Conserving Forests in the New York City Watershed

Conserving Forests in the New York City Watershed

Tom Pavlesich

Forestry Program Manager

Watershed Agricultural Council

October 22, 2014

The NYC Watershed

1.2 million acres

1 billion gallons/day

9 million consumers

Catskill/Delaware Watershed

New York State owns 24%

New York City owns 8%

Private people own 67%

90% Forested

Non Profit Organization

Watershed Agricultural CouncilMission: “To promote the economic viability of agriculture and forestry, the protection of water quality, and the conservation of working landscapes through strong local leadership and sustainable public-private partnerships.”

WAC Forestry Program

Why Working Forests?

67% Watershed forestland is privately owned

Private landowners face real ownership costs

Financial pressure is the leading reason for subdivision (Stone and Tyrrell 2012)

– Households with incomes below $50,000/year are more likely to subdivide

– 50% of landowners in Northeast make less than $50,000/year

Working forests can off-set ownership costs

Working Forests are Essential

Unprofitable land ownership (Stone and Tyrrell 2012)

Subdivision (Anderson et al. 2012)

Impervious surface area

Irreversible water quality impacts(Conway 2007, Schiff and Benoit 2007, Dietz and Clausen 2008)

Which Is Better for Water Quality?

or

Photo courtesy of USDA NRCS

The Tool: Forest Management Plans

WAC pays for plans

Plans address timber, water quality, wildlife and more

Landowners choose a consulting forester

Forester writes plan to WAC specifications.

WAC pays forester

Over 15 years, WAC has paid over $1 million for Forest Management Plans

Created 1,200 plans for 230,000 acres of forestland

Critical Evaluation

Evaluated BMP implementation on 30 properties (Munsell et al. 2006)

Evaluated sustained yield (SYM) management on 50 properties

(Munsell et al. 2008)

Evaluated SYM and BMP implementation on 50 properties

Evaluated SYM and BMP implementation on 74 properties

(VanBrakle et al. 2013)

2003

2005

2009

2011

We evaluated 204 properties over eight years

The Problem

WAC’s free, voluntary forest management plans do not result in water quality BMP’s

(VanBrakle et al. 2013)

WAC’s free, voluntary forest management plans do not increase sustainable harvesting

Why don’t WAC’s forest management plans work?

1. Forest Management Plans do not provide landowners with information they value

2. So why should they value the information the plans contain?

High noncompliance penalties

Reduces property taxes by up to 80%

New York’s 480-a Tax Law

More interest in conserving forestland than statewide 480-a participation indicates

The Opportunity(Schnur et al. 2013)

480-a Enrollment in Delaware and Greene Counties, 2003 - 2010

The Opportunity

WAC’s funding may remove a key barrier to 480-a enrollment – the upfront cost of a forest

management plan.

The Benefit of 480-a

Limits subdivision to greater than 50 acres.

Leaves enrolled acres undeveloped.

Annual re-commitment to an additional 10 years of the above.

High non-compliance penalties

Minimal subdivision and no development

Conserves forests

Strong disincentive for non-compliance and un-enrollment

Annual 10 year recommitment

Over 15 years, WAC paid $256,000 to conserve 40,000 acres through 480-a

$6.40 per acre for 10 years of conservation

End on a Positive Note…

WAC only pays for property enrolled in 480-a

Lessons Learned

Underestimated 480-a as a conservation tool

480-a is another tool in the conservation tool box

More interest in conserving forestland than statewide 480-a participation indicates

WAC’s funding may remove a key barrier to 480-a enrollment – the upfront cost of a forest

management plan.

Questions?

Anderson, N.M., R.H. Germain, and M.H. Hall. 2012. An assessment of forest cover and impervious surface area on family forests in the New York City Watershed. North. J. Appl. For. 29(2): 67-73.

Conway, T.M. 2007. Impervious surface as an indicator of pH and specific conductance in the urbanizing coastal zone of New Jersey, USA. J. Environ. Manag. 85: 308-316.

Dietz, M.E. and J.C. Clausen. 2008. Stormwater runoff and export changes with development in a traditional and a low impact subdivision. J. Environ. Manag. 87: 560-566.

Schiff, R. and G. Benoit. 2007. Effects of impervious cover at multiple spatial scales on coastal watershed streams. J. Am. Water. Res. Assoc. 43(3): 712-730.

Stone, R.S. and M.L. Tyrrell. 2012. Motivations for family forestland parcelization in the Catskill/Delaware Watersheds of New York. J. For. 110(5): 267-274.

Literature Cited

Anderson, N.M., R.H. Germain, and M.H. Hall. 2012. An assessment of forest cover and impervious surface area on family forests in the New York City Watershed. North. J. Appl. For. 29(2): 67-73.

Scnhur, E.L., S.B. Allred and D.B. Kittredge. A comparative Analysis of Conservation Awareness among New York and Massachusetts Woodland Owners. North. J. Appl. For. 30(4): 175 -183.

Munsell, J.F., R.H. Germain, E. Bevilacqua, and R.M. Schuster. Voluntary Best Management Practice Implementation by Nonindustrial Private Forest Landowners in New York City’s Water Supply System. North. J. Appl. For. 23(2): 133- 140

Munsell, J.F., R.H. Germain, I.A. Munn. A Tale of Two Forests: Case Study Comparisions of Sustained Yeild Management on Mississippi and New York Nonindustrial Private Forestland. J. of Forestry December 2008: 431 – 439

VanBrakle J.D., R.H. Germain, J.F. Munsell, and S.V. Stehman. Do Forest Management Plans Increase Best Management PractivesImplementation on Family Forests/ A Formative Evaluation in the New York City Watershed. J. For. 111(2): 108 - 114.

Property wide non-compliance: 2.5 times the tax amount saved, plus interest for the past ten years

Noncompliance Penalties

Partial non-compliance: Five times the tax amount saved, plus interest for the past ten years on the non-compliant acres

WAC Forestry Program

Five core program areas:

1. Forest Management Planning

2. Implementation

3. Education and Training

4. Research and Demonstration

5. Forest Easements

Who’s Eligible?

480-a Eligible Landowners 480-a Eligible Acreage

8.6% of landowners are

eligible for 480-a

They own 60% of the

private forestland