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.SET PRIORITIES D R E A M I N G The map helps clarify conservation priorities, which vary from state to state and county to county. It also helps planners target sites where two goals can be accomplished at once—where a new wildlife corridor, for example, can double as a hiking trail.

Connected habitats Preventing the fragmentation of wildlife habitat is a priority in Ulster. In June 2015 GREEN the nonprofi t group Scenic Hudson preserved a 23-acre mix of forest and hardwood swamp, creating the John Burroughs Black Creek Corridor and fi lling a gap in a wildlife pathway. Blueback herring can now migrate more CASE STUDY: ULSTER COUNTY, safely, and people can hike and paddle along the eight-mile-long corridor.

Just a hundred miles north of , Ulster is a mostly rural county that spans the Catskill J o h Chodikee n B u r r o Mountains and the Valley. Long a source of ’s drinking water, it also Lake u g h s . MAKE A MAP B has become a booming market for tourism and second homes. Ulster’s challenge is a common BLACKBLACK CREEKCREEK B l a la c STATE FOREST ck k one: how to encourage development while protecting natural habitat and quality of life. In 2009, Ulster County offi cials evaluated land according to several criteria—look- Cr C ee ing fi rst at the ecology of the landscape, then at other factors, including JOHN k r advised by the nonprofi t Green Infrastructure Center, a new county government embarked on a e its historical signifi cance and its value as working farmland—to create BURROUGHS e NATURE k three-step process to create—and act on—a “greenprint” for conservation and development. a map highlighting core areas that might be especially worth conserving. SANCTUARY C o r r i d o 9W r

To Albany 32 H u d s o n R i v e r BLACKBLACK CREEKCREEK

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N Shandaken 9W N Belle Ayr Mountain Es G R E E N E C O U N T Y ➤ 3429 ft 28 opu 1045 m s C re See large 3-D map below for location. ek 214

Big COUNTY Indian Overlook Saugerties COLUMBIA Phoenicia Mountain 3140 ft 212 957 m 212 Working landscapes Ulster also wants to protect farmland from development—and land occupied by Mt. Tobias Cooper farms is not necessarily lost to wildlife. The 1,250-acre, nonprofi t Hudson Valley Farm Hub is mapping the farm 2540 ft 774 m Lake 87 habitats of native organisms, such as pollinators. Staff there also are experimenting with techniques to maintain DELAWARE COUNTY Woodstock or increase crop production while improving soils. Mt. Tremper Bearsville Mt. Marion Yankeetown CATSKILL PARK Pond 375 32 West 5 Ticetonyk Hurley 9W Hurley Slide Cornell Mountain Mountain 28 Mountain 2500 ft Lake 4180 ft 3860 ft 762 m 1274 m 1177 m Katrine 199 West ir Shokan vo er Hudson d es R Valley n an Lincoln ok Park Farm 28A sh a A Hub l

S U L L I V A N C O U N T Y l a k High Point r ee 3080 ft Cr Olivebridge u s 939 m u Kingston Hudson t p 213 Hurley l so River u E ek k e e r c e r C Port i t C r 209 s u Ewen u o p d g o n s o A

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➤ ➤ ULSTER COUNTY, NEW YORK Catskill Park boundary UNITED STATES 213 N Ulster Park Rosendale Stone Ridge SturSturgeongeon See large 3-D map below for location. Pool 9W 213 Esopus Conservation value 209 Higher High Falls Nature at play Preserved lands are a boost to Ulster’s tourist trade, which in 2015 saw a $19 million rise, Lower Rondout to $533 million. Rock climbing and trout fi shing are prime attractions. To promote outdoor recreation, county Reservoir COUNTY offi cials are widening highway shoulders for bikes and connecting trail networks. The Ulster County Rail Trail Built-up area 55 DUTCHESS 32 will link trails in Catskill Park and along the Hudson. 0 mi 4 0 km 4 Mohonk Kerhonkson Lake Ulster Coun ty Rail Trail Cape New (Ashoka 44 n Rail Trail segm Pond Paltz ent–und Wawarsing er dev elopm 299 ent) 52 Napanoch Lake s n Highland Minnewaska i a 87 t Ellenville Lake n Awosting u o 44 M Ashokan Clintondale West Hurley k n 44 u Reservoir n g 209 a n w i a a 28 h t

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l b l 32 l a r a W Walker M Valley 52 Plattekill 208 t) evelopmen (future d rail N nty Rail T ➤ Marlboro Ulster Cou ORANGE Wallkill See large 3-D map below for location. COUNTY

To New York City .CREATE RESULTS Hiking trails, solar arrays, rain gardens—some projects in Ulster are small. But deployed throughout the county, along with large preserves like the Shawangunks, they are knitting together a uniquely green infrastructure.

Shawangunks Sundown Wild Forest Binnewater Lakes Upper Esopus watershed Ashokan outfl ow Green college Kingston Solar landfi ll Tens of thousands of acres This 30,500-acre forest in When a new hotel was approved By helping to protect habitats Since 2011 water has been Permeable pavement and large Ulster installed electric-vehicle A 2.5-megawatt solar array to be have been preserved for recre- Catskill Park preserves wildlife for this area, trails were protected— upstream that fi lter pollutants, New released from this channel to rain gardens, engineered to absorb charging stations at nine of its built on a closed landfi ll will supply ation around these white cliff s, habitat but also permits and so were historic cement mines. York City avoids spending billions of support downstream habitat storm water, were built at Ulster public buildings, the most of any more than 25 percent of the county which are favored by climbers. hunting, fi shing, and trapping. The mines are crucial bat habitat. dollars on water treatment facilities. and enhance area ecosystems. County Community College. county in the state. government’s electricity.

Belle Ayr Mountain 3429 ft Slide 1045 m Belleayre Mountain Mountain Ski Center L L 4180 ft M O SULLIVAN K I 1274 m U N GREENE T S Cornell T A Mountain A COUNTY C 3860 ft I COUNTY 1177 m N Samuels Point S 2885 ft 879 m High Point 3080 ft 939 m Mt. Tobias 2540 ft Ticetonyk 774 m Mountain 2500 ft Vernooy Kill West Shokan 762 m Falls Trail 212 28 Ulster C ounty Ra il Trail (A shokan Ra Bearsville Olivebridge il Trail segment) A s h o k a n R e s e r v o i r Woodstock 213 28 375 28A 212 ULSTER COUNTY West Hurley

Nature Stone Ridge y at play t n l view shown above u i o a 209 Working r C T 28 r l e i landscapes t a s reek 5 l R view shown above Esopus C U Rail Trail (D&H Canal corridor) 209 Rondou O&W t Creek Hurley High Falls 1 S h FourthFourth a w a n Fifth LakeLake First 209 g u n Lake ThirdThird Lake Lake k M o u n t a i n s 87 Rosendale 87 587 Lake Katrine Wa llkill Valley Rail Trail 9W Lincoln Park ail Tillson 32 ill Valley Rail Tr Kingst Wallk on Greenline connection Kingston Ro ndo 199 KINGSTON-ULSTER ut C AIRPORT reek 32 SturgeonSturgeon Pool 213 iver 32 lkill R 9W Wal Rondout Promenade 87 i l l n River Promenade y s e y H Hasbrouck Park Hudso KINGSTON- l e H u s a l Kingston RHINECLIFF BRIDGE V Port Ewen Point i l l l l k Sleightsburgh W a Spit Lighthouse r e e Esopus v g Lake id Mirror i R k Lake R a 9W e Ulster Park N ➤ en p au n Sh o Scale varies in this view. s d u Black Creek Esopus Esopus Meadows H Preserve Esopus Meadows Lighthouse SUPPLEMENT TO NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, DECEMBER 2016 Trail network ULSTER POINT Chodikee (nonmotorized) EDITORS: JON BOWEN AND DEBBIE GIBBONS DESIGN: HANNAH TAK COUNTY OF MAP PRODUCTION: JON BOWEN AND DEBBIE GIBBONS Lake VIEW Existing MAP EDIT: SCOTT ZILLMER TEXT: EVE CONANT RESEARCH: SHELLEY SPERRY 3-D MAP RENDERING BY INTERNATIONAL MAPPING Under development SOURCES: KAREN FIREHOCK, GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE CENTER; MICHAEL P. HEIN, OFFICE OF THE ULSTER COUNTY EXECUTIVE; AMANDA Connected Future development LAVALLE, ULSTER COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT habitats 10/12/16 1:43PM view shown above DUTCHESS COUNTY 9W