City of Kingston, NY Natural Resource Inventory 6/25/18 DRAFT This page left blank intentionally. 2 Table of Contents Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................................................................ v Natural Resources Inventory Project Team: ........................................................................................................................... v Contributors .................................................................................................................................................................................. v Conservation Advisory Committee Member during the time of the NRI project ......................................................... v Executive Summary .......................................................................................................................................................................... 1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 2 Scope of Work & Notes ............................................................................................................................................................ 2 Value of Natural Resources in Urban Settings .......................................................................................................................... 5 City of Kingston: Setting & Systems ........................................................................................................................................... 6 Geophysical: Geology, Soils, Terrain ....................................................................................................................................... 6 Biotic Features and Systems: land cover and habitat ............................................................................................................ 8 Habitat Studies ............................................................................................................................................................................. 8 Kingston habitats today: ........................................................................................................................................................... 15 The ecological matrix of the city: the urban forest ........................................................................................................ 15 Hydrological systems, features, habitats ................................................................................................................................ 18 Hudson, Rondout and Esopus ............................................................................................................................................... 18 Riparian zones ....................................................................................................................................................................... 20 Surface ponds ........................................................................................................................................................................ 23 Human - drinking water supply ........................................................................................................................................ 23 Flora & Fauna: habitats, plants & animals ............................................................................................................................ 26 Recreational Resources ............................................................................................................................................................. 29 Urban Agriculture ...................................................................................................................................................................... 31 Historical & Cultural Resources ............................................................................................................................................. 32 Climate & Potential Environmental Changes ...................................................................................................................... 34 Areas or Topics Where: More Work or Study Is Needed .................................................................................................... 37 Next Steps: ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 38 Works Cited: ................................................................................................................................................................................... 40 Appendices ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 43 Appendix A. List of Important Online Reference Materials ............................................................................................ 43 Appendix B. Timeline of Building the Natural Resources Inventory (NRI) in Kingston, NY ..................................... 44 Project Public Meetings and Trainings ...................................................................................................................................... 46 Appendix C. City of Kingston: NRI Core Map Library ................................................................................................... 47 Appendix C. – NRI Core Map Library ..................................................................................................................................... 48 i Appendix E. Species Tables and Lists (flora & fauna) ...................................................................................................... 97 Section 1: From: 2014 Natural Areas and Wildlife in Your Community: A Habitat Summary Prepared for the City of Kingston – May 2014. NYSDEC L. Heady. ......................................................................................... 97 Section 2. Species Lists from the Flatbush Ridge project (2010)........................................................................... 101 Table of Figures Figure 1. Demographics of Kingston, NY - https://statisticalatlas.com/place/New-York/Kingston ....................... 7 Figure 2. Regional Ecosystems – Kingston falls within the Hudson Limestone Valley Sub-region of the Lower New England and Northern Piedmont Ecoregion (The Nature Conservancy). http://www.conservationgateway.org/ConservationByGeography/NorthAmerica/UnitedStates ............................... 7 Figure 3. Table of Detailed Land Cover Land Use Classes (2013) of Kingston. High-resolution (1m) data used by Shippsburg Univ. PA. ...................................................................................................................................................................... 9 Figure 4. Detailed (1m) Land Cover\Land Use Imagery for Kingston. Hi-resolution (1m) aerial imagery merged with 1m LIDAR (University of Shippsburg, PA) ................................................................................................................... 10 Figure 5. Detailed (1m) Impervious Cover Imagery for Kingston. Hi-resolution (1m) aerial imagery merged with 1m LIDAR. (University of Shippsburg, PA) ........................................................................................................................... 11 Figure 6. Table of Habitat Types from Hudsonia Ltd. Analysis of Significant Habitats in Selected Areas of Kingston (2013). ............................................................................................................................................................................ 12 Figure 7. Hudsonia Ltd (2013) Significant Habitats of Kingston. Note three main “large natural area” regions.... 13 Figure 8. Major Ecological Features in Kingston (20144) Habitat Summary – L. Heady NYSDEC ........................ 14 Figure 9. Street & Park Tree Survey (2018) by Arbor Pro. Some 4,406 sites and 3,119 trees were inventoried. .... 17 Figure 10 Important Aquatic Habitats of Kingston. L. Heady, NYSDEC ....................................................................... 18 Figure 11. Major Drainages (Hudson River, Rondout Creek, Esopus Creek) of Kingston plus focus stream basins: Main Street Brook, Tannery Brook and Twaalfskill Creek. .................................................................................................. 21 Figure 12. Esopus Creek and FEMA Flood Hazard Zones (note built commercial centers along Kingston frontage; south shore) ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 22 Figure 13. Parks and Recreational Resources of Kingston .................................................................................................... 30 Figure 14. City of Kingston CAC: Core NRI Map Library ................................................................................................ 47 Figure 15. NRI Map - Kingston Topography ......................................................................................................................... 48 Figure 16. NRI Map - Kingston