New York State Office of Cyber Security
Geographic Information Systems Clearinghouse
GIS Partnership Summary
Data collection for
Recreational and Conservation
lands
Partnership Purpose and Goal:
This partnership was originally formed in 2001 between Columbia Land Conservancy,
Inc. (CLC) and Don Meltz GIS and Planning. Don Meltz was contracted by
CLC to collect data on the location, size, ownership and other details
of the recreational and conservation lands open to the public in Columbia
County and the surrounding seven counties including Albany, Berkshire (MA),
Dutchess, Greene, Litchfield (CT), Rensselaer, and Ulster. The purpose
of the data collection was to produce a map depicting the recreational
and conservation lands open to the public and to analyze the distribution
of these lands. Don Meltz annually updated and maintained the data set
and map until 2004 when CLC began to maintain the data set and map with
their own GIS.
In 2004, CLC expand the verification and collection of the data used for the map by working with conservation organizations operating within the eight counties and municipalities located within each of the counties.
The goal of this partnership is to create and maintain an accurate data set for recreational and conservation lands open to the public in the above specified eight county region.
Participants and Resource Contributions:
Since 2001 data has been contributed by the following partners: (* indicates
Data Sharing Cooperative Members)
Don Meltz Planning and GIS - Columbiaville, NY
Office of Geographic and Environmental Information (MassGIS), Commonwealth of Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs
Connecticut Office of Policy and Management, Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, Environmental and Geographic Information Center
New York State Geographic Information System Clearinghouse Data Sharing Cooperative*
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation*
Columbia County Soil and Water Conservation District*
Catskill Center for Conservation and Development*
Dutchess Land Conservancy*
Open Space Institute*
The Scenic Hudson Land Trust*
The Nature Conservancy*
Albany County Land Conservancy
Dutchess County Department of Planning and Development
Mohonk Preserve
New York/New Jersey Trail Conference
New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation Rensselaer-Taconic Land Conservancy
Rondout-Esopus Land Conservancy
Cornwall Conservation Trust
Housatonic River Walk
Stockbridge Land Trust
Mass Audubon
City of: Catskill, Cohoes, and Rensselaer*
Town of: Austerlitz, Ashland, Barkhamstead, Beacon, Becket, Beekman, Bethlehem, Canaan (CT), East Fishkill, Egremont, Fishkill, Germantown, Hurley, Hyde Park, Kinderhook, Poughkeepsie, Rhinebeck, Schodack, Stuyvesant, Watertown, Woodbury
Village of: Catskill, Kinderhook and Schaghticoke, Torrington
Date Partnership Began: 2001
Completed: On-going
Deliverables:
Annually, an updated data set is created of recreational and conservation
lands open to the public in Columbia County and the surrounding seven
counties including Albany, Berkshire (MA), Dutchess, Greene, Litchfield
(CT), Rensselaer, and Ulster. The maps are also available on paper in
18” x 24” or 36” x 48” in color. A lo-res version
is also on CLC’s website.
Brief Summary of Partnership:
This partnership has been formed by non-profit conservation organizations,
municipalities, government agencies and private industry. Not all of the
municipalities and government agencies have responded to data requests.
It is sometimes difficult to get the data needed within the time frame
that we update the map (January of every year is when we begin to collect
data from the previous year and our deadline for completion is April).
Working on this map has put us in contact with many GIS professionals operating
in the same region. We have come to expand on this partnership with OSI,
DLC and Scenic Hudson a great deal for day to day GIS and GPS support.
Additional Information Available On-line: http://www.clctrust.org/regmap.htm
Contact Information:
Carissa Haberland
Stewardship Associate
Columbia Land Conservancy, Inc.
49 Main Street, Chatham NY 12037
Phone: (518) 392-5252
Fax: (518) 392-3099
E-mail: Carissa@clctrust.org
Don Meltz
Don Meltz Planning and GIS
PO Box 205, Columbiaville, NY 12050
Phone: (518) 799-5412
Fax: (518) 799-2156
E-mail: donmeltz@msn.com
Josh Clague
Land Conservation Planner
Scenic Hudson
One Civic Center Plaza, Suite 200, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601
Phone: (845) 473-4000
Fax: (845) 473-2648
E-mail: jclague@scenichudson.org
Chris Olney
Director of Conservation
Catskill Center for Conservation and Development
PO Box 504, Arkville, NY 12406
Phone: (845) 586-2611
Fax: (845) 586-3044
E-mail: chriso@catskill.net