Background: The Mill Brook Preserve is a proposal to create a new public park,
nature preserve and trail system within a forested area in the heart of New
Paltz. The area is located between Henry W. Dubois Drive, North Putt Corners
Road, Route 32 North, and Shivertown Road. The area includes forest, wetlands,
trails, wildlife habitat and a tributary of the Wallkill River – a stream know
as Tributary 13, or the Mill Brook. The Mill Brook Preserve Committee, an
outgrowth of the former New Paltz Open Space Committee, has been working with
interested landowners for the past several years to create this preserve. All of
the landowners contacted have either committed portions of their land to the
preserve or expressed a willingness to do so. Most recently, the owners of the
Sunset Ridge property behind Duzine School agreed to sell their land to the Town
of New Paltz for inclusion in the preserve. At this time the plan is for the
preserve to be managed through a combination of the Town and Village of New
Paltz, the Wallkill Valley Land Trust, and interested residents.
On March 1, 2010 a workshop was facilitated by Nan Stolzenburg and her firm
Community Planning and Environmental Associates, which has created a concept
plan for the preserve. The workshop was an opportunity for the public to learn
more about the proposed preserve and primarily to share its thoughts and ideas
about how it should be laid out, managed and what uses should be allowed. The
workshop centered on small groups reviewing maps and marking them up with
ideas for the preserve.
The Mill Brook preserve was first depicted on a concept map by Ray Curran in 2003 as the ideal place to have a nature preserve in the Village of New Paltz. It is the last substantially undeveloped place in the village, home to federal and state protected wetlands in the Walkill watershed, several wet clay meadows and an important vernal pool. This is an old map that does not show the wetlands that have since been mapped or the developments that have since been built, but it is the original map and has been used in the Open Space Plan for New Paltz and in the EIS for Woodland Pond.
The following map shows a more detailed depiction of the wetlands on an ortho-photo base. It was made in 2007 before Woodland Pond was built, so it does not show the footprint of that development.
mages/VNP draft wetlands on ortho base2.pdf
This map was made recently by Community Planning and Environmental Associates and shows the footprint and the conservation easement. Public access to the Woodland Ponds Easement is currently being negotiated as the conservation easement did not provide for it.
About the Millbrook Greenway and the Village EnCC
The Millbrook Greenway is home to Tributary 13 which winds through historic New Paltz. The stream runs by the Rail Trail and through the Harcourt preserve on its way to the Wallkill and finally the mighty Hudson. Tributary 13 (aka the Mill Brook) is the last living stream in the village of New Paltz and the focus of efforts already in progress to create a nature park and wildlife preserve of at least 125 contiguous acres within walking distance of campus and the center of the village. It is also the site of a beautiful swimming pond that was partly paved inside in the 50s and then was drained when they put in the chlorinated swimming pool. If suburbs engulf the last remaining villages in the vicinity of New York City the wildlife biodiversity is eliminated, the storm water is no longer removing pollutants, and Lyme disease vector species like the white footed mouse and the deer predominate at the edge of people’s lawns and gardens. Current science confirms that preserving biodiversity in places like the Millbrook Greenway also protects the health of the community because of the cleansing effects of the woods and wetlands on local air and water pollution. In New Paltz, where nature is highly valued, the greenway will also provide residents and tourists with a sylvan retreat they can go to regardless of the traffic jams to the mountains. The presence of a state jurisdictional wetland in the Millbrook Preserve has been determined by the DEC. The town and village have been advised now that the maps that were to be amended in 2009 to include the central wetland complex in the Millbrook Greenway as eligible for state protection will probably be mapped this year if there is enough funding..
Many animals with development sensitivity are being documented by students and commissioners. There are green frogs and two-lined salamanders in the heavily rocky portion around the stream, on the extreme South side of the Millbrook Sanctuary. Great Blue Heron have been seen all throughout the different lakes and along the Tributary.
Eric Kiviat's Wetland Assessment of the Proposed Millbrook Greenway of 2003 provides an outline of what species are likely to be found as well as the details of a study done over the course of three weeks in October of 2003. He found a New York State Heritage listed species Agrimonia Parviflora and noted the potential existence of many others. His report states that a male Clemmmys Insculpta (Wood Turtle) was seen on the Lent property. In late spring of 2007 an adult female Wood Turtle was photographed by students and commissioners in the stream north of the Lake just north of wetland ZD. Last spring and summer six spotted turtle sightings have been documented with the locations around the vicinity. A box turtle shell was found in the woods east of Lake ZB. Many Spotted Salamanders were seen at Vernal Pool Wetland AAA in March. The interns are focused on several habitats, an old beaver lake, adjacent grasslands, and Old Hemlock Forest which is surrounding Tributary 13, just North of Wetland ZD in the heart of the Millbrook Greenway. Spotted turtle and wood turtle have been seen in the grasslands here most often. Many birds nest in the grasslands around the Tributary in this area. Successions of tadpoles traverse up and down this portion of the stream. A pair of beavers currently inhabits the lake and surrounding areas at Wetland ZB. As they are the keystone species responsible for the engineering of the wetlands, special attention has been given to them in terms of the location of our water testing and the timing of our site visits. Great blue heron and spotted turtles are frequently seen around this lake and evidence of box turtle was found to the east of this lake. Gretchen Steven's 2006 report Wetlands in the Village of New Paltz cites unusual plant communities by the lake and constructed pond north of the beaver marsh and the presence of many uncommon species of plant which suggests that further biological surveys might yield rare plants or animals using these habitats. The Village of New Paltz has supported the program by buying e-coli test kits, a digital camera, and hip boots.
Both studies by Kiviat and Stevens recommend taking a detailed biodiversity inventory to obtain a baseline of data about the water quality and to find out the travel patterns of the at risk species. We have been involving students in this effort as interns with their work overseen by SUNY professors. The data we are collecting includes but is not limited to water testing for e-coli, nutrient, macroinvertebrates, biodiversity inventory and an herbarium. The data is necessary to monitor for any changes, or failures in the devices being used to mitigate the impact of the construction and recent development.. Because of their regular travel patterns with respect to laying their eggs turtles are especially vulnerable to the vagaries of construction, especially road building. The Mill Brook Greenway and Sanctuary is a perfect example of a community and the local government making proactive moves to peacefully share stewardship of natural resources with landowners and developers. We will be working with the following organizations by taking their guidance and sharing our data: Town and Village environmental Conservation Commissions, Hudsonia, the DEC, SUNY Environmental Task Force, SUNY New Paltz Environmental Science Faculty, SUNY New Paltz Career Center, Save the Woods and Wetlands, AFFIRM, Sunset Ridge Association.
This is what we have been up to