5.3 Residential and Commercial Development
North Carolina has been consistently among the 12 largest and fastest growing states in the country, according to recent census reports, and is now the ninth most populous state. Over one acre of land is developed for each new resident in the state and the rate of land development has been growing faster than the rate of population growth (Ouzts 2007). From 2000 to 2010, our state was the sixth fastest growing state in the nation, with over 18% popu- lation growth (Bunn and Ramirez 2011) . Since 1990, housing units have increased 23%–25% per decade and the state population has grown by 1.4–1.5 million people per decade. Tese growth rates are projected to continue, with a 10% projected population growth rate from 2020 to 2030, when the total population is expected to be almost 11.7 million (NCOSBM 2014) . Instead of encouraging major development in or near town centers, land-use policies in our state are leading to fragmented and spread-out patterns of development in which our rural landscapes are being converted to sprawling suburban land uses with large parking lots and extensive lawn-dominated landscaping. Lack of redevelopment within town and city centers, separation of land uses instead of mixed-use development, and leapfrog devel- opment on the outskirts of towns and cities make North Carolina home to the most urban sprawl of any state (Otto et al. 2002) . Haphazard development causes negative impacts to fsh and wildlife that are among the top threats, especially to those species that are identifed as conservation priorities (NCWRC 2012) . Te encroachment of development into unfragmented habitat also causes species displacement due to competition from habitat generalist wildlife species that can thrive in urban and suburban landscapes. Nonnative invasive plant species—which reduce native insect populations—and increased predation from generalist wildlife and outdoor cats can cause local extirpation of wildlife of conservation concern. Human–wildlife confict is another issue of particular concern that is exacerbated by spread-out development pat- terns. Te more confict people perceive as being caused by wildlife, the less support the public may have for wildlife conservation. Areas of the state that are highest in biodiversity, species rarity, and endemism are expe- riencing the greatest rates of urban and rural sprawl. Among these areas of the state are the southeast Coastal Plain, the Sandhills, and the southeast Mountains. In addition, most priority wildlife habitats depend on the ecosystem process of fre. Some are completely fre dependent, such as the Longleaf Pine ecosystem and many small wetland community types. Te ability to conduct prescribed burning is all but lost in exurban and urban areas. Te Wilmington metropolitan area and NC beach communities drive development growth on the southeast Coastal Plain. Populations in the region increased by 40% from 2000 to 2010 (USCB 2014) . Te Wilmington region ranks among the top 10 most diverse areas in rep- tiles and birds on the continent (Ricketts et al. 1999) .
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2015 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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