information. Because of uncertainty about the precision and accuracy of source data, polygons anywhere within several miles of a site of interest should be regarded as indicating the need for more information. Probability of effects by a project depends on the actual location and extent of the natural area, on the nature of the species or community it contains, and on the nature of the action being considered. Interpretation of potential effects should be done only by ecologists familiar with the natural area, with the best locational information available. LIMITATIONS OF ABSENCE OF DATA Although the Natural Heritage Program has conducted numerous biological inventories and has assembled as much of the secondary source data as possible, the large majority of the state has never been systematically surveyed for significant natural areas. In addition, negative surveys are seldom reported to the Natural Heritage Program and are not recorded. The database reflects only locations where a significant natural area was once known to occur. It does not distinguish between areas known to have no elements and those that have not been checked. The absence of natural areas cannot be taken as an indication of absence of elements or of ecological concerns. Natural Heritage Program biologists are often able to give indications of the potential for concern in unsurveyed areas, and the NC OneMap database is not a substitute for this kind of interpretation. DATA CURRENCY The Natural Heritage Program databases are continually updated as new information is acquired. The NC OneMap dataset is updated as needed for applications. Users should determine the date of the last update and, if necessary, see that an update is done prior to their application being run. All printed maps from the GIS should be dated. Depending on activity in a given area, a map may quickly become outdated, or may remain current for several years. It is not possible to set a specific expiration date on maps; however, data more than six months old should not be depended on without checking with the Natural Heritage Program. Only a small portion of the natural areas are monitored on a regular basis. Information in the Natural Heritage Program database represents the occurrence at the last time it was observed. The date of last observation is given in the Natural Heritage Program database but is not included in the NC OneMap database. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Additional information about significant natural heritage areas, and user services are available from the Natural Heritage Program. The basic data are "public records" and are available for inspection on request for reasonable purposes. Revisions and updates to this layer include: 26.) Data updated January 1, 2010. 25.) Data updated November 20, 2009. 24.) Data updated May 28, 2009. 23.) Data updated January 8, 2009. 22.) Data updated June 6, 2008. 21.) Data updated February 1, 2008. 20.) Data updated November 28, 2007. 19.) Data updated February 27, 2007. 18.) Data updated August 16, 2006. 17.) Data updated December 2005. 16.) Data updated September 7, 2005. 15.) Data updated January 13, 2004. 14.) Data updated October 28, 2003. 13.) Data updated January 28, 2002. 12.) Data updated October 29, 2001. THIS VERSION NOT RELEASED, JUST ARCHIVED. 11.) Data updated January 17, 2001. 1,897 polygons. Arc attributes were dropped since they were only default values. 10.) Data updated July 20, 2000. 1,838 polygons. 9.) Data updated March 6, 2000. 1,881 polygons. 8.) Data updated November 1, 1999. 1,994 polygons. 7.) Data Updated May 21, 1999. Data set contains 1,992 polygons. 6.) Data updated Feb. 26, 1999. File contains 2,012 polygons. 5.) Data updated August 3, 1998 update. The August 1998 update to this layer consisted of projecting the data from NAD27 datum, State Plane projection, units of measure feet TO: NAD83 DATUM, State Plane PROJECTION, UNITS OF MEASURE METERS. This was done to comply with the NC Geographic Information Coordinating Council's "Statement of Direction for North Carolina Corporate Geographic Database Horizontal Reference, Datum and Unit of Measure". This reprojecting was done in various ways depending on the data type and content. Vector data was projected using the 'project' command in ESRI's Arc software and topology was cleaned and built based on coverage needs. Raster data was projected using ESRI's Grid module and various steps as applicable. 4.) Data updated February 26, 1998. Item PRIORITY changed to SIG in .pat. Item ACRES added to .pat. Item MACROCD changed to MCSITECODE. Arc attribute table (.aat) was dropped. This layer was previously named Natural Areas, nanhp. 3.) Data updated October 21, 1996. Areas may have been added, deleted or attributes corrected. 2.) Data updated May 20, 1996 release of Natural Areas for statewide North Carolina. This incorporated the previous data, edits, edition and expansion of the coverage area. 1.) Data released July 1993. Natural Areas for the APES region. The July 1993 file is the original version of this data and covers only the APES area minus Tyrrell and Dare counties. en 199307 20090528 REQUIRED: The year (and optionally month, or month and day) for which the data set corresponds to the ground. publication date Complete As needed -84.396758 -75.421021 36.617520 33.727995 414301.528118 3051010.258299 33661.546061 1043721.563338 None Natural areas Rare species Natural ecosystem Natural community Albemarle-Pamlico Estuarine Study APES ISO 19115 Topic Category environment William S. Powell, The North Carolina GAZETTEER, A Dictionary of Tar Heel Places, (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press), August 1984. North Carolina Although more significant ecological features are lost because of ignorance and accident than because of exploitation or intentional destruction, publication of locations of many natural areas increases the risk of deliberate damage to them. If a particular area is of interest, the Natural Heritage Program must be contacted to determine the identity of the area and its significance. There may be a charge for Natural Heritage Program services in providing the data. These data are intended for research or planning projects that will contribute to better protection for the ecological features involved. Due to its dynamic nature, this data becomes outdated very quickly. The Natural Heritage Program must be contacted before each use of the data set to ensure data currency. The Natural Heritage Program MUST be contacted in writing prior to distribution or hardcopy output of this data layer. Acknowledgement of products derived form this dataset should cite the following: The source of the Significant Natural Heritage Areas data is NC OneMap. Earlier versions of this data set may exist. The user must be sure to use the appropriate dataset for the time period of interest. While efforts have been made to ensure that these data are accurate and reliable within the state of the art, CGIA cannot assume liability for any damages or misrepresentation caused by any inaccuracies in the data or as a result of changes to the data caused by system transfers. John Finnegan NC DENR-Div. of Parks and Recreation, Natural Heritage Program Program Head Mailing and physical address

512 N. Salisbury Street, PO Box 27687

Raleigh North Carolina 27611-7687 U.S.A. (919) 715-8702 (919) 715-3085 8am to 5pm Preferred contact is by telephone NC Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources; Division of Parks and Recreation; Natural Heritage Program Office of Information Technology Services; Center for Geographic Information and Analysis ESRI ArcCatalog 9.3.1.3500 Natural Heritage Program 1990 Raleigh, North Carolina NC DENR-Div. of Parks and Recreation, Natural Heritage Program Available from Natural Heritage Program Natural Heritage Program 19960409 Map Raleigh, North Carolina NC DENR-Div. of Parks and Recreation, Natural Heritage Program Data available through NCCGIA Feature Class NC DENR-Div. of Parks and Recreation, Natural Heritage Program provides the Significant Natural Heritage Areas as ARC/INFO export files to NCCGIA. They are imported as ARC/INFO coverages. The data is reviewed by NHP staff. Using ESRI's ARC/INFO GIS software, the data set was built for arc and polygon topology using the "build" command. The data set was then cleaned with a fuzzy tolerance of 1 foot. Topology has not been edited since the last build or clean. These data represent areas containing ecologically significant natural communities or rare species as identified by NC DENR- Div. of Parks and Recreation, Natural Heritage Program. Natural areas were delineated on 7.5 Minute USGS paper topographic maps which meet National Map Accuracy Standards, using a best estimate with reference to surrounding features. NC DENR-Div. of Parks and Recreation, Natural Heritage Program 20070227 Map Raleigh, North Carolina NC DENR-Div. of Parks and Recreation, Natural Heritage Program 24000 paper 199307 20070227 publication date None Locations of ecologically significant natural communities or rare species US Geological Survey 1990 Map Reston, Virginia US Geological Survey Published map series 24000 Paper 1938 1990 publication date None Paper maps used to plot locations of the Significant Natural Heritage Areas Natural Area boundaries were delineated by NHP field biologists. Precision varies. The cartographic method used for the majority of the sites was for the biologist to survey not just the area where the rare species occurred, but the high quality habitat the species may inhabit as well. This area was delineated onto a photocopy of a USGS 1:24,000 topographic map. The delineated map was then brought back to the NHP offices where it was then transferred onto an original USGS paper base map. This map was then digitized by NHP. 20070227 Linda Pearsall NC DENR-Div. of Parks and Recreation, Natural Heritage Program Program Head Physical address

512 N. Salisbury Street

Raleigh North Carolina 27611-7687 U.S.A. Mailing address

PO Box 27687

Raleigh North Carolina 27611-7687 U.S.A. (919) 715-8697 (919) 715-3085 8:00 am to 5:00 pm Phone or mail CGIA received an Arc/Info shapefile from NHP. The shapefile was then converted to an ESRI feature class. 20090729 NC CGIA Physical

333 E. Six Forks Road

Raleigh North Carolina 27609 U.S.A. Mailing

20322 Mail Service Center

Raleigh North Carolina 27699 U.S.A. 919-754-6580 919-715-8551 dataq@its.nc.gov 8am to 5pm Phone and electronic mail preferred Metadata imported. withheld 20100727 10120900 _Method: Site code and site name Vector G-polygon 3147 Simple Polygon FALSE 3147 TRUE FALSE coordinate pair 0.000328 0.000328 survey feet Lambert Conformal Conic 34.333333 36.166667 -79.000000 33.750000 2000000.002617 0.000000 North American Datum of 1983 Geodetic Reference System 80 6378137.000000 298.257222 GCS_North_American_1983 NAD_1983_StatePlane_North_Carolina_FIPS_3200_Feet Explicit elevation coordinate included with horizontal coordinates 1.000000 Significant_Natural_Heritage_Areas Areas containing ecologically significant natural communities or rare species NC DENR-Div of Parks and Recreation, Natural Heritage Program Feature Class 3147 OBJECTID OBJECTID OID 4 10 0 Internal feature number. ESRI Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated. SITE_ID Unique Identifier (A number uniquely identifying the area.) Natural Heritage Program Identifier varies. As needed SITE_ID Double 8 18 8 ACRES Acreage of polygon. Software computed. Values differ by polygon. ACRES Double 8 18 8 SITE_NAME The name of the site. Natural Heritage Program Names vary. SITE_NAME String 150 0 0 SIG Significance of the site. Natural Heritage Program A Areas that are of national significance. NC DENR-Div of Parks and Recreation Natural Heritage Program B Areas that are of state significance. NC DENR-Div of Parks and Recreation Natural Heritage Program C Areas that are of regional significance. NC DENR-Div of Parks and Recreation Natural Heritage Program D Areas that are of county significance. NC DENR-Div of Parks and Recreation Natural Heritage Program <blank> Not ranked. The significance of the site has not yet been determined. NC DENR-Div of Parks and Recreation Natural Heritage Program SIG String 30 0 0 SHAPE SHAPE Geometry 4 0 0 Feature geometry. ESRI Coordinates defining the features. SHAPE.area SHAPE.area Double 0 0 0 SHAPE.len SHAPE.len Double 0 0 0 Areas classified by the Natural Heritage Program as containing ecologically significant natural communities or rare species. All items are defined by the Natural Heritage Program and they should be contacted with detailed questions. NC CGIA Physical

333 E. Six Forks Road

Raleigh North Carolina 27609 U.S.A. Mailing

20322 Mail Service Center

Raleigh North Carolina 27699 U.S.A. 919-754-6580 919-715-8551 dataq@its.nc.gov 8am to 5pm Phone and electronic mail preferred Significant Natural Heritage Areas NCCGIA is charged with the development and maintenance of NC OneMap and, in cooperation with other mapping organizations, is committed to offering its users accurate, useful, and current information. Although every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of information, errors and conditions originating from physical sources used to develop this dataset may be reflected in the data supplied. The user must be aware of possible conditions and bear responsibility for the appropriate use of the information with respect to possible errors, original map scale, collection methodology, currency of data, and other conditions specific to certain data. NCCGIA does not support secondary distribution of this dataset without its current, compliant metadata record. The use of trade names or commercial products does not constitute their endorsement by NCCGIA or North Carolina State Government. ESRI shapefile (*.shp) withheld None. Download from www.nconemap.com is free of charge. Data can be customized on a cost-recovery basis. Contact dataq@its.nc.gov or 919-754-6580 for more information. All formats available from www.nconemap.com are in ESRI shapefile. Other formats are available on a cost-recovery basis - contact dataq@ncmail.net or 919-754-6580 for more information. Format compatibility is the user's responsibility. 199307 20090528 20100727 NC CGIA REQUIRED: The person responsible for the metadata information. Physical

333 E. Six Forks Road

Raleigh North Carolina 27609 U.S.A. Mailing

20322 Mail Service Center

Raleigh North Carolina 27699 U.S.A. 919-754-6580 919-715-8551 dataq@its.nc.gov 8am to 5pm Phone and electronic mail preferred FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata FGDC-STD-001-1998 local time None This metadata file is to accompany the dataset. NCCGIA does not support secondary distribution of this dataset without its current, compliant metadata record. If the dataset described in this metadata record was received from anyone besides NCCGIA, this metadata and the dataset it describes may contain discrepancies. en http://www.esri.com/metadata/esriprof80.html ESRI Metadata Profile 20180713 13555500 FALSE 20100727 10120900 20100727 10120900 1.0 ESRI ArcCatalog 9.3.1.3500 Significant_Natural_Heritage_Areas 414301.528118 3051010.258299 1043721.563338 33661.546061 1 -84.396758 -75.421021 36.61752 33.727995 1 ISO 19115 Geographic Information - Metadata DIS_ESRI1.0 dataset 002 withheld Feature Class NAD_1983_StatePlane_North_Carolina_FIPS_3200_Feet 3147 20100727