Many refer to the Catskill Mountains as "America's First Wilderness" because its location upstream of old New Amsterdam put it in the path of Europeans settling the Hudson Valley during the 1600s. As novelist Wallace Stegner stated so eloquently, "Wilderness was the challenge against which our character as a people was formed," and this was as true for the Catskills as it was for any place in North America. The wilderness areas that we enjoy in the Catskills today are indeed a reminder of the challenges and opportunities that faced those who ventured into these untamed blue mountains long before us.
It is the Catskill Forest Preserve that contributes the essential element of wilderness to the overall mix of land uses that is the hallmark of the Catskill Park and critical to the overall attractiveness of the Catskill region. Of the public land in the Park, there are seven State campgrounds, a State-run ski facility, and numerous trails and other recreational and access improvements. However, most of the Forest Preserve lands are wild, forested expanses where Mother Nature is left to her designs, human improvements are minimal, and man is only a visitor. The Catskill and Adirondack parks as a whole are unique and belie the conventional notion of what a park is. Here there are no gated park entrances; no officials sitting in booths collecting fees and handing out park information. Unlike most parks in the United States, the public land in the Catskill Park is not one single, contiguous block of protected land; rather, the land enclosed within the Park boundary is a mosaic of both public and private land, which is just one of its many remarkable features.
The Catskill Park's 705,500-acre area lies in the mountainous area where Delaware, Greene, Sullivan and Ulster counties meet. The Forest Preserve lands within the Park's boundary, or "Blue Line" as it is commonly called, amount to approximately 287,000 acres of land (plus a few thousand acres of small parcels of "detached" Forest Preserve outside of the Park boundary). Approximately 41 percent of the Park's land area is public, and 59 percent private. The Park's great value, appeal and uniqueness lies in this mix of public and private land across the landscape, manifesting itself as untouched wilderness areas and public recreation facilities intermingled with working farms and forests, scattered residences, and small-town communities. This mix forms both a diversity of land cover types across the region, benefiting many types of wildlife, and a diversity of scenery and beauty in the region, benefiting residents and visitors alike.
Indeed, the beauty of the Catskills lies not only in the pristine spruce-fir summits, rugged rock outcrops, vast forest tracts, hidden lakes, boulder studded trout streams, and graceful waterfalls, but also in the open hay meadows and dairy pastures, magnificent reservoirs, secluded homes in quiet hollows, undulating railroads, old barns and stone walls alluding to our agrarian past, and bustling, colorful main streets. All these things together and in close proximity to each other give the Catskill region its charm and identity. The Catskill Park is certainly a grand experiment in how human communities can coexist with wilderness; geographically intermingled and historically entwined.
The history of the creation of the Catskill Park and Forest Preserve is also unique. New York's Forest Preserve was created by law in 1885, thus being some of the first lands in the nation to be legislatively protected. When the State of New York afforded the young Forest Preserve constitutional protection in 1895, designating those lands as "forever wild," it effectively created the nation's first protected wilderness area. ("Official" classification of certain Forest Preserve lands as Wilderness and others as different management types, such as Wild Forest and Intensive Use, was not considered until the 1960s, and was not enacted in the Catskills until the 1980s).
Early motives for forest preservation in New York were not purely altruistic or conservation oriented, but were also fueled by economic interests focused on the maintenance of water-power, water-supply and tourism. The Catskills were almost left out of the picture when the Forest Preserve was created in 1885, and were only included because of the shrewd political maneuvering of Cornelius Hardenbergh who wanted to avoid paying taxes to the State on lands owned by Ulster County. But once established, the value of the Forest Preserve in the Catskills was quickly recognized and appreciated for what it was. For over a century the State constitution has provided the protection that has perpetuated the Adirondack and Catskill Forest preserves as one of the most unique examples of conservation in the United States.
When the Catskill Park boundary was first established and defined in 1904, it was not for any lofty philosophical purpose, but created to simply help guide and focus State land acquisitions in the region. The Catskill Park boundary is oddly shaped and contains only the central mountainous part of what might be considered the greater Catskill region. Many areas of this region lie outside of the Park to the north, west and south, and why the boundary line is what it is remains a curious fact of history. But it, too, has come to have far more significance for the communities that encompass it than originally intended. At first, the definition of the Park included only the state-owned Forest Preserve land within the specific area of the Blue Line. In 1912 it came to include both the public and private land in that area, a distinction that became a special feature of the Catskill and Adirondack parks, distinguishing them from most others. Renowned Catskill historian Alf Evers wrote that with the creation of the Catskill Park "the word 'park' took on an extended meaning to the people of the region;" and "the new kind of park…was owned by the people and might be used by them except in ways that might damage the conservation goals of the park."
Today, beautiful views of mountains clad in thick forests await motorists traveling through such places as Stony Clove or the Peekamoose Valley, and lie before hikers standing atop Giant Ledge, West Kill Mountain, or in the cab of the Balsam Lake Mountain fire tower. But it has not always been this way. Virtually the whole region was cut over and settled during the 18th and 19th centuries, with our forebears extracting the resources needed to build a growing young nation. Most (but not quite all) of the original Catskill wilderness was lost to exploitation, and much of it has subsequently been recovered through conservation.
When the Preserve was established in 1885 it consisted of only 33,894 acres in the Catskills, and there was still a significant amount of heavy resource extraction occurring on neighboring private lands. Its expansion has been a long, gradual process of acquiring lands that were for the most part heavily used, and of allowing them to recover and mature naturally. Unlike the great conservation stories of the American West and other places, where dedicated people fought to save the last, most important tracts of great wilderness, the story of the Catskill Forest Preserve is instead a story of wilderness lost and wilderness recovered. That the Catskills' wilderness areas are located in such close proximity to one of the world's largest urban centers, and are accessible to so many people, adds tremendously to their value and significance. This proximity to such a huge population base is yet another important aspect of the Catskill Park and Forest Preserve, and it creates both opportunity and a management, stewardship and education challenge that cannot be ignored.
To celebrate this rich history and increase public awareness and appreciation of this great part of our Catskill heritage, a diverse and enthusiastic group has been meeting over the past year to plan events and activities to commemorate the Catskill Park centennial in 2004. Helen Chase, board member of The Catskill Center for Conservation and Development, has chaired the anniversary planning committee. Other participants represent state agencies, tourism organizations, outdoor recreation groups and environmental organizations, local businesses, local musicians and artists, media, and interested citizens.
Centennial planning has focused on two themes: the people of the Park and the landscape of the Park.
Yearlong activities will include lectures, talks, art and history exhibits, musical events, craft demonstrations, thematic hikes and other outdoor activities around the Park, hosted by a variety of organizations. We hope to offer a one-weekend Catskill Park Ramble, modeled after the popular Hudson River Valley Ramble. Also being planned is Catskill Park Chautauqua, a unique performance and cultural event held in a large tent, which was a common form of entertainment in the 1800s and early 1900s.
Planning group members are working on a pilot Inn-to-Inn Hiking/Biking/Snowshoeing/Cross-country Skiing trail system in the Oliverea/Big Indian/Pine Hill area; a self-driving, audiotape tour detailing the highlights and history of the people and landscape around the Catskill Park Blue Line; and a bicycle tour and competition along a similar route or parts of that route. The Catskill Center's popular wall map of the greater Catskill Region may be updated, and out-of-print articles and publications pertaining to the Catskills in general and the Catskill Park and Forest Preserve in particular may be reprinted.
The possibility of receiving historic landmark status for several structures within the Park is being explored. The NYSDEC has been designing new entrance signs for the six major highway entrances into the Catskill Park, and will also be reprinting its free map and guide for the Catskill Park. Another consideration is a free newspaper publication about the Catskill Park and Forest Preserve sponsored by the DEC. There may even be a new Catskill Mountain Club for people who enjoy participating in outdoor recreation activities or volunteering for land stewardship projects in the Catskill region.
Watch for the Catskill Park 100-Year Anniversary logo throughout the coming year, and call The Catskill Center at (845) 586-2611 if you would like to participate in or support any of our centennial planning activities.
- Christopher Olney is the director of the Land Conservation Program at The Catskill Center For Conservation and Development in Arkville.