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Park Preservation and Stewardship
The legacy of
Westchester County Parks has been built on preserving natural landscapes and open space.
Based on public meeting responses, meetings with Friends groups (H.P.A.C. and F.C.W.C.)
and consistent with the County’s mission statement, clearly the vigilant preservation
of all the habitats, unique environments and natural beauty of the County’s parklands
must be the Department’s number one priority. Current County efforts to maintain the
integrity of services, safety and beauty of its existing parks will need to continue and
grow in scope and attention. As such, it is also necessary to provide funding and assign
high priority to renovating and rehabilitating existing buildings in order to preserve the
County’s current investments in parks and facilities. The inventory and analysis of
the existing parks, listed in alphabetical order, identified the following unique
conditions that need special preservation and stewardship efforts.
Blue Mountain
Reservation’s unique natural setting of wooded hills, mountain streams, large rock
formations and two peaks, Spitzenberg and Blue Mountain, afford magnificent views worthy
of careful environmental planning for trail access and habitat preservation.
Croton Gorge
Park, with its monumental Cornell Dam as well as the adjacent Stokes Green parcel’s
bucolic compound of buildings and historic landscape, requires sensitive analysis of
ultimate re-use options and intensity of visitor use to preserve the Park’s designed
and natural setting.
Renewed interest
in Croton Point Park follows the reopening of the landfill. Its recreation facilities are
at various levels of renovation within a master plan process. This park has spectacular
Hudson River views, historically significant 19th Century buildings and wine cellars
constructed of site manufactured brick, and unique habitats all which require special
attention directed towards appropriate rehabilitation, adaptive re-use and interpretive
history possibilities.
Both the Edith G.
Read Natural Park and Wildlife Sanctuary and the Marshlands Conservancy provide unique
habitat and refuge for their marine and terrestrial environments whose health should be
continuously monitored. Edith Read also suffers from low public awareness and visibility.
As with all the County’s nature centers, a delicate balance must be struck between
the important conservation role they play and their use for passive recreation. As such,
all nature centers should be included in this section for special preservation.