Catskill Center for Conservation and Development

Last updated
Catskill Center for Conservation and Development
Formation1969;55 years ago (1969)
Type Nonprofit
23-7058142
FocusEnvironment and economic development
Headquarters Arkville, New York
MethodAdvocacy, invasive species management, environmental protection
Board Chair
Margaret DiBenedetto
Executive Director
Jeff Senterman
Website https://catskillcenter.org/

The Catskill Center for Conservation and Development, usually referred to as the Catskill Center, is a not-for-profit organization based in Arkville, New York, United States. It works to preserve the natural environment of the Catskill region and foster sustainable economic development in it.

Contents

Founded in 1969, it is headquartered in the historic Erpf House along state highway NY 28 in Arkville, just outside the Catskill Park Blue Line. It works to further its mission through different methods, from advocacy and land conservation to developing educational materials and sponsoring arts and cultural events.

Programs

The Catskill Center staff [1] oversees programs covering various areas: arts and culture, education and natural resources.

Erpf House in Arkville Erpf House, Arkville, NY.jpg
Erpf House in Arkville

Two programs cover the arts and culture section: the Erpf Gallery at the center's Arkville offices, and its artist-in-residence program at the 208-acre (84 ha) Platte Clove Preserve. The arts and culture section also maintains extensive historical archives. [2]

The education program develops materials for local teachers to use as curriculum, especially the five-volume The Catskills: A Sense of Place. Other environmental education programs focus on the region's streams and watersheds. [3] The natural resources program manages the Platte Clove Preserve and the 155-acre (63 ha) Esopus Bend near Saugerties. It also holds conservation easements on other key tracts in the region not part of the state-owned, "forever wild", Forest Preserve or otherwise protected. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catskill Mountains</span> Mountains in southeastern New York State, U.S.

The Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a physiographic province and subrange of the larger Appalachian Mountains, located in southeastern New York. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined as those areas close to or within the borders of the Catskill Park, a 700,000-acre (2,800 km2) forest preserve protected from many forms of development under New York state law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adirondack Park</span> Part of Forest Preserve in Northeastern U.S.

The Adirondack Park is a park in northeastern New York protecting the Adirondack Mountains. The park was established in 1892 for "the free use of all the people for their health and pleasure", and for watershed protection. At 6.1 million acres, it is the largest park in the contiguous United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catskill Park</span> Nature preserve in southeastern New York, U.S.

The Catskill Park is in the Catskill Mountains in the U.S. state of New York. It consists of 700,000 acres of land inside a Blue Line in four counties: Delaware, Greene, Sullivan, and Ulster. As of 2005, 287,500 acres (116,300 ha) or 41 percent of the land within, is owned by the state as part of the Forest Preserve; it is managed by the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). Another 5% is owned by New York City to protect four of the city's reservoirs in the region that lie partially within the park and their respective watersheds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Platte Clove</span> Valley in New York State, USA

Platte Clove, sometimes Plattekill Clove, is a narrow and steep valley in the Catskill Mountains of New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michigan Department of Natural Resources</span> Government agency of Michigan

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is the agency of the state of Michigan fo9unded in 1921, charged with maintaining natural resources such as state parks, state forests, and recreation areas. It is governed by a director appointed by the Governor and accepted by the Natural Resources Commission. Since 2023, the Director is Scott Bowen. The DNR has about 1,400 permanent employees, and over 1,600 seasonal employees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kaaterskill High Peak</span> Mountain in United States of America

Kaaterskill High Peak is one of the Catskill Mountains, located in the Town of Hunter in Greene County, New York, United States. It was once believed to be the highest peak in the entire range, but its summit, at 3,655 feet (1,114 m) in elevation, places it only 23rd among the Catskill High Peaks. It is, however, the fourth most prominent peak in the range. Due to its situation as the easternmost High Peak, its summit is just outside the watersheds of New York City's reservoirs in the region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White Clay Creek Preserve</span> State park in Chester County, Pennsylvania

White Clay Creek Preserve is a 3,050-acre (1,230 ha) Pennsylvania state park along the valley of White Clay Creek in London Britain Township in Chester County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The park was donated by the DuPont Company in 1984 for the purpose of "preserving the diverse and unique plant and animal species, and the rich cultural heritage of the area". Dupont also donated an additional 528 acres (214 ha) for the adjoining White Clay Creek State Park to the state of Delaware. White Clay Creek Preserve is 3 miles (4.8 km) north of Newark, Delaware on Pennsylvania Route 896.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York State Department of Environmental Conservation</span> New Yorks state-level environmental regulator

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation is a department of New York state government. The department guides and regulates the conservation, improvement, and protection of New York's natural resources; manages Forest Preserve lands in the Adirondack and Catskill parks, state forest lands, and wildlife management areas; regulates sport fishing, hunting and trapping; and enforces the state's environmental laws and regulations. Its regulations are compiled in Title 6 of the New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. It was founded in 1970, replacing the Conservation Department, and is headed by Basil Seggos.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Volo Bog State Natural Area</span> State park in Illinois, USA

Volo Bog State Natural Area is a nature reserve in Illinois, United States, preserving Volo Bog. The bog was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1973 as the only remaining open-water quaking bog in Illinois. The site also contains woodlands, savanna, marshes, prairie restoration areas, shrubland and old fields. Maintained by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, the site is located about a mile west of U.S. Route 12 between the towns of Volo and Fox Lake, Illinois.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brandywine Creek State Park</span> State park in Delaware, United States

Brandywine Creek State Park is a state park, located 3 miles (4.8 km) north of Wilmington, Delaware along the Brandywine Creek. Open year-round, it is 933 acres (378 ha) in area and much of the park was part of a Du Pont family estate and dairy farm before becoming a state park in 1965. It contains the first two nature preserves in Delaware. These nature preserves are Tulip Tree Woods and Freshwater Marsh. Flint Woods is a satellite area of the park and has become the park's third nature preserve. Flint Woods is home to species of rare song birds and an old-growth forest. The park's forests are part of the Northeastern coastal forests ecoregion.

Audubon Canyon Ranch (ACR) is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit environmental conservation and education organization headquartered in Stinson Beach, Marin County, California, on the eastern shore of Bolinas Lagoon. The lands upon which ACR operates are within the ancestral territories of the Coast Miwok, Southern Pomo and Wappo peoples. ACR recognizes that Indigenous communities are very much alive today and striving to protect and maintain relationships with cultural and natural resources on ACR lands; they acknowledge that Indigenous lands are occupied by them and others.

The Catskill Fly Fishing Center and Museum is a nonprofit, educational organization dedicated to: preserving America's fly fishing heritage; teaching its future generations of fly fishers; and protecting its fly fishing environment. The museum is located along Willowemoc Creek in the heart of the Catskills at 1031 Old Route 17 in Livingston Manor, New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Balsam Lake Mountain</span> Westernmost of the Catskill High Peaks in U.S. state of New York

Balsam Lake Mountain is one of the Catskill Mountains, located in the Town of Hardenburgh, New York, United States. It is the westernmost of the range's 35 High Peaks. Its exact height has not been determined, but the highest contour line on topographic maps, 3,720 feet (1,130 m), is usually given as its elevation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York State Forests</span>

New York State Forests are public lands administered by the Division of Lands and Forests of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC). New York State Forests are designated as reforestation, multiple use, and unique areas; and state nature and historic preserves, with approximately 600,000 acres (2,400 km2) classified as reforestation areas and approximately 9,000 acres (36 km2) classified as multiple use lands. Land within the Adirondack Park or the Catskill Park is not included as part of the State Forest system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catskill Escarpment</span> Mountain range in New York, U.S.

The Catskill Escarpment, often referred to locally as just the Escarpment or the Great Wall of Manitou, and known as the Catskill Front to geologists, is the range forming the northeastern corner of the Catskill Mountains in Greene and Ulster counties in the U.S. state of New York. It rises very abruptly from the Hudson Valley to summits above 3,000 feet (910 m) in elevation, including three of the Catskill High Peaks, with almost no foothills. The plateau to the south and west averages 2,000 feet (610 m) above sea level.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Balsam Lake Mountain Fire Observation Station</span> Former fire lookout tower in the Catskill Mountains of New York, USA

The Balsam Lake Mountain Fire Observation Station is located at the summit of the mountain of that name in the Town of Hardenburgh, New York, United States. It comprises a steel frame fire lookout tower, the observer's cabin and privy and the jeep road to the complex.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arkville, New York</span> Hamlet in New York, United States

Arkville is a hamlet in the Town of Middletown, Delaware County, New York, United States. It is located along New York State Route 28, one mile north of the village of Margaretville in the western Catskill Mountains. It has the ZIP code 12406.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inverna Lockpez</span>

Inverna Lockpez is a Cuban American painter, sculptor, and activist, that participated in the second wave of America's feminist movement. She is known for her graphic novel Cuba: My Revolution, a fictionalized memoir of her life prior to coming to the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plattekill Creek</span> River in New York, United States

Plattekill Creek is a 16.7-mile-long (26.9 km) tributary of Esopus Creek in the Catskill Mountains in the U.S. state of New York. From its source on the southern slopes of Kaaterskill High Peak, it flows across Ulster and Greene counties to the Esopus at Mount Marion. The name is a Dutch word meaning "flat brook".

Armand Grover Erpf was an American investment banker, philanthropist, and art collector. He was a senior partner at Loeb, Rhoades & Co., chairman of the Executive Committee of the Crowell-Collier Publishing Company, and helped finance the New York magazine.

References

  1. "Our Staff". Catskill Center for Conservation and Development. Archived from the original on April 23, 2010. Retrieved September 22, 2010.
  2. "Arts and Culture". Catskill Center for Conservation and Development. Archived from the original on April 9, 2010. Retrieved February 5, 2010.
  3. "Education". Catskill Center for Conservation and Development. Archived from the original on March 2, 2012. Retrieved February 5, 2010.
  4. "Education". Catskill Center for Conservation and Development. Archived from the original on April 23, 2010. Retrieved February 5, 2010.