USFS
Highlands Regional Study Draft Report - March 2002
Highlands Coalition
US FOREST SERVICE RELEASES DRAFT OF HIGHLANDS STUDY & CALL TO
ACTION: REPORT URGES PROTECTION OF 100,000 ACRES OF PRIORITY LANDS TO
PROTECT WATER SUPPLIES
Highlands Coalition, April 4, 2002 (updated with correction)
The USDA Forest Service has released a draft today of the New York-
New Jersey Highlands Regional Study, an update to their previous study
of the region in 1992. The study update focuses on the 1.5 million
acre NY-NJ Highlands, which is part of the nearly 2 million acre
greater Highlands region that stretches from Reading Pennsylvania to
the Litchfield Hills of Connecticut. Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ)
and Senator Robert Torricelli (D-NJ) were instrumental in securing the
necessary funding from Congress to update the study.
The draft report reinforces their earlier finding that the
Highlands region is of national significance, due to the diversity and
quality of its natural resources and landscape, all located within two
hours travel of over 20 million Americans. "This study confirms
what the Highlands Coalition has been saying for the last
decade," said Michele Byers of the NJ Conservation Foundation.
"The Highlands are a priceless source of clean water and open
space for millions of Americans, and these lands are being developed
at a startling rate. We must act now to protect the Highlands before
we lose our water supply and our quality of life."
Among the key findings regarding the critical resources of the
Highlands include:
- Highlands' surface water reservoirs are the major water-supply
source for numerous communities outside the Highlands, including parts
of New York City and 94 New Jersey Municipalities,
- These reservoirs are especially important because of their
ability to store water for use during critical times, such as
prolonged drought,
- 14 million people visit the Highlands each year for recreational
opportunities, - 247 threatened and endangered species occur in the
Highlands,
- The Highlands serve as a major migratory flyway for neo-tropical
bird species, of which many populations are in decline, especially
those that require large undisturbed patches of forest.
- Nearly 25% of the Highlands is comprised of large contiguous
tracts of forests more than 500 acres in size, which are critical to
the survival of species such as black bear, bobcat and river
otter.
According to the report, approximately 20% of the Highlands region
is public or privately protected open space. Just over half of the
region is forested, but the vast majority of that forestland is
privately owned and threatened by increasing development pressure. The
study found that over 5,000 acres of land were developed a year in the
NY-NJ Highlands between 1995 and 2000. The rate of forest and wetland
loss quadrupled from a rate of 830 acres a year between 1984 and 1995,
to 3,400 acres a year between 1995 and 2000. An additional 1,600 acres
of farmland a year was lost between 1995 and 2000.
The report predicts that a 48% projected increase in population
under current zoning and land use laws will likely cause further
conversion of productive agriculture and forestlands, threatening
critical forested watersheds and water supplies. Twenty Highlands'
municipalities experienced greater than 20% population growth between
1990 and 2000. If current trends continue, ground water withdrawals
are expected to exceed local supply in a number of the Highlands'
watersheds, including the Ramapo, Whippanny, Pequest, Upper Delaware,
and Lopatcong. The Rockaways and Upper Musconetcong basins could also
experience similar shortages. The number of watersheds in the
Highlands likely to have exceptional water quality (less than 10%
impervious cover) would be reduced more than 75%.
"The Highlands region is the backyard and water source for the
metropolitan area," said Ella Filippone of the Passaic River
Coalition, "but it is changing fast. If current trends continue,
the quantity and quality of the water supply for millions of people
will be in serious risk. Especially in light of the recent drought, we
must act quickly to protect the critical forested watersheds in the
Highlands that safeguard our water, as well as the wildlife and
recreational opportunities that we so cherish."
According to the study, while all of the NY-NJ Highlands serves as
critical watershed lands, nearly 50% of the NY-NJ Highlands area was
ranked as having medium to high water resource values deserving
special attention. The report notes that 77% (294,000 acres) of these
high-value water resource lands deserve further protection.
The study ranks 38% (540,000 acres) of the Highlands as having
exceptional conservation value overall. Over half of these high-value
lands are unprotected from future land conversion or development and
deserve special consideration through either purchase as protected
open space, conservation easements or other policy arrangements.
Approximately 15% (98,000 acres) of the Highlands was mapped as having
a high likelihood of change and high conservation value and deemed a
priority for future open space purchase and land use planning.
Several major areas of high resource value were singled out as
"gaps" in conservation protection, including Depot
Hill/Pawling/West Mountain in Dutchess County NY, East Hudson
Highlands in Dutchess and Putnam Counties NY, Ft. Defiance Hill and
Canopus Valley in Putnam and Westchester Counties, west end of the New
Croton Resevoir in Westchester County NY, Tuxedo and Arden Farms area
in Orange County NY, Ramapo Mountains and Torne Valley in Bergen
County NJ & Rockland County NY, Wyanokie and Ramapo Highlands in
Passaic and Bergen Counties NJ, Pequannock watershed NJ, Lubber's Run
area in Sussex County NJ, Upper Pohatcong/Pequest area in Warren
County NJ, and the Scotts Mountain Area in Warren and Hunterdon
Counties NJ.
"The Highlands Coalition has previously identified 180,000
acres of priority lands in need of conservation throughout the NY-NJ
Highlands, at an estimated value of $750 million," said Jim Tripp
of Environmental Defense. "The Forest Service report has
reinforced the need to protect significant amounts of land in the
Highlands and identified important areas that should be high
priorities for federal, state, local and private land conservation
funding."
The report identifies an array of opportunities and strategies that
can be adopted by all levels of government to protect the critical
resources of the Highlands, including implementation of the NJ State
Plan recommendations following recognition of the Highlands as a
"Special Resource Area", and the development of a
"Highlands Greenway" as part of the NYS Open Space Plan. The
need for a state and federal partnership is also recognized, modeled
after the successful preservation of Sterling Forest.
"Decision-makers at all levels of government must heed the
dire warning in this report regarding the risks to the water and other
critical resources of the Highlands if the status quo continues,"
said Tom Gilbert of the Appalachian Mountain Club, Chair of the
Highlands Coalition. "Existing programs and authorities are
insufficient to prevent the steady loss of open space and erosion of
water supplies in the Highlands. State and local governments can't do
it alone. The federal government must be a full partner and make a
significant investment to help safeguard the future of this nationally
significant region."
The Forest Service has scheduled public listening sessions to hear
comments on the draft report on April 22nd, at 6:30 pm, at the
Frelinghuysen Arboretum in NJ, and April 23rd, at 6:30 pm, at the
Ramapo Town Hall in NY. The report is available on the web at http://www.fs.fed.us/na/highlands/draft_report/.
Comments may also be submitted by e-mail to NA_HighlandsStudy@fs.fed.us.
* * * The Highlands Coalition includes over 90 national, regional,
state and local organizations working together to protect and enhance
the sustainability of natural and human communities in the greater
Highlands region of PA, NJ, NY and CT. For more information about the
Highlands Coalition, see http://www.highlandscoalition.org,
or call 609-818-0400.
Contacts:
Tom Gilbert, Appalachian Mountain Club, Highlands Coalition Chair,
609-818-1776
Jim Tripp, Environmental Defense, Highlands Coalition Vice-Chair,
212-616-1247
Michele Byers, NJ Conservation Foundation, Coalition NJ State Chair,
908-234-1225
Highlands Coalition POB 118 Titusville, NJ 08560 609-818-1776, fax:
609-737-7264 http://www.highlandscoalition.org
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