In the past, my conception of a buffer zone has been that of a “serious obstacle to beer with a view.”
In community planning parlance, a buffer zone refers to an area of vegetation next to a stream, reservoir or pond that is managed or protected.
Within buffer zones, building, grading and other development activities are typically restricted. Vegetation is restored or preserved and the growth of trees is encouraged.
In Albemarle County, Virginia, 100 foot buffers are required on both sides of streams that flow all year. We have no riverside restaurants in Charlottesville and Albemarle and I have often bitterly mourned the fact.
However, today I found a slow ramble through a buffer zone along the Rivanna River passably pleasing.
This photo of a yellow-rumped warbler was taken in the buffer zone along the Rivanna River at Darden Towe Park in Albemarle County, Virginia on April 27, 2007.