ALBANY – The state has released the Catskill Strategic Planning Advisory Group’s Immediate Action Recommendations Report for public review and comment.
The report includes proposed actions that the State Department of Environmental Conservation and its state and local partners could undertake, pending available funding and continued partnership, to balance increasing and diverse recreational uses of the Catskill Forest Preserve, protecting the park’s natural and historic resources, and ensuring the experience of using the park is welcoming, accessible, and inclusive.
The advisory group developed recommendations for immediate actions along the Route 23A corridor in the vicinity of Kaaterskill Clove as well as long-term park-wide management strategies that include:
- Educating all users of the park about responsible recreation, protecting natural and historic resources, and Leave No Trace principles;
- Coordinating consistent messaging and communication for the park on different mediums;
- Implementing park-wide traffic and parking management strategies;
- Incorporating diversity, equity, inclusivity, and justice principles in recreational, educational, and operational frameworks and the economic benefits provided in the park; and
- Establishing a Catskill Park coordinator position to collaborate among entities and streamline parkwide efforts.
