2004 Practice Scenario #1

The city of Falls Branch is looking to annex 240 acres of land on the south side of the city. The city wants to develop the land into a park, a new high school with an adjacent wooded outdoor classroom, and a public open area recreational area that will include soccer fields, softball fields, and a Frisbee golf course.

 The land has a large portion of it (over 80 acres) that was mined for gravel years ago with the overburden that was left behind pushed into piles. This overburden has grown up into a mixture of shrubs, vines, and trees. The mined area is adjacent to Pigeon Creek. The mining operation has also left pockets of confined water that contains a mixture of hydrophytic plant species. The remained of the area is wooded with some large loblolly pines, sweetgums, sycamores, and willow oaks. The wooded area and the mined area are home to barred owls, whitetail deer, oppossums, brown bats, raccoons, and other indigenous mammalian, reptilian, and avian species.