State Parks Biodiversity Partnership
Project Sponsor: New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation
End Date: Dec. 31, 2023
Summary
The Office of Parks, Recreation, & Historic Preservation provides support for NYNHP staff dedicated to State Parks. Our state parks inventory team collects, analyzes, and compiles information on rare species and significant natural communities in parks throughout the state. They also serve as stewardship consultants, helping regional staff and facility managers respond to complex ecological management and planning issues.
Since 1998, NY State Parks (NYS Office of Parks, Recreation, & Historic Preservation) has supported a team of NYNHP scientists to conduct field inventories and advise on stewardship of rare species and significant natural communities. To date, we have identified and mapped over 1,400 locations for rare species and 300 locations for high quality and/or rare community on their lands. Park staff use these data and reports daily for environmental review, project planning, natural resource stewardship, education, and research and monitoring. We work closely with staff to interpret the data and advise on complex ecological management and planning issues to support Parks’ mission of being good stewards of the land. NYS Parks manages 225 Parks and Historic Sites, 330,000 acres, and roughly 70 million visitors per year.
Orient Beach State Park - maritime beach and saltmarsh communities.
Rhodora (Rhododendron canadense) - this spectacular plant is rare in NY (state-threatened).
John Boyd Thacher State Park - high quality, mature hemlock-northern hardwood forest occurs on the steep slopes of the Helderberg Escarpment.
Nov. 30, 2020 | Updated Feb. 9, 2021, 10:37 a.m.