HomeMy WebLinkAboutTen-year Review of TC 'Unique Natural Areas' Inventory 3.20.2006.PDFTen-vear Review of Tompkins County "Unique Nafural Areas'l inventory
ltoger Segelkery Environmental Management Council municipal member,
Cayuga Heights, March 20,2006
. The Unique Natural Areas (UNA) inventory of the Environmental
Management Council (EMC) is now being revised and possibly expanded - with r
anticipated completion in 20L0.
' The original UNA inventory was completed in 1990 and was basecl, in part, on
a survey done by a graduate studentin1-976. The inventory was last
updated/expanded in 2000.
. The Tompkins County inventory was the first of its kind in New York State.
Since theru the county has been asked to assist other counties in pteparing
environmental inventories.
. Designation as a UNA has no force of law in and bf itself. However
municipalities or the county might reference the UNA designation irr writing
codes, ordinances and plans.
. Some UNAs are in the inventctry " automatically" because they were state-
designated protected areas. Others were included on the recommendation of
knowledgeable experts andf or landowners.
. Recommended sites were vetted by experts in botany, zoology, ecology,
geology and paleontology. All sites were visited and surveyed at least once.
(Private landowners were asked for permission to visit potential sites on their
land') The majority of the approved uNAs are valued mainry for trreir plants
and "ecological communities." A few were cited for their animars, particularry
birds' and some were varued for their georogicar features andf orpresence ofimportant fossils.
' The 192 uNAs in the current inventory are a mix of public, private and
nonprofit-owned lands' The towns of Ithaca and Dryden have the most, in termsof square miles.
' Cayuga Heights has three uNAs within v'rage rimits: palmer woods
(between Triphammer and Pleasant Grove Roads and Cornell,s North Campus,
s valued as a "birding site, quality exampre of prant community, urban
*tuu"tofllltflol$forest, and scenic/ aesthetic varue. " The Newman Tract,
between F*##'int{'Renwick , ris partly in the Town of lthaca. Renwick slope
begins just to the north of Newman Tract, is sprit by Route L3, and is prartry in the
towns of Ithaca and Lansing.
' During the periodic review process, UNAs will be revisited to deterrnine
whether their designation is still appropriate, and nominations for additional
UNAs will be considered.