Hudsonia urges towns to consider biodiversity when planning

Hudsonia Ltd. is an institute for “research, education and technical assistance in the environmental sciences,” according to its literature. Furthermore, it “studies plants and animals in the Northeast, their habitats and their conservation, while conduacting pure and applied research, providing non-advocacy technical assistance and conducting educational programs on the science and practice of environmental conservation.”On Wednesday, March 6, Hudsonia was in North East, teaching the Planning Board about biodiversity conservation in the face of the town’s ongoing development.Biodiversity 101“We realize the Planning Board has to deal with a lot of things: flood hazards, pedestrian safety, sewage, wastewater, clean water and other resources,” said Hudsonia Director and Biologist Gretchen Stevens. “So biodiversity might seem trivial. But as biologists we understand the importance of biodiversity to the human community. With biodiversity we’re talking about all of the living organisms in our world and in your regional landscape.”There are clues when ecosystems are off-kilter. Stevens explained there are special concerns when rare species seem endangered “because they’re the ones alerting us” when the natural balance is upset. She also said there are concerns when more common species are at risk because that also signals trouble.Keeping balance in the natural world helps promote biodiversity, but it also helps human communities.“It’s much cheaper and more efficient for municipalities to rely on nature to take care of things then to construct something to take care of us,” Stevens said, attributing the comment to State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. Healthy, natural systems, said Stevens, contribute to clean air; water quality and quantity; human health; flood control; climate adaptation; natural pollinators; recreation and education; and scenery. Denuded landscapes, meanwhile, contribute to compacted soils, increased runoff and erosion, diminished water quality and availability and increased frequency and severity of floods.“The beauty of this area,” she said, “is that there’s a good deal of biodiversity.”The importance of wetlandsWetlands can remove 20 to 60 percent of metals in water. They can trap and retain 80 to 90 percent of sediment from runoff. They can also eliminate 70 to 90 percent of entering nitrogen. One acre of wetland can store 1 to 1.5 million gallons of floodwater, and according to Stevens, “it’s the many small wetlands in the landscape that contribute to flood control.”Good, clean funThe figures beg the question, why should we care? Stevens said it’s because healthy ecosystems have numerous benefits. One is recreation, which she said can be very important to the local economy. In 2006 in New York state, there were 3.5 million wildlife watchers ages 16 and older. More than $1.4 billion in retail sales (with an estimated multiplier effect of $2.7 billion) was earned through recreation profits. Recreation also provided for 25,500 jobs and more than $250,000 in state and local tax revenues, according to a national survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation. A healthy lifeThere are also human health benefits to having and protecting healthy ecosystems. One study from the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook pointed to reduced risk of Lyme disease in forests that have not been fragmented to include patches smaller than 5 acres. Likewise, wetlands that are healthy don’t tend to support the species of mosquitoes that carry West Nile Virus, according to Stevens.Planning aheadUsing such information can have big benefits on planning. Smart planning is essential, especially when one considers that “open space and wildlife habitat in the Hudson Valley is being consumed at a much faster pace than the population is growing,” said Stevens. “There are much better ways we can use land to accommodate how the population wants to live here.”The Hudsonia director continued to make the correlation to planning.“Having good information, such as habitat maps, will enable you to know more about landscapes and help you think about the larger picture,” Stevens said, adding that it will also help boards deal with the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) process. She then went on to discuss details about the habitat maps Hudsonia created for the town four years ago, when it first completed the town-wide habitat study, which was funded by the Millbrook Tribute Garden and the Dyson Foundation. The goal then, as it is today, was to incorporate the biodiversity information into the work of the Planning Board.Estuary programStevens spoke of the Hudson River Estuary Program, with its core mission of ensuring clean water, protecting and restoring fish, wildlife and their habitats, providing water recreation and river access, adapting to climate change and conserving local scenery. The estuary program’s aim is to raise the ability of communities to plan for a “resilient future.”Habitats in North EastSome of the habitats found in the town of North East included: contiguous forests; contiguous meadows; streams; intermittent streams; perennial streams; oak-heath barrens; fens; acidic bogs; circumneutral bog lakes; and marble knolls.Making use of one’s toolboxBiologist Kelly Farrell was also at last Wednesday’s presentation. She stressed how crucial a Planning Board’s role is in protecting any given community’s unique ecosystems, especially one as bountiful as North East.“Municipal planning is key to biodiversity conservation,” she said. “We’ve been going to towns that have one or two habitats, but North East has almost every single one.”Farrell then said towns throughout Dutchess County have been using their habitat maps as tools to help with planning in various ways. For instance, the town of Amenia has incorporated its map into its comprehensive plan as well as its zoning law. She said boards can also “implement without codifying.”Some suggestions to incorporate biodiversity conservation into local decision making included using the maps in pre-application meetings, using them during SEQRA and also using them to create Critical Environmental Areas (CEA), which get increased scrutiny under SEQRA.Questions and answersAfter the PowerPoint presentation concluded, the board asked Stevens and Farrell some questions, including how to implement some of the ideas without specific laws to back them.Planning Board Chairman Dale Culver said it’s difficult to address when those dealing with the issue have an invested interest in the matter.“I know, it’s really hard,” Stevens acknowledged. “The courts do seem to be quite deferential if the towns take a reasonable and balanced approach and can back it up.” But don’t take any legal advice from me, please.”