Designated Protected and Significant Areas of Dutchess County, NY
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Chapter 7: Designated Significant and Protected Areas of Dutchess County (DRAFT) Chapter 7: Designated Protected and Significant Areas of Dutchess County, NY ______________________________________________________________________________ Emily Vail, Neil Curri, Noela Hooper, and Allison Chatrchyan1 February 2012 (DRAFT ) Significant natural areas are valued for their environmental importance Chapter Contents and beauty, and include unusual geologic features such as scenic Protected Land Critical Environmental mountain ridges, steep ravines, and caves; hydrological features such Areas as rivers, lakes, springs, and wetlands; and areas that support Other Significant Areas threatened or endangered species or unusually diverse plant and Implications for Decision- Making animal communities. Both significant natural areas and scenic Resources resources enhance the environmental health and quality of life in Dutchess County. An area can be significant for several different reasons, including its habitat, scenic, cultural, economic, or historical values. Many areas are significant because they are unique in some way. 1 This chapter was written by Emily Vail (Cornell Cooperative Extension Environment & Energy Program), Neil Curri (Cornell Cooperative Extension Dutchess County Environment & Energy Program), Noela Hooper (Dutchess County Department of Planning and Development), and Allison Chatrchyan (Cornell Cooperative Extension Dutchess County Environment & Energy Program). The chapter is presented here in DRAFT form. Final version expected March 2012. The Natural Resource Inventory of Dutchess County, NY 1 Chapter 7: Designated Significant and Protected Areas of Dutchess County (DRAFT) Significant natural areas provide many ecosystem services, including wildlife habitat, water supply protection, recreational space, and opportunities for outdoor research. (For more information on ecosystem services, see Chapter 1: Introduction.) In order to sustain their value, it is import to protect these areas. Municipalities, agencies, and organizations can designate or categorize areas as “significant,” and there are various mechanisms to protect these important places. Open space can be generally defined as an area of land or water that remains in its natural state or is used for agriculture, without intensive residential, commercial, industrial, or institutional development (NYS DEC, 2010). More specific definitions depend on context; for example, public parks, agricultural land, and private easements may be all considered open space. Open space can provide a number of values for communities who choose to conserve it. These include values described in the various chapters of this Natural Resources inventory: maintaining air quality and mitigating and adapting to the effects of climate change (Chapter 2: Climate and Air Quality); maintaining water quality and quantity and mitigating flood damage (Chapter 5: Water Resources); providing habitat for rare species and maintaining biodiversity (Chapter 6: Biological Resources and Biodiversity). By providing these ecosystem services (see Chapter 1: Introduction for a discussion of ecosystem services), open space provides communities with substantial economic values, reducing costs for public infrastructure and programs, lessening the need for property tax increases, and supporting regional economic growth (DiNapoli, 2010). By using this Natural Resource Inventory and other resources referenced in this document, local leaders can become aware of the values that open spaces in their communities provide. Open spaces often provide more than one value. For example, a large forested area containing a series of wetlands may provide benefits like water quality (wetland plants filter pollution and uptake excess nutrients), water quantity (groundwater recharge), air quality (forests filter pollution) and climate change mitigation (carbon sequestration), habitat, recreation (hunting), and economic benefits (forestry). Dutchess County’s open space resources support diverse vegetation and wildlife communities, agricultural activities, outdoor recreation, and forest uses, and help store and replenish critical surface and groundwater supplies. They give much of Dutchess County its beauty and rural 2 The Natural Resource Inventory of Dutchess County, NY Chapter 7: Designated Significant and Protected Areas of Dutchess County (DRAFT) character. In urban and suburban communities, open spaces such as stream corridors and parks also help define community and neighborhood boundaries, serve as common meeting places and buffers between land uses, and offer relief from congestion and noise. Numerous open spaces with valuable scenic, natural, or agricultural qualities have been converted to residential, commercial, or industrial uses (Figure 7.1). The qualities and ecosystem services provided by open spaces can be conserved by encouraging development in traditional settlement areas rather than in existing natural and agricultural areas. Figure 7.12: Residential development on agricultural soils and encroaching on floodplains. Recent residential development in the area shown here has rendered the underlying farmland soils unusable for agriculture and encroaches on the nearby stream’s floodplain. As storms and floods increase in intensity, nearby homes may be at risk. (See Chapter 4: Soils for more information on farmland soils. See Chapter 5: Water Resources for more information about floodplains.) 2 Data sources. Late 1990's Orthophoto: Statewide Digital Orthoimagery 1994 - 1999, NYS Cyber Security and Critical Infrastructure Coordination; 2009 Orthophoto: NYS Digital Orthoimagery Program (NYSDOP), 2009, NYS Cyber Security and Critical Infrastructure Coordination; 100-Year Floodplain: Preliminary DFIRM Database (Floodplains) for Dutchess County, New York, 2008, NYSDEC, Division of Water, Bureau of Flood Protection and Dam Safety]; USDA Farmland Soils: USDA SSURGO database, Soil Survey of Dutchess County, New York, 2001 The Natural Resource Inventory of Dutchess County, NY 3 Chapter 7: Designated Significant and Protected Areas of Dutchess County (DRAFT) PROTECTED LANDS Public Land Public lands within Dutchess County are owned by municipalities, the county, New York State, or the federal government. Public lands include parks, multiple use areas, wildlife management areas, state forests, waterway access points, and historic sites. Parks and other lands open to the public offer environmental protection with recreational opportunities. Table 7.1 lists public lands in Dutchess Couty. Table 7.1: Parks and Public Lands in Dutchess County3 Federally-owned: Name Location Appalachian Trail corridor East Fishkill, Beekman, Pawling, Dover Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site at Val-Kill Hyde Park Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site Hyde Park Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site Hyde Park State-owned: Name Location Hudson Highlands State Park Beacon, Fishkill James Baird State Park Pleasant Valley Margaret Lewis Norrie State Park Hyde Park Ogden Mills & Ruth Livingston Mills State Park Hyde Park Taconic State Park Northeast Walkway Over the Hudson State Historic Park Poughkeepsie, Highland Stony Kill Farm Environmental Education Center Wappingers Falls Wassaic State Forest/Multiple Use Area Amenia Depot Hill Multiple Use Area Beekman Lafayetteville Multiple Use Area Milan Roeliff Jansen Kill Multiple Use Area Milan Stissing Mountain Multiple Use Area Pine Plains, Stanford Clermont State Historic Park Red Hood, Clermont Tivoli Bays Wildlife Management Area Red Hook West Mountain State Forest Beekman, Dover, Union Vale 3 This is not a comprehensive list of all parks and public lands in Dutchess County 4 The Natural Resource Inventory of Dutchess County, NY Chapter 7: Designated Significant and Protected Areas of Dutchess County (DRAFT) County-owned: Name Location Bowdoin Park Wappingers Falls Quiet Cove Riverfront Park Poughkeepsie (T) Wilcox Memorial Park Milan East Fishkill, Poughkeepsie (T), Wappinger, Dutchess Rail Trail LaGrange Harlem Valley Rail Trail North East, Amenia While this document and Table 7.1 focus on the county scale, many municipalities also own parks that are open space resources and include recreational opportunities. The five largest town, village, or city parks in Dutchess County are Tymor Park in Union Vale, Thomas J. Boyce Park in Dover, Spratt Park in the City of Poughkeepsie, College Hill Park in the City of Poughkeepsie, and Freedom Park in LaGrange. (Map 7.1) Private Land Parks and Public Access There are many parks, preserves and historic sites in Dutchess County that are privately owned, but open for public for various purposes, including recreation. Some of these properties provide protection for significant natural resources. This is another mechanism for protecting important lands within the county. The Natural Resource Inventory of Dutchess County, NY 5 Chapter 7: Designated Significant and Protected Areas of Dutchess County (DRAFT) Table 7.2: Privately-owned lands open to the public4 Name Owner Location Burger Hill Scenic Hudson Rhinebeck Madame Brett Park Scenic Hudson Beacon Fishkill Ridge Scenic Hudson Beacon, Fishkill Mount Beacon Scenic Hudson Beacon Beacon Point Park Scenic Hudson Beacon Poets’ Walk Scenic Hudson Red Hook The Great Swamp Nature Conservancy Dover, Pawling Pawling Nature Reserve Nature Conservancy Town of Pawling Nellie Hill Preserve Nature Conservancy Dover Roger Perry Memorial Preserve Nature Conservancy Dover Thompson Pond/Stissing Mountain Nature Conservancy