STATE PLAN CALLS FOR INCREASED RIVER ACCESS

Mike McCagg

ccSCOOP News

02-05-10 - 2:30 a.m. - The Hudson River Estuary Action Agenda, which is currently the subject of public comment, seeks to improve access to the river for all Hudson River communities, while preserving the river environment and conserving more land throughout the Hudson Valley.

The action agenda outlines a twelve-goal action plan for the state and specifically for the Hudson River estuary and the surrounding watershed, which includes all of Columbia County. Comments on the plan are being accepted by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation through February 22. Comments can be directed to hrep@gw.dec.state.ny.us (include the words "Draft Action Agenda" in the subject line) or by mail to: Action Agenda, Hudson River Estuary Program, NYSDEC Region 3 Office, 21 South Putt Corners Road, New Paltz, NY 12561.

State estuary officials hope to have a final version of the plan ready in April.

The twelve goals of the plan are:

1. Restore the signature fisheries of the estuary to their full potential.
2. Conserve, protect, and enhance river and shoreline habitats to assure that life cycles of key species are supported for human enjoyment and to sustain a healthy ecosystem.
3. Conserve the rich diversity of plants, animals, and habitats that are key to the vitality, natural beauty, and environmental quality of the Hudson Valley.
4. Protect and restore streams, their corridors and the watersheds that replenish the estuary and nourish and sustain water resources critical to the health and well-being of Hudson Valley residents and the ecosystem.
5. Conserve key elements of the working pastoral landscapes and world famous river scenery that define the character of the Hudson River Valley, and provide new and enhanced vistas where residents and visitors can enjoy Hudson River views.
6. Address the causes of climate change in the Hudson Valley and prepare for projected impacts to the health and safety of the region and to protect the natural resources and local economies.
7. Develop, maintain, and improve a regional system of access points for fishing, boating, swimming, hiking, education, river watching, and wildlife-related recreation, and build connections that allow residents and visitors to have rich and diverse river experiences.
8. Promote public understanding of the Hudson River, including the life it supports, its role in the global ecosystem, and the challenges the river faces and how they can be met.
9. Revitalize all the waterfronts of the valley so that the Hudson is once again the “front door” for river communities, where scenery and natural habitats combine with economic and cultural opportunity, public access, working ports and harbors, and lively adjacent downtowns, to sustain vital human population centers and a healthy environment.
10. Ensure that Hudson River water quality supports appropriate human benefits, including drinking water, swimming, fishing, navigation, and ecosystem protection.
11. Reduce contaminants entering the Hudson River and remove or remediate river sediments contaminated by long-term pollutants so that food webs of the river are supported, people can safely eat Hudson River fish, and harbors are free of the contaminants that constrain their operation.
12. Track the progress of the plan.

The action plan bills itself as “a statement of where the state and its citizens want to be. The goals and targets defined here establish a framework for collaboration and recognize the critical roles that local governments, non-profit organizations, federal agencies, citizens groups, and a wide range of economic interests need to play to assure they are achieved.”

Specific areas of the proposed plan include dramatically increasing public access to fishing sites along the river. One stated goal is “to, by 2020, establish at least one public fishing access site per river community where feasible.”

The plan also states a goal of building or upgrading river access sites by 2020 that are identified in approved state and local plans and completing new access sites in five or more communities. The plan would support “community boating needs for non-motorized craft, such as floating docks in New York City and rowing facilities for crew, using grants and municipal agreements.”

The proposed new access may be good news for communities like Stuyvesant which has been waging a twenty-year battle with the state to open an access point in the Newton Hook area of town, off Route 9J.

In an effort to achieve the stated increases proposed for 2020, the plan calls for specific steps to be taken by 2014, including:

• Building and renovating community docks
• Providing facilities for underserved communities
• Preserving and enhancing recreational boating access
• Providing increased fishing access
• Creating safe places for swimming
• Creating a network of education sites linked with river access
• Completing the Hudson River Valley Greenway Land Trail and Water Trail

Another highlight of the plan calls for the conservation of key elements of the landscape in the valley. A specific goal of the proposal is to “ensure that, by 2020, at least 30 percent of Hudson River Valley communities develop and implement local open space protection programs consistent with the state Open Space Conservation Plan.”

Additionally, the plan sets a target of 180,000 acres in the valley to be conserved by 2020, with half that--90,000 new acres--to be conserved by 2014. A specific goal of conserving 5,000 acres along or in sight of the Hudson River that would that provide connectivity between larger habitat areas, protect river and stream corridors, intact forests, Hudson Valley farmland, aquifer recharge areas, or natural Hudson River shoreline has also been established.

Scenic Hudson and local groups are working toward that latter goal with the planned creation of a trail that would connect the City of Hudson with the Greenport Conservation Area and Harrier Hill Park in Stockport along a stretch of land overlooking the Hudson River. Seth McKee at Scenic Hudson told ccSCOOP that those plans are well underway.

Click here to review the Hudson River Estuary Action Agenda.