Adirondack - Tug Hill Connectivity Project Underway

The lands between the Adirondacks and the Tug Hill region are crisscrossed by many political boundaries. What may seem like two distinct areas to humans may function differently for wildlife. Wide ranging mammals, for instance, may rely more heavily on specific sections of the Black River Valley to forage for food, search for new territory and seek mates.

Black bears can move up to 10 miles in a single day and may cover over 40 miles in a season. Smaller mammals like the river otter can have a range of 10 - 30 square miles of waterways. Experts believe that the future viability of many animals and plants will depend on their ability to move and adapt in response to a variety of threats, including climate change. Computer models suggest that there may be important habitat connections that would facilitate wildlife movements between the Adirondacks and the Tug Hill region and prevent those areas from becoming forested “islands.” Today’s presentation highlighted how computer models and other tools were applied to this landscape and what steps can be taken to keep important habitats intact and minimize the impacts of barriers.

Partners in the Adirondack – Tug Hill Habitat Connectivity Project including Tug Hill Tomorrow Land Trust, The Nature Conservancy, Adirondack Chapter and the Wildlife Conservation Society held a kick off meeting on Wednesday, January 20, 2010 from 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. at the Steuben Town Hall, Remsen, New York.

The meeting’s audience included local town and community officials, steering and planning board members as well as Tug Hill commissioners. The goals of the kick off meeting were to explain how areas of the Black River Valley were identified as optimum for wildlife movement between the Tug Hill region and the Adirondacks, explain the importance and significance of these specific areas, and discuss ways local partners, including members of the audience, can help to maintain and improve these areas.

Linda Garrett of Tug Hill Tomorrow Land Trust put the work within the context of recent survey results that demonstrate the high value local communities place on wildlife, recreation and open space. Ms. Garrett explained how the Tug Hill tradition and way of life is dependent upon the quality of its natural resources – forest, agricultural land, rivers and streams and wildlife.

Michelle Brown of The Nature Conservancy’s, Adirondack Chapter, gave an overview of what habitat connectivity means, and why it is important. The partners looked at current knowledge of species needs, computer modeling, and on-the-ground data as a way to identify priority areas. The northern end of the Tug Hill region (Croghan area) and a southern link (including Boonville and Steuben areas) emerged as focal areas.

The partner organizations will be working with local officials to implement town and planning board outreach, DOT partnerships, low-volume road legislation and working landscape conservation easements in order to maintain and improve these key habitat connectivity areas – all important steps toward preserving wildlife, recreational, and open space values identified by local residents in a recent opinion poll.

The Adirondack Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a leading international, non-profit organization working to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. The Conservancy and its more than one million members have protected nearly 120 million acres worldwide. The Adirondack Chapter, based in Keene Valley, New York, has protected 571,000 Adirondack acres since 1971. The Chapter is also a founding partner of High Peaks Summit Stewardship Program and the award-winning Adirondack Park Invasive Plant Program. On the Web at www.nature.org/adirondacks.

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is a global conservation organization committed to saving wildlife and wildlands by understanding critical issues, and taking conservation actions that benefit nature and people. The WCS Adirondack Program applies this approach in and around the Adirondack Park, through applied research, community partnerships and public outreach. The program is based in Saranac Lake. For more information, call 518.891.8872 or email accp@wcs.org.