The document discusses forest conservation efforts in the New York City watershed. It describes the watershed area and land ownership breakdown. The Watershed Agricultural Council (WAC) pays for forest management plans to encourage sustainable forestry practices, but evaluations found the plans did not increase best management practices or sustainable harvesting. The document suggests the state's 480-a tax incentive program, which WAC now helps fund management plans for, may be a more effective conservation tool through property tax reductions and strong penalties for noncompliance.

1. Conserving Forests in the New
York City Watershed
Tom Pavlesich
Forestry Program Manager
Watershed Agricultural Council
October 22, 2014

2. The NYC
Watershed
 1.2 million acres
 1 billion
gallons/day
 9 million
consumers

3. Catskill/Delaware Watershed
New York State owns 24%
New York City owns 8%
Private people own 67%
90% Forested

4. Non Profit Organization
Watershed Agricultural Council
Mission: “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.”

5. WAC Forestry Program

6. 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

7. 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)

8. Which Is Better for Water
Quality?
or
Photo courtesy of USDA NRCS

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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?

12. 1. Forest Management Plans do not provide
landowners with information they value
2. So why should they value the information
the plans contain?

13. 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)

14. 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.

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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.

18. 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

19.  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 Practives
Implementation on Family Forests/ A Formative Evaluation in the
New York City Watershed. J. For. 111(2): 108 - 114.

20. 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

21. WAC Forestry Program
Five core program areas:
1. Forest Management Planning
2. Implementation
3. Education and Training
4. Research and Demonstration
5. Forest Easements

22. 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