Appendix A: Forest Legacy Program’s Assessment of Need Introduction Development of the nation’s forested areas between participating states and the U.S. Forest poses an increasing threat to maintaining the Service, an agency of the U.S. Department of integrity of our country’s valuable forest lands. Agriculture. These two entities work together to Intact forestlands supply timber products, wildlife identify important forest lands and protect them habitat, carbon sequestration, soil and watershed for future generations. The State Forest protection, aesthetics, and recreational Stewardship Coordinating Committee (SFSCC) opportunities. However, as these areas are authorized the Forest Legacy Subcommittee to fragmented and disappear, so are the benefits act on behalf of the full SFSCC on all Forest they provide. Legacy matters. The Forest Legacy Subcommittee provides guidance on the The purpose of the Forest Legacy Program Assessment of Need and prioritizes a state’s (FLP) is to protect environmentally important submission of annual projects to the U.S. forest areas that are threatened by conversion to Forest Service. non-forest uses. The FLP is a partnership NEW YORK STATE FOREST ACTION PLAN 2020 | References 129 Conservation easements are the primary tool conversion to non-forest uses. Additionally, the used to achieve this goal. Priority is given to AON must define eligibility criteria that the State lands that have important scenic or recreational will use to identify and delineate important forest values, such as riparian areas; fish and wildlife areas as Forest Legacy Areas, identify goals for values, including threatened and endangered each FLA, and outline the State’s project species; or other ecological values. evaluation and prioritization procedures. As required by the 2008 Farm Bill, New York has Designed to encourage the protection of privately included the AON in its Forest Action Plan as an owned forest lands, the FLP is an entirely appendix. The AON references sections of the voluntary program. It encourages and supports Forest Action Plan and several state policy acquisition of conservation easements, legally documents for additional information. binding agreements transferring a negotiated set of property rights from one party to another, Forest Resources and Benefits without removing the property from private ownership. Most FLP conservation easements Scenic Values restrict building development, require sustainable Forests figure prominently in scenic values forestry practices, and protect other values. The across New York, from the Long Island Pine FLP also supports fee-title land purchases in a Barrens, the Hudson Valley and Hudson limited number of situations, where necessary to Highlands, Catskill and Adirondack Parks, accomplish the program’s objectives. Rensselaer Plateau, Taconic Ridge, Tug Hill, Current Forest Legacy Areas: Finger Lakes, Delaware Highlands, Southern Tier to Allegany State Park. Scenic resources ● Northern Forest Lands Study Area are a tourism driver throughout the state. (1994 AON) Forests support Wild, Scenic and Recreational Rivers, Scenic Byways, Scenic Areas of ● Taconic Ridge (1994 AON) Statewide Significance, and long-distance ● New York Highlands and Sterling Forest recreational trails, as listed in the State’s Open (1994 AON) Space Conservation Plan. ● Central Long Island Pine Barrens The archaeological, scenic, historic and cultural (1994 AON) resources of our state provide residents and the country with tangible reminders of the importance ● Catskill Park and Delaware River of our region's rich and varied heritage. Whether New York City Watershed (1998 they are rural communities, urban streetscapes, Amended AON, expanded 2010) historic working landscapes, or archaeological sites, the presence and knowledge of such ● Rensselaer Plateau resources provide a community and its citizens Proposed Forest Legacy Areas: with continuity and context for their daily lives, and contribute to the overall quality and enjoyment of ● Allegheny Plateau life. They also can give our communities unique characteristics and a special sense of place, ● Finger Lakes/Northern Plateau fostering pride in the areas where we live. ● Shawangunk Ridge The “cultural landscape” created by our historic In order to participate in the FLP, each state is and cultural resources provides a context for required to develop an Assessment of Need land preservation that goes beyond natural (AON) that documents its need for inclusion in resources and helps strengthen the case for the FLP through an evaluation of current forests, open space protection. Using our landscape as forest uses, and the trends and forces causing inspiration, Hudson River School painters 130 NEW YORK STATE FOREST ACTION PLAN 2020 | Appendix A created a uniquely American appreciation for # of forest habitat- nature, and New York has been in the vanguard Class dependent SGCN of the environmental movement ever since. The Amphibian 10 collective efforts to protect our resources are an Birds 42 important part of our heritage in New York, and the policies within this plan will help our state Insect 92 live up to that legacy. (2016 Open Space Mammal 18 Conservation Plan) Reptile 18 Fish and Wildlife Habitat The State Wildlife Action Plan (SWAP) Forest Habitat-dependent SGCN, NYSDEC Fish and Wildlife Division describes the varied forest habitats in New York, and the diverse wildlife species that these forest habitats support. Almost half of the 366 species # of identified as Species of Greatest Conservation Forest Habitat SGCN Need (SGCN) in the SWAP depend on forest Atlantic White Cedar Swamp 4 habitats, totaling 180 different species. This includes representatives of all taxonomic groups Boreal Forested Peatland 15 that rely on terrestrial habitats, as shown in Boreal Upland Forest 2 Table “Forest Habitat-dependent Species of Coastal Coniferous Barrens 19 Greatest Conservation Need” on this page. The species assessment documents developed Coastal Hardwoods 7 for the SWAP include details on forest habitat Coastal Red Maple-Black Gum Swamp 3 needs of these SGCN, such as tree species, Conifer Forest Swamp 6 canopy or ground layers, edge or interior, and size of forest blocks. The species assessments Floodplain Forest 16 are available at https://www.dec.ny.gov/ Hardwood Swamp 7 animals/7179.html. Of the forest dependent Mixed Hardwood Swamp 6 SGCN, 17 are endangered, six are Mixed Northern Hardwoods 20 threatened and 29 are of special concern (state designations). Of New York’s forest Mountain Spruce-Fir Forest 3 dependent species, 2 are federally listed Northeast Upland Forest 11 endangered, and 3 are federally listed Oak Forest 12 threatened. (Note: numbers do not include vascular plants – vascular plants are discussed Oak-Pine Forest 22 later in this AON) See Table Federal and state Pine Barrens 20 listed endangered and threatened forest Riparian Forest 7 dependent species for additional information. Seventeen forest habitat types that support Forest Habitats that support SGCN, SGCN were identified (see table Forest NYSDEC Fish and Wildlife Division Dependent Species of Greatest Conservation Need), but this does not include some early successional forests categorized as shrublands, Protection of large blocks of forested land is an nor aquatic habitats in streams flowing through important component of wildlife conservation in forests. Some of these forest habitats, especially New York, but connectivity of these protected those restricted to coastal locations, are limited forest habitats is also crucial to provide wildlife in distribution, while other forest types are the opportunity to move across the landscape. widespread throughout the state. Habitat connectivity is important on many NEW YORK STATE FOREST ACTION PLAN 2020 | Appendix A 131 geographic scales, from the local scale of Public Recreation Opportunities seasonal migration of amphibians between Understanding the environment is critical to our breeding pools and upland habitats, to the future. Today, children spend far less time regional range expansion of moose between outdoors than their parents did. Often, children northeastern states. The unimpeded movement learn more about nature from television and the of animals is important to maintain genetic internet rather than from direct contact and diversity in protected areas, and allows wildlife observation. Efforts to connect New Yorkers to to move to suitable habitats, which is an nature described in the Open Space important adaptation strategy to climate change. Conservation Plan include: The SWAP identified “Promote habitat connectivity for SGCN” as an objective, and ● Providing access to nature where listed actions for both aquatic and terrestrial people live, connectivity, including dam removal and culvert replacement, and to restore and maintain natural ● Increasing environmental literacy, habitats in linkage areas to foster Northeast ● Showing how contact with nature regional habitat connectivity. enhances public health and the quality Protection of key forested lands through of life, and purchase of fee title or conservation easement is ● Involving the next generation in caring a recommended action in the SWAP. Protection for the environment and protecting our of floodplain forests is especially important for open spaces. (2016 OSP) the multiple conservation benefits that these riparian areas provide: habitat, flood protection, Approximately 52 percent of state residents and connectivity. participate in some form of non-motorized recreation