At the outset of 1998, Sterling Forest was the largest privately-owned, undeveloped parcel of land within commuting distance of New York City. Plans for developing the majority of the forest forged a unique bi-state coalition from local citizen grassroots groups to the highest levels of state and federal government. In 1998, 15,800 acres of land were purchased and preserved as open space. Since that time, the remaining lands have since been purchased to remain as protected open space.
Overview
The
interior forest habitat of the New York-New Jersy Highlands is
being increasingly recoginzed as having significant biodiversity
value. Satellite remote sensing and geographic information systems
(GIS) were used at the Grant F. Walton Center for Remote Sensing
and Spatial Analysis (CRSSA), Rutgers University, to undertake
an inventory of forest habitat and an assessment of forest fragmentation
in the New York-New Jersey Highlands region. The NY-NJ Highlands
has a forest cover of 62-65%, but due to fragmentation only 20%
of the total forest area is considered prime forest habitat.
As part of its Highlands forest study, CRSSA also applied its
expertise of geo-spatial technologies to perform an ecological
analysis of Sterling Forest. The results were incorporated into
land preservation efforts by non-profit and government groups
concerned with impacts of imminent plans for development of Sterling
Forest.
The Trust for Public Land and the Open Space Institute were instrumential
in coordinating the 1998 purchase of 15,800 acres of land in Sterling
Forest with funds obtained from various government and private
sources. The remaining lands have since been purchased to remain
as open space.
The preservation of Sterling Forest and other large tracts of
contiguous forest within the New York - New Jersey Highlands was
crucial for many reasons including: 1) maintaining viable populations
of a number of forest-dependent species in the NY/NJ Highlands,
2) protecting drinking water for nearly a quarter of New Jersey's residents, 3) helping
to maintain a critical missing link in a greenway stretching unbroken
from the Hudson to the Delaware Rivers.
Links
- Hemlock Forest Decline in the New Jersey Highlands Region
- CRSSA Participation in the NY-NJ Highlands Regional Assessment Update 2001-02
- Highlands Regional Assessment Update
Site composed 1998. New Layout: 2017
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