Public Meeting On The Proposal Wednesday, March 24, At 6:30 pm
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) announced that it is proposing to create a Rensselaer Plateau Forest Legacy Area under the USDA’s Forest Legacy Program (FLP).
The FLP is a federal grant program designed to protect forest lands from conversion to non-forest uses and is administered by DEC in New York State. The Rensselaer Plateau is a forested, 105,000 acre plateau in eastern Rensselaer and Columbia counties encompassing all or part of Berlin, Brunswick, Grafton, Hoosick, Nassau, New Lebanon, Petersburgh, Pittstown, Poestenkill, Sand Lake, Schaghticoke and Stephentown. The Rensselaer Plateau meets the goals of the FLP, including maintaining and enhancing water quality, preventing lands from being converted to non-forest uses and protecting important wildlife habitat.
The DEC has slated a public meeting to discuss the proposal at 6:30 pm on Wednesday, March 24, at the Brunswick Central School (Tamarac), 3992 NY State Route 2 in Brunswick.
The federal Forest Legacy Program was authorized under the 1990 federal Farm Bill and recognizes that most forested lands in the United States are held in private ownership. Many forest landowners are facing growing financial pressure to convert their lands to uses that would remove them from the forested land base, such as residential and commercial development.
The program is entirely voluntary and landowners who wish to participate may either sell their property outright or sell only a portion of their property rights, such as development rights through conservation easements, and retain ownership of the land. Conservation easements would allow the land to remain in private ownership and ensure that important public values such as wildlife habitat, watershed protection, forest resources and outdoor recreation opportunities would be protected.
While there currently is no state funding available for land protection, the FLP designation would position the state to work with willing landowners to protect plateau lands utilizing a combination of federal and state funds once state funding becomes available.
The Rensselaer Plateau was given priority project status in New York State’s 2009 Open Space Plan and includes the fifth largest unfragmented forest in New York State. The plateau also includes a portion of the Tomhannock Reservoir Watershed, which provides drinking water to more than 100,000 residents.
The forests of the plateau also generate jobs for the local forest products industry – in the woods and in the region’s many mills and wood processing facilities. The plateau also includes several unique wetland communities and impressive mammal diversity not typical of the greater Capital District, including black bear, fisher, otter, bobcat and moose.
Comments on the proposal to create a Rensselaer Plateau Forest Legacy Area will be accepted until April 16, 2010. Comments can be sent via email to r4ump@gw.dec.state.ny.us or via US mail to William Schongar, DEC Region 4, 1130 North Westcott Road, Schenectady, NY, 12306. For more information about the designation, including a map of the plateau area, visit DEC’s website at www.dec.ny.gov/lands/63125.html.