The Northstar Habitat Management Plan

Development of the Plan. What is it?

The Northstar Habitat Management Plan was written by the Sacramento based environmental consulting firm EDAW and Northstar's planning staff, in consultation with the environmental group's technical consultant, the Conservation Biology Institute in San Diego, Calif. The team consisted of biologists, ecologists, GIS and forestry specialists.

The recommendations of and findings in the Northstar Habitat Management Plan are an outcome of the efforts to update the resort's Master Plan that began in the late 1990s and resulted in the 2003 Overall Mountain Master Plan.

The creation of the Habitat Management Plan was an extensive, thorough two-year process that featured a land use and habitat-based management process versus a species-based planning approach.

Further, the two-year process included:

• Analysis of existing Northstar lands (8,000 acres) and its natural resources inventory: Aerial photos, GIS analysis, and site visits to identify natural resource values of Northstar lands, including wildlife habitat, vegetation, forest structure and sensitive wildlife species.

• Creation of a land use plan to concentrate more intensive land uses (for example, recreation, village, residential development) in the central-western portions of the Northstar property; and to emphasize habitat management, open space, and less intensive recreation in the more easterly and westerly portions of the property.
   
• The establishment of Northstar Habitat Management Plan "Zones" to identify natural resource values. View Zones.