Parks and Recreation System Master Plan Update (2016) parks_and_recreation_system_master_plan_update_oct | Page 548

A. Community Improvement District (CID)- a possible future acquisition
The Community Improvement District (CID) along Mill Creek, Pond Creek, and parts of
the Ohio River in western Jefferson County was set aside by the metro county government for
flood control. Much of the CID parcels are surrounded by suburban and industrial development.
This land is a potential future Metro Parks and Recreation property. The CID is approximately
1,636 acres spread across 189 different parcels. Of this large area, approximately 50 percent
could be defined as natural resource fragments, with 597 acres of fragmented forests, 102 acres
of grasslands, and 114 acres of riparian areas. CID is also potential habitat for the endangered
Copperbelly Water Snake. Clearly, bringing this large tract of land under Metro Parks and
Recreation management would require money and labor to both protect and enhance the natural
resource fragments (over 800 acres of forest, grasslands, and riparian areas) as well as establish
recreation areas. However, the addition of the CID land would add significant riparian and forest
acreages to the existing Riverside property as well as forest acreages to the Sylvania Park.
V. Monitoring and Evaluation
A. Present monitoring within the Natural Areas Division
The Natural Areas Division of Metro Parks and Recreation, based at Jefferson Memorial
Forest, is dedicated to carrying out natural resource management practices essential to advancing
the ecological health of the lands it manages. The division has both a natural resource plan and
staff members dedicated to land management. In addition, the Natural Areas Division maintains
GIS databases which track these practices including: zones of invasive plant removal, habitat
restoration zones, and locations of rare plant species. The Natural Areas Division also maintains
a large Access database for all species identified, including records for each area they manage.
In addition, they maintain species data records for the Louisville and Jefferson County
Environmental Trust properties monitored as part of their area of responsibility. Each of these
databases are stored in shared folders and are available for other Metro Parks and Recreation
users.
B. Future plans
1. Ecological assessments
To more accurately know both the quantity and quality of ecosystems within the natural
resources areas, ecological assessments must be performed. As previously mentioned, Dr. Tom
Barnes recommends that ecological assessments be performed to more accurately quantify the
biodiversity significance of Metro Parks and Recreation properties. It is recommended that Dr.
Julian Campbell, formerly of the Nature Conservancy, be approached to develop a methodology
for ecological assessments as well as to perform said ecological assessments. It is also likely that
researchers at both the University of Louisville and the University of Kentucky may be interested
in performing the ecological assessmen