Abstract
 Aggressive Urban Annexation and Conservation Site Protection in North Carolina Track: Ecology and Conservation Author(s): Edward Cherry, William Welsh Aggressive urban annexation is a land use control tactic used by incorporated municipalities to exert political authority (especially taxation and zoning) upon proximate, unincorporated areas. In North Carolina annexation has been actively encouraged since 1959, and cities have unilateral power to annex without being subject to popular referendum or other authority. North Carolina leads the nation in the percentage of state population annexed. In terms of biodiversity North Carolina's ecoregions are among the richest in North America. Subsequently, the conservation protection status of many ecologically-sensitive sites is subject to the consequences of dramatically changed land use regulations resulting from municipal annexation. Aggressive annexation trends were compared to ecologically-sensitive sites and ecoregions using Esri geoprocessing tools. Datasets were statewide in extent, spatially-detailed, for the time period 1994 to 2002. This research demonstrates the potential of geodatabase technology for allowing multiple stakeholder assessment and monitoring of urban development threats to environmentally-sensitive areas. Edward Cherry University of North Carolina at Greensboro Goegraphy 119 Lantern Way Carrboro , NC 27510 US Phone: 919-923-6130 E-mail: GIS_Specialist_nc@hotmail.com William Welsh University of North Carolina at Greensboro Geography 119 Graham Building UNC Greensboro Greensboro , NC 27402 US Phone: 336-334-5693 E-mail: wfwelsh@uncg.edu |
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