$8.00 Croton-to-Highlands Biodiversity Plan Balancing Development and the Environment in the Hudson River Estuary Catchment Metropolitan Conservation Alliance a program of MCA Technical Paper Series: No. 7 Croton-to-Highlands Biodiversity Plan Balancing Development and the Environment in the Hudson River Estuary Catchment by Nicholas A. Miller, M.S. and Michael W. Klemens, Ph.D. Metropolitan Conservation Alliance Wildlife Conservation Society Bronx, NY Cover photograph: Hunter Brook, Yorktown, NY. ©WCS/MCA, Kevin J. Ryan Suggested citation: Miller, N. A. and M. W. Klemens. 2004. Croton-to-Highlands Biodiversity Plan: Balancing development and the environment in the Hudson River Estuary Catchment. MCA Technical Paper No. 7, Metropolitan Conservation Alliance, Wildlife Conservation Society, Bronx, New York. Additional copies of this document can be obtained from: Metropolitan Conservation Alliance Wildlife Conservation Society 68 Purchase Street, 3rd Floor Rye, New York 10580 (914) 925-9175 [email protected] ISBN 0-9724810-2-8 ISSN 1542-8133 Printed on partially recycled paper ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This project would not have been possible without the enthusiastic collaboration and support of our key partners: the towns of Cortlandt, New Castle, Putnam Valley, and Yorktown. These communities have helped to guide this project and have contributed to its success through active engagement at meetings and planning charettes, on-going outreach to their citizenry, and contribution of seed monies. We extend thanks to all of our partners within these four communities (including many elected and appointed officials, town staff, volunteer board members, and concerned citizens) who have moved this project forward and who continue to make conservation of biodiversity a priority within their towns. Initial start-up funds for this project were provided by each of the four towns. Generous financial support has been received from a variety of additional sources, including Westchester Community Foundation, NYS Department of Environmental Conservation’s Hudson River Estuary Program, and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). In addition, WCS's Metropolitan Conservation Alliance received core support during early phases of this project from Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and Surdna Foundation. Teatown Lake Reservation (in partnership with Westchester Community Foundation) funded field surveys and GIS analyses in the vicinity of the Reservation as part of a separate project; much of this information has been incorporated into the CHBP. The Town of Cortlandt funded a study of the Hudson Highlands Gateway Park; data collected during that study have also been incorporated into the CHBP. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................iii Introduction .........................................................................................................................................1 Background Information..........................................................................................................1 The Croton-to-Highlands Region ...........................................................................................1 Concepts and Issues ...........................................................................................................................2 Biodiversity in the Croton-to-Highlands Region ...................................................................2 Importance of Biodiversity in this Region .............................................................................3 Biodiversity and Local Land Use Planning ...........................................................................4 Project Premises and Goals......................................................................................................5 Land Use Changes and Biodiversity.......................................................................................6 Methods ................................................................................................................................................8 The Focal Species Approach (FoSA)..................................................................................... 8 Site Selection and Access ........................................................................................................9 Field Data Collection .............................................................................................................10 Data Management...................................................................................................................10 Data Analysis..........................................................................................................................11 Outreach and Municipal/Inter-municipal Implementation ..................................................12 iv Results and Discussion .....................................................................................................................13 Overview.................................................................................................................................13 Definition of Terms: Biodiversity Areas ..............................................................................13 Croton-to-Highlands Biodiversity Areas ..............................................................................15 Figure A. Croton-to-Highlands Biodiversity Map.......................................................................17 Recommendations for Implementation .........................................................................................24 Important Considerations and Caveats .................................................................................24 Recommendations for Future Development and Economic Growth..................................24 Recommendations for Land Preservation.............................................................................25 Recommendations for Local Land Use Planning.................................................................26 Literature Cited ................................................................................................................................31 Appendix A. Focal Species of the Croton-to-Highlands Region.....................................................32 Appendix B. WCS/MCA Technical Paper Series ............................................................................34 v INTRODUCTION Background Information The Croton-to-Highlands Biodiversity Plan (CHBP) project is a partnership between the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Metropolitan Conservation Alliance (WCS/MCA) and the four contiguous towns of Cortlandt, New Castle, Putnam Valley, and Yorktown in northwestern Westchester County and southwestern Putnam County, New York. The goal of the project is to establish a regional, multi-town approach to land use planning to promote the conservation of wildlife and habitats. This project builds upon a model developed by WCS/MCA in other towns, regions, and states. These four towns were selected because they contain an impressive diversity of wildlife and habitats, because they are under development pressures that threaten those natural resources, and because there is a growing concern within these towns about the costs of sprawl to the environment and to human health and well-being. The Croton-to-Highlands Region The Croton-to-Highlands region encompasses the northwestern-most towns of Westchester County (Cortlandt, New Castle, and Yorktown) and the contiguous Town of Putnam Valley in southwestern Putnam County. It is bounded to the west, for much of its length, by the Hudson River. As its name implies, the region comprises diverse landscapes, from the hills and valleys of the Croton River watershed in the south to the forested ridges of the Hudson Highlands in the north. This region, once composed of forests and fields interspersed with hamlets, villages and other urban centers, is experiencing rapid change. A wave of sprawl is pulsing through the region, from south to north. The directional nature of this sprawl has created a similar gradient in relative biodiversity; the most development-sensitive species persist only in the north. But vibrant habitats and diverse assemblages of wildlife are found in all four towns. There is still time to minimize and contain the effects of sprawl; but this can only be achieved by finding alternative development patterns that can strike a better balance between economic growth and environmental integrity. This balance is necessary, not only to maintain biodiversity, but to retain the diverse and scenic landscapes that are at the very core of the “sense of place” defining each of these four towns. 1 CONCEPTS AND ISSUES Biodiversity in the Croton-to-Highlands Region The rich tapestry of genes, species, ecosystems, and their interactions are collectively referred to as biological diversity, often shortened to “biodiversity.” The Croton-to-Highlands towns are home to significant habitats and rich assemblages of wildlife, due to a unique convergence of factors: 1. The diverse geological variation within these towns serves as a foundation for a wide variety of habitats. Wetlands, streams, and elevation gradients combine to create many distinctive habitat types, which in turn support unique and rare species. The region’s biodiversity is influenced by both the Hudson Highlands and the more low-lying river valleys. 2. The geographic position