Mr. Zell is the project manager for the county's Natural Heritage Resource Inventory. The inventory is a three-year research program designed to develop a countywide database of natural resource attributes. The scope of the current project is to focus primarily on flora, fauna and water resources. The first year of the project will include the following parks: Barcroft, Lubber Run, Bluemont, Powhattan Springs, Benjamin Banneker, East Falls Church, Glencarlyn, Long Branch Nature Area, Fort Scott, Fort C.F. Smith Park and Historic Site, Windy Run, Zachary Taylor, Donaldson Run, Gulf Branch and Pimmet Run.

Benefits of the inventory

1. A compilation of a county-wide database of natural resources will allow park managers, planners and administrators to make wise land use decisions relative to park master planning and future development within our parks.

2. The data provided by the inventory will allow county staff to effectively develop a future Natural resource Management Plan along with strategy to mange those resources.

3. The collection of vegetative data from the field inventory will provide the information necessary to produce and publish a Native Flora of Arlington County.

4. Field data collected will be shared with both the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation and the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries to update the state's resources database for Arlington County.

5. A completed inventory will provide the mechanism to support future zoning or administrative regulation changes to allow for the addition of a new protected class of public space. Similar to the areas protected under the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act, lands within a "Natural resources Conservation Area would receive a higher degree of protection from activities that might destroy or degrade its identified natural resources.

Mr. Zell provided an entertaining and informative professional presentation about the inventory work to date. His team's work is critical to evaluate and assess the natural resources we have in our growing metropolitan area. The impression received from the presentation is that although Arlington might not have vast wide-open spaces, we live in an area that has rich and diverse natural spaces that should be researched, evaluated and protected to preserve the unique character and heritage of our natural environment.

This page was revised on: April 13, 2006.