North Bay Recreation Area Natural Resource Inventory

RES was retained by the Columbia Land Conservancy and AKRF to perform a Natural Resource Inventory (NRI) and Program Suitability Plan (PSP) for the future North Bay Recreation Area in Hudson, New York. The Columbia Land Conservancy, working with and on behalf of the City of Hudson and in partnership with Columbia County, requested a conceptual master plan for the site to include passive recreational trails, restored and protected areas of habitat, picnic areas, an outdoor events space, a kayak/canoe launch in the North Bay, a possible outdoor sculpture space, and a boardwalk and viewing platform.

Situated along the Hudson River, the site includes an existing 20-acre capped landfill, approximately 120 acres of surrounding land with brownfield industrial remnants, and significant habitat. The site contains a Class 1 stream-fed freshwater marsh, which is affected by the tidal influxes of the Hudson River and is part of the larger Stockport Creek and Flats area, which has been deemed by the State of New York as a significant coastal fish and wildlife habitat. The Stockport Creek and Flats Habitat provides irreplaceable spawning areas for fish and critical nesting and feeding areas for waterfowl during seasonal migrations.

From the NRI of the North Bay site, RES created a series of overlay maps. The overlay maps graphically represented the findings from the NRI and were compared and weighed against the master plan program goals and were communicated visually through a Program Suitability Plan (PSP). The PSP formed the foundation from which the master plan was derived by classifying different zones of the site from most to least suitable areas for development. The PSP also identified potential areas of habitat restoration while exploring opportunities for making larger physical and symbolic regional connections to the adjacent Greenport Conservation Area, The Hudson River Valley, The Catskill Mountains, and surrounding neighborhoods, schools, and parks within the City of Hudson.