A New York City Department of Environmental Protection permit will no longer be needed to access approximately 13,000 acres of city-owned land in the Catskills.
State and city officials completed an agreement Thursday to allow hiking, hunting, fishing and trapping without a city permit on city-owned parcels that are adjacent to state Forest Preserve land.
Delaware County officials said they were pleased that the city is making it easier to access land for recreational purposes.
"So many people come here for outdoor recreational activities," Mary Beth Silano, Delaware County Chamber of Commerce executive director said Thursday. "This is a great start, but we need more. There is so much more land that should be open."
Silano said the terms of the Memorandum of Agreement between the city and the watershed communities indicates that land purchased by the city must remain available for historic recreational use.
Dean Frazier, Delaware County Watershed Affairs commissioner, said, "This is a step in the right direction, but we look forward to the city opening parcels that are not adjacent to state land."
The agreement between the DEP and the state Department of Environmental Conservation is the latest in a series of recent recreational improvements for the Catskills, including opening new areas to mountain biking at Mount Hayden and launching a pilot program for boating at Cannonsville Reservoir.
Under the new access initiative, DEC will patrol the affected areas to enforce regulations, help protect the environment and further assist in the management of these lands.
"This is a significant accomplishment that will boost recreational opportunities in the Catskills," DEC Commissioner Pete Grannis said in a media release. "Working together, we have reduced red tape and opened up new lands for public enjoyment, while ensuring protection of the watershed."
New York state owns over 200,000 acres in the city's watershed west of the Hudson River, the vast majority of which is located within the Catskill Forest Preserve. DEC has successfully managed this land for many decades, allowing residents and visitors to enjoy recreational activities without the need for access permits.
In September, the city granted DEC a land-use permit to manage Mount Hayden in Greene County that will enable visitors to hunt, trap, fish, bike and hike without the need to obtain a city access permit.
DEC has also adopted a State Land Master Plan for the Catskill Forest Preserve that creates a new 156-acre bicycle corridor in the northern Catskills.
Earlier in the summer, officials announced plans for a recreational boating pilot program at Cannonsville Reservoir, which is expected to be launched next year.
For many years, DEP permits have been required for access to city-owned land in the Catskills watershed.
Under the new agreement, first outlined a year ago, the applicable DEC hunting, fishing and trapping licenses will be the only permits needed on the land impacted by this agreement. No permit will be necessary for hiking.
Maps showing the affected areas in parts of Delaware, Greene, Schoharie, Sullivan and Ulster counties are available at: http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/html/watershed_protection/huntmaps2.shtml Patricia Breakey can be reached at 746-2894 or at stardelhi@stny.rr.com.
