[Talk-us] Proposed import cleanup: NYSDEClands

[Kevin Kenny]

I've been continuing to investigate the NYS DEC Lands file, because,
as Paul Norman identified, the original import is not up to current
OSM standards. I'm not going to apologize for reimporting - a reimport
will surely leave less of a mess than what is there!

It's become clear to me that for most of these lands, and certainly
for the entirety of the Forest Preserve, leisure=nature_reserve is a
correct description for legacy renderers. landuse=forest is
emphatically not correct. These lands are not used for timber
production. natural=wood may or may not be correct, depending on
landcover. boundary=national_park would also be semantically close for
the Forest Preserve lands, except that the Forest Preserve is not
administered at the national level.

It would be desirable to include boundary=protected_area for these
parcels, since all of them enjoy some sort of legal conservation
protection, and the Forest Preserve lands enjoy extremely strong
protection - stronger than the US National Parks. If we include this,
it's also desirable to include a protect_class. IUCN's web site
describes all these lands as class VI. The description of class 6,
nevertheless, does not fit the Forest Preserve. It might fit the
Adirondack and Catskill Parks in their entirety, where sustainable use
of natural resources is the goal. The State-owned lands within the
parks, however, are conserved to a much stricter standard.

The purpose of this writeup is to review New York State's land
classification scheme and attempt to assign appropriate protect_class
for the lands, in hopes of not creating yet another mess for someone
else to clean up down the road.

Feel free to scroll all the way down to the summary if you don't care
to follow the arguments for each decision. The summary gives
protect_class and protection_object for each classification of State
land.


1. THE FOREST PRESERVE
======================

New York's Forest Preserve was created in 1894 by Article XIV of the
New York State Constitution. Its original wording still stands:

    The lands of the State, now owned or hereafter acquired,
    constituting the Forest Preserve as now fixed by law, shall be
    forever kept as wild forest lands. They shall not be leased, sold
    or exchanged, or be taken by any corporation, public or private,
    nor shall the timber thereon be sold, removed or destroyed.
        http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/55849.html

It has been amended with many codicils, but in fact remains as strong
as ever. The amendments still must be placed on the ballot by a
supermajority of both houses of the state legislature in two sessions
with a general election intervening, and then presented as a popular
referendum. I can remember one election where there were six such
measures on the ballot, all widely supported by both development
advocates and conservationists. The consensus arose from the fact that
both sides got something: the Forest Preserve was expanded while the
lost land served an economic purpose. One typical example was that the
Sagamore Institute, a non-profit educational foundation, was allowed
to take title to ten acres containing historic buildings (placing them
under unitary ownership) on condition that the site would be conserved
as a historic site and remain open to the public - in return for two
hundred acres of wild forest land.

The Forest Preserve comprises the State-owned lands within the
Catskill and Adirondack Parks. The line fixed by the 1894 law defining
the parks is often called the Blue Line because it is traditionally
drawn in blue on maps of New York State. It also includes several
'detached parcels' that are outside the Blue Line but still located in
the counties that contain the Forest Preserve. These parcels enjoy the
same constitutional protection.

The State-owned lands in the Forest Preserve fall in several
administrative categories.
        http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/7811.html

A. WILDERNESS

The formal definition is found at the above URL. It is close to the
IUCN definition of Class Ib and the Federal definition of Wilderness
Area. It is "an area where the Earth and its community of life are
untrammeled by Man - where Man himself is a visitor who does not
remain." It cannot be class Ia, because public access is unrestricted.
Ordinarily, a parcel will be designated as Wilderness only
if it is at least ten thousand acres (4500 ha) in extent; preserving
smaller parcels in an unimpaired condition is usually impracticable.

Wilderness areas constitute 1.3 million acres (2100 square miles,
5400 km**2) of the lands in question.

I would suggest that Wilderness ought to be protect_class=1.

B. PRIMITIVE, PRIMITIVE BICYCLE CORRIDOR, CANOE

All of these are essentially the same as Wilderness. In the case of
Primitive Areas, there is usually some existing nonconformant use that
cannot be removed on a fixed timetable or are adjacent to private
lands that are sufficiently influential that wilderness designation
cannot be supported. Primitive bicycle corridors are managed as
Wilderness, with the single exception that mountain bicycles are
permitted. The mountain bicycle trails are not made "smooth" but are
left in a rocky and rough condition, recommended only for expert
riders. The corridors provide riders with a unique experience of
solitude in terrain that is still accessible. Finally, Canoe Areas are
wilderness areas where the number and proximity of watercourses allow
for waterborne recreation in an essentially wilderness setting.

I'd suggest that these areas, as well, be protect_class=1. Permitting
a bicycle or a canoe does not significantly detract from the
'wilderness' character and is chiefly an administrative decision.

These areas are a much less significant fraction of the total,
constituting roughly 59,000 acres (93 square miles, 240 km**2).

C. WILD FOREST

"A wild forest area is an area where the resources permit a somewhat
higher degree of human use than in wilderness, primitive or canoe
areas, while retaining an essentially wild character." It offers a
lesser sense of remoteness than a Wilderness area and supports a
variety of outdoor recreation. Wild Forests may have ATV and
snowmobile trails, MAPPWD (Motorized Access Program for Persons With
Disabilities), bridle paths, and similar opportunities. Nevertheless,
it still enjoys the same protection under Article XIV of the State
Constitution as a Wilderness. It has a fundamentally wild
character.

Wild Forest lands encompass roughly 1.5 million acres (2300 square
miles, 5900 km**2). In addition, the Forest Preserve Detached Parcels
are managed as Wild Forest, adding roughly 12,000 acres (18 square
miles, 4800 ha) to the total.

I'd argue that protect_class=2 is appropriate for Wild Forest. They
enjoy stricter legal protection than any of the National Parks. They
do not have developed tourist facilities the way the National Parks
do. The chief difference is that they may permit motorized
recreation. (I think a case could be made that they are also
Wilderness Areas under the definitions in
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Tag:boundary%3Dprotected_area,
but, when in doubt, I'm down-rating the classification.)

D. INTENSIVE USE

Intensive Use Areas provide high-density accommodations, and include
campgrounds, day use areas (parks, swimming beaches, etc.), fishing
access sites, ski resorts and visitor information centers. They are
managed with the intent of keeping the land use sustainable and in
character with the surrounding forest. They, too, enjoy constitutional
protection against the State selling off the land or timber.

protect_class=2 appears appropriate to these, by analogy to similarly
developed areas in the National Parks. Depending on use, they may also
have a different leisure= or landuse= tag (such as leisure=park or
landuse=winter_sports).

Intensive use areas total roughly 29,000 acres (46 square miles, 120
km**2).

E. MISCELLANEOUS

There are other categories of land within the Forest Preserve:

Administrative (administrative offices, ranger stations, fish
hatcheries, research laboratories, wastewater treatment plants,
prisons, and highway maintenance depots). I propose not to reimport
these.

Historic: These are specific historic sites, and are small in extent,
totaling about 500 acres (less than 1 square mile, 200 hectares). They
are well represented by protect_class=22 protection_object=historic
heritage=4 (or heritage=2 for sites on the National Register of
Historic Places).

Transport corridor: Lands directly adjoining railroads, highways and
power lines. These should not be imported.

Unclassified: This divides into two subtypes: recently acquired land
in the Forest Preserve not yet classified, and underwater
areas. Underwater areas should not be imported; newly-acquired lands
in the Forest Preserve will be protect_class=2 since we know that they
will enjoy no less strict protection.

2. OUTSIDE THE FOREST PRESERVE
==============================

The State also owns conservation lands outside the Forest Preserve.

    Forest and wild life conservation are hereby declared to be
    policies of the State. For the purpose of carrying out such
    policies the Legislature may appropriate monies for the
    acquisition by the state of land, outside of the Adirondack and
    Catskill Parks as now fixed by law, for the practice of forest or
    wild life conservation.

and

    The legislature shall further provide for the acquisition of lands
    and waters, including improvements thereon and any interest
    therein, outside the forest preserve counties, and the dedication
    of properties so acquired or now owned, which because of their
    natural beauty, wilderness character, or geological, ecological or
    historical significance, shall be preserved and administered for
    the use and enjoyment of the people.
        http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/55849.html

A. State Forests (Reforestation Areas)

These are working forests and exist for multiple purposes, including
watershed protection, timber production, and recreation. They total
roughly 790,000 acres (1200 square miles, 3200 km**2).

For these working forests, protect_class=6 protection_object=forest
seems ideal. These are the tracts that are analogous to state forests
in other states.

B. State Multiple Use Areas

These are forests that are preserved for outdoor recreation: camping,
fishing, hunting, boating, winter sports. Where possible, their
management also includes preservation of scenery, conservation and
development of natural resources, watershed protection and
reforestation.

I do not have separate statistics for these areas; they are rolled up
under 'State Forest' on http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/59645.html.

protect_class=21 protection_object=recreation seems appropriate.

C. State Unique Areas, State Nature and Historic Preserves

    "A parcel of land owned by the state acquired due to its special
    natural beauty, wilderness character, or for its geological,
    ecological or historical significance for the state nature and
    historical preserve"
         http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/7811.html#II_State_Forests

These areas may be used by the public for recreation, and often
provide a field laboratory for observation and education related to
the unique characteristics of the area.

Once again, I don't have separate statistics for Unique Areas.

protect_class=6 seems appropriate. There isn't an easy way to automate
protection_object on these areas, but they are few in number and could
easily be tagged manually.

D. Wildlife Management Areas

These lands are managed for the production of fish and wildlife for
the enjoyment of sportsmen and -women.

There are nearly 200,000 acres (310 square miles, 800 km**2) of these.

protect_class=14 protection_object=species appears appropriate.

E. Conservation Easements

These are lands remaining in private hands where the State has
purchased certain rights, preventing the owner from developing the
land or putting it to a nonconforming use.

There are roughly 900,000 acres (1400 square miles, 3700 km**2) of
land subject to conservation easements. Ordinarily, these parcels
should not be imported. The twenty-two properties listed at the bottom
of http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/41156.html are exceptions that can be
addressed manually on a case-by-case basis.

3. Summary

The following is a mapping ordered by protect_class of the types of
land falling under the given class:

Class  Types

Nature-protected area:

  1    Wilderness Area, Primitive Area, Canoe Area, Primitive Bicycle
       Corridor
    protection_object=nature

        Example: High Peaks Wilderness

  2    Wild Forest, Intensive Use Area, Forest Preserve Detached
       Parcel, Unclassified Area (above water only)
           protection_object=nature

        Examples: Saranac Lakes Wild Forest, Lake Durant State
                  Campground, Belle Ayre Ski Center,
              Boreas Ponds Tract

  6    State Forest, State Reforestation Area, State Unique Area
    protection_object=forest

        Examples: Burnt-Rossman Hills State Forest,
                  Neversink State Unique Area

Resources-protected area:

 14    Wildlife Management Area
    protection_object=species

        Example: Partridge Run State Wildlife Management Area

Social-protected area:

 21    State Multiple Use Area
        protection_object=recreation

        Example: Depot Hill State Multiple Use Area

 22    Historic Area
    protection_object=heritage

        Example: Camp Santanoni State Historic Area

Not to be imported:

none   Administrative, Special Use, Education

If the consensus is that this tagging makes sense, I'll update
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Tag:boundary%3Dprotected_area to
add these elements to the table - indicating that they are specific to
New York, since New York's conservation laws are unique.