In 2001-2020, Hudsonia created townwide maps of significant habitats for twelve Dutchess County towns plus the City of Poughkeepsie, along with reports describing the habitats, their ecological significance, their importance to the human community, and recommendations for conservation. The habitat information is intended to inform townwide and site-specific land use planning, policy-making, land management, and siting, design, and environmental reviews of land development projects.
In 2021, Don Meltz and his GIS students at Marist College published the habitat maps to an online platform that enables easy, interactive access for public use. Maps are available for the towns of Amenia, Beekman, Clinton, Dover, East Fishkill, Hyde Park, North East, Pine Plains, Poughkeepsie (town & city), Rhinebeck, Stanford, and Washington.
This webinar reintroduces the habitat maps and reports to municipal officials; demonstrate how to access the maps through the new web map portal, and discuss some of the ways the information can be used for municipal purposes.
Webinar Speakers:
Gretchen Stevens, Director of Hudsonia’s Biodiversity Resources Center
Don Meltz, Adjunct Professor, Marist College.
The event was sponsored by the Dutchess County Planning Federation, and is conducted in partnership with Cornell University and the Hudson River Estuary Program of the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation and funded by the NYS Environmental Protection Fund.