The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation recently announced the award of an $80,000 matching grant to Scenic Hudson to construct the 2.2-mile trail that will connect the Greenport Conservation Area and the newly approved Scenic Hudson park, to be named Harrier Hill Park, in the Stockport hamlet of Stottville. The Greenport Conservation Area is located off Joslen Boulevard in Greenport, and the new park is located off Rod and Gun Club Road in Stottville, on the site of the former Saurasitis Farm. The area is also referred to by state officials as “Stockport Flats.”
Scenic Hudson’s Kate Kane told ccSCOOP on Monday that the trail, when completed, will link “two of the most significant open spaces in Columbia County.” |
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Greenport Conservation Area |
Part of the project funding—which will total $100,000 with the matching requirement—will also be used to create an ADA-compliant boardwalk on a pond at the Stockport park, as well as an ADA-compliant overlook to view the Hudson River, Kane said. “The boardwalk will allow the handicapped to get a little closer to the pond, and it will also help schoolchildren on field trips get closer to the water through the thick cattails,” Kane said.
The trail is part of the Phase II development of the Stockport location. Phase I, which received site plan approval on June 9 from the Stockport Town Planning Board, includes a 40-by-30-foot pavilion, picnic tables, a handicapped-accessible hiking trail to a scenic overlook of the river, a pond, information kiosks, and a crushed-stone parking lot for eight vehicles, with overflow parking for several more.
The proposed 2.2-mile trail will link the trail on the Stockport site with 3.6 miles of trails at the Greenport Conservation Area.
Stockport town officials said the 2.2-mile trail will require further approval by the Stockport Planning Board and perhaps also the Greenport Planning Board. The Stockport approval may not come without an agreement being reached between Scenic Hudson and members of the Stottville Rod and Gun Club who attended the June 9 Planning Board meeting and voiced numerous concerns about hikers wandering onto their property and creating potential safety concerns for those using the club’s property for target practice, skeet shooting, and hunting.
The trail would cross land located between the club and the Hudson River. |
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Site of the new Harrier Hill Park in Stottville
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The receipt of the grant is the realization of a collaboration among three different land conservation agencies who sought to link the two conservation areas: Scenic Hudson, which owns the land on which the new park is located; the Department of Environmental Conservation, which owns the land between the two conservation areas; and the Open Space Institute, which owns the Greenport Conservation Area.
Kane said the state funds will be used to clear the way for the trail through wooded areas and grass lands and to create a foot bridge over a “rather deep ravine.”
No start date for the trail construction has been set since representatives of Scenic Hudson said they do not know when the federal government will actually release the funding.
The $80,000 grant award was part of $3.3 million in funds awarded to 32 trail-related projects around the state as part of the federal Recreational Trails Program. OPRHP administers the federal matching grant program that provides funding to state and local governments, not-for-profit organizations, corporations, and partnerships for the maintenance, renovation, development, acquisition, and construction of trails and trail-related facilities. Funding is provided through the Federal Highway Administration's Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU).
"Trails are a key asset to New York, providing multiple benefits," said Robin Dropkin, executive director of Parks & Trails New York. "They encourage people to be more physically active, protect our air, water and wildlife, provide close-to-home recreation, and bring tourists and visitors to communities. As big parcels of land get harder and harder to come by, it's time to turn more attention to greenways and trails—as green swaths of protected open space in their own right and enhancements to and connections between larger parcels of open space.” |
