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WILDLIFE AND OVERTOURISM IN THE HUDSON HIGHLANDS : Profiles of threatened species - Part 1

Writer's picture: Pete SalmansohnPete Salmansohn

Hikers clambering up America's most popular day hike - Breakneck Ridge
Hikers clambering up America's most popular day hike - Breakneck Ridge

When I first arrived in Cold Spring, New York in the late 1980's to work at Taconic Outdoor Education Center, I found great joy and peace walking along the quiet old dirt roads of Indian Brook and Sunk Mine. Living in the middle of thousands of acres of woodlands within Fahnestock State Park was wonderful experience - no cars, no trucks, no sounds - except an occasional airplane but plenty of songbirds and the nightime yip-yips and cacophony from local coyotes.


About ten years later I had the good fortune to be hired as a seasonal educator at National Audubon Society's Constitution Marsh Sanctuary - 270 acres of freshwater tidal wetlands in one of the most scenic and photographed areas of the entire Hudson River Valley.


I often stood on the newly-constructed boardwalk, looking up the river to the rocky, rugged mountains that framed this panoramic scene, feeling very privileged to be in that place. However, I had almost no idea I was looking over an area scientifically acclaimed to be one of New York's richest regions in terms of bio-diversity, with many "LISTED" species of wildlife. There were thriving populations of timber rattlesnakes, nesting and wintering bald eagles, several species of bats, large, pre-historic looking Atlantic and short-nosed sturgeons, least bitterns, small colonies of Cerulean warblers, and more. To an observant and curious field observer, the area provided and still provides a wonderful assortment of rare and intriguing species.


This aggregation of notable animal life amidst a nationally recognized eco-region is now under great scrutiny - and potential disruption - due to a massive proposal by Poughkeepsie-based Scenic Hudson to build a 7.5 mile linear "park" along the Hudson's eastern shoreline from Beacon to Cold Spring. Costs could top 200-300 million dollars or more.


The so-called "fjord trail" (the Hudson is not a true fjord) was temporarily stopped in its initial planning stages by NYS Parks in 2015 because staff biologists said it "may have a significant impact on the environment." It is now, however, in full swing of planning and a DGEIS (draft generic environmental impact statement ) was released in early December 2024, with the state accepting written comments from the public until early March. Nonetheless, Park biologists noted in 2015 that the proposed development "was located in the Hudson River Natural Area," a state park Preserve, and in "a Scenic Area of Statewide Significance." The paved trail would also pass through or near "seven significant ecological communities," as identified by the New York Natural Heritage Program (e.g. chestnut oak forest; tidal Hudson River; rocky summit grassland, etc.)


The area between Beacon to the north and Cold Spring to the south is largely rural and contains miles of the Hudson Highlands State Park Preserve's hiking trails- among them the over-popular Breakneck Ridge - which attracts thousands of hikers on good-weather weekend days. (The historic village of Cold Spring is already beset with the many challenges of over-tourism, and a large percent of the town's population believes the building of a "mega-attraction" such as a highly-publicized fjord trail would irrevocably change life in a small town for the worse.)


The advent of social media is likely the force behind crowds of hikers coming to the area by car and by train from Grand Central Station in NYC. In the last decade or so, those numbers have increased, and it is not unusual for NY/NJ Trail Stewards, and Parks staff to count more than 1,000 people a day just on the Washburn Trail up to Bull Hill. After Metro-North rebuilt and modernized their railroad station at Breakneck Ridge, Parks observers have seen 400+ people getting off a single train, among several that stop there on weekends, all headed for the hiking trails. While the fjord trail organization (Scenic Hudson) purports to eventually be able to manage these steadily overwhelming numbers, it is entirely possible and probable that larger crowds will arrive in this extremely limited geographic area, putting more strain on wildlife, plants, parklands, narrow roadways, the village of Cold Spring, and the beleaguered park staff.


Thus, it behooves us to learn more about the wildlife that may be affected. Here is a brief look at the species currently being monitored by state and federal agencies along the general corridor of this proposed development:


FEDERALLY-ENDANGERED ATLANTIC STURGEON : This iconic, massive, bottom-dwelling fish is a living carryover from the Cretaceous Period, first appearing on earth around 85 million years ago. It's anadromous and spends much of its adult life in near-shore waters off the mid-Atlantic coast, coming back to the Hudson near Hyde Park to spawn when between 10 and 30 years old. Sturgeon meat and eggs (caviar) are highly prized, and there was a very busy fishery in the Hudson in past centuries for fish which could reach many hundreds of pounds each - a size which begot the name "Albany Beef." According to NYSDEC regional biologists, the Hudson has the healthiest and most stable population of any east coast river, but a number of threats remain, including deadly propeller strikes from boats, and being caught in commercial fishing nets offshore, as a "bycatch." Thus, the sturgeon are not the focus of the fishery (that would be highly illegal ) but they come up in the nets anyway and are thrown back overboard - dead, alive, or wounded.


FEDERALLY-ENDANGERED SHORT-NOSED STURGEON : Covered by rows of bony plates called scutes, this species is the smallest of five North American species of sturgeon, reaching only about 3 feet or so in maturity. Short-nosed sturgeons here in New York spend their entire life in the Hudson River, moving up and down river at different times of the year. They too breed only when they age and are known to favor areas of the river several miles south of Albany. They winter near Kingston and also in Haverstraw Bay, where fresh and brackish waters mix. Threats include habitat degradation, water pollution, dredging, water withdrawals, fisheries bycatch, and impediments such as dams.


FEDERALLY-ENDANGERED NORTHERN LONG-EARED BAT : Like some other bat species, this small insect-eating mammal has been almost wiped out here in NYS and other locations by an imported fungal disease called the White-Nose Syndrome. The NYSDEC estimates a staggering 98% decline since 2006, when the fungus first appeared. Northern Long-Eared Bats forage primarily in mature forests during the warmer months and hibernate in caves and old mines during winter. They are only about 3 inches or so long, with a wingspan of 9 to 10 inches. In the summer months, they seek refuge and pupping areas under the bark of mature trees, making them susceptible to logging and to the fragmentation of forests during development projects. They are known to occasionally hibernate in abandoned iron mines in Fahnestock State Park.


FEDERALLY-ENDANGERED INDIANA BAT : When the very first listing of Endangered Species came out from the federal government in 1967, this small mostly mid-western bat was on that original list before the White-Nose Syndrome appeared. Its endangerment is believed to be due to human disturbances in its hibernacula (caves and mines) where as many as 500 bats per square foot might be found. This species prefers foraging in deciduous forests, and they too have been known to occasionally winter in Fahnestock Park.



NEW YORK STATE ENDANGERED GOLDEN EAGLE ; Primarily known as a bird of the great open spaces of the American west, where it hunts small mammals, this magnificent raptor no longer nests in the eastern United States due to a variety of disturbances and threats. Several birds, however, return to known wintering areas, including 2-4 individuals on Stissing Mountain near Pine Plains, and one to two individuals occasionally on the cliffs of Storm King Mountain along the Hudson River, opposite Breakneck Ridge. Birdwatchers look for them at known hawk-watching spots, such as Hawk Mountain in Pennsylvania, where birds that nest in Labrador and the high Canadian tundra pass by during autumn migration. Otherwise, seeing a Golden Eagle in New York is indeed quite uncommon.


NEW YORK STATE ENDANGERED PEREGRINE FALCON : Like other flesh-eating raptors, populations of this fast-flying bird were devastated during several decades in the mid-1900's when the pesticide DDT was in common use causing eggshells to drastically thin and break. It was only because of the work of Cornell's Tom Cade and SUNY New Paltz's Heinz Meng and their colleagues who learned how to raise and "hack" Peregrine falcon nestlings back to the wild after DDT was banned in the early 1970's that this majestic bird of cliffs and bridge towers made a stunning comeback. (Note: By 1957 there were no functioning Peregrine nests left in NYS. Now there are more than 75 statewide.) Peregrines have used the steep cliffs of Breakneck Ridge in recent years to nest, and they are also nesting on the west side of the Hudson, below Crow's Nest Mountain. They also nest or have nested on the Bear Mountain Bridge and the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge where state employees build and monitor nesting platforms.


The "fjord trail" today : In December of 2022, after about 7 years of revisions and planning, Scenic Hudson - the lead agency along with NYS Parks - received a major go-ahead from NYS Parks officials to build an 85 million dollar "Breakneck Connector" on 12 acres, a construction project due to start later in 2025 at the infamously crowded Breakneck Ridge trailhead. The draft environmental impact statement for this "segmented" portion of the overall "trail" described then species of LISTED wildlife species potentially impacted, but NYS Parks said that "no or little harm would occur during construction" and thus a so-called "negative declaration" or go-ahead was given.


Besides the ten species potentially impacted, a closer look at the overall corridor adds at least another three NYS Species of Special Concern : Woodland Box Turtle, New England Cottontail Rabbit, and Cerulean Warbler. Additionally, the Monarch Butterfly is currently under study for potential listing status.


On December 4th, 2024 NYS Parks published a 740 page Draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement (DGEIS) for then entire 7.5 mile "trail", with comments invited from the public until March 2, 2025.

On January 14, 2025, the state conducted two 2 hour public Zoom comment periods, where individuals had a brief two minute speaking time before approximately 8 state officials, including Administrative Law Judges and DEC and Parks staff. Once all the comments are received, there will be a hiatus before any actions are taken.


PART TWO OF THIS ESSAY- FORTHCOMING- WILL INCLUDE SPECIES REPORTS FOR Timber Rattlesnake, Bald Eagle, Eastern Fence Lizard, Worm Snake, Cerulean Warbler, New England Cottontail Rabbit and Woodland Box Turtle. And updates. Stay tuned!




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