Sterling Forest State Park

Sterling Forest State Park is a 21,938-acre (88.78 km2) state park[5] located in the Ramapo Mountains in Orange County, New York. Established in 1998, it is among the larger additions to the New York state park system in the last 50 years.[3]

For the state park in Michigan, see Sterling State Park.
Sterling Forest State Park
Location of Sterling Forest State Park within New York State
TypeState park
Location116 Old Forge Road
Tuxedo, New York[1]
Coordinates41°11′56″N 74°15′24″W
Area21,938 acres (88.78 km2)[2]
Created1998 (1998)[3]
Operated by
Visitors266,944 (in 2014)[4]
OpenAll year
WebsiteSterling Forest State Park

History

Sterling Forest was originally part of a vast tract of land called Cheesecock that a group of English colonists bought from the Iroquois Indians in 1702.[6] The land eventually came to belong to the Sterling Iron Works, which mined and shipped iron ore from a number of sites within the park. The last of the mines was closed in the 1920s.

The park was established in 1998 after New York State paid $55 million for 15,280 acres (61.8 km2) of land using a combination of public and private funds. The Trust for Public Land and the Open Space Institute (OSI) lead the negotiations for the initial purchase leading to the creation of the park.[7] The initiative to achieve this goal was led by the Public-Private Partnership to Save Sterling Forest, consisting of New York and New Jersey conservation organizations and chaired by Robert O. Binnewies, Executive Director of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission.[8][3][9]

In November 1999, The Trust for Public Land and the Open Space Institute purchased 659 acres from New York University.[10]

In December 2000, The Trust for Public Land and the Open Space Institute announced an additional 1,065 acres to be added to Sterling Forest State Park.[10] Funders and supporters for Preservation of Sterling Forest State Park include: The Wallace Fund, New York State's Environmental Protection Fund, Forest Legacy Program, the State of New Jersey, the Lila Acheson and DeWitt Wallace Fund for the Hudson Highlands, and Palisades Interstate Park Commission (PIPC), Governor Pataki, The Clinton Administration and other federal support.[10]

In 2005, The Trust for Public Land and the State of New York Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation purchased a 90-acre farm land in Warwick, NY to add to the state park.[7]

In 2006, the park was expanded after a 575-acre (2.33 km2) tract in the center of the forest came on the market, called Sterling Forge. Although Sterling Forest LLC developers had planned to construct 107 luxury homes and an 18-hole golf course on the tract, local residents and concerned environmentalists rallied and were able to procure the tract for the state park.[11][12] The final $13.5 million sale price was negotiated by The Trust for Public Land, and paid in part out of the state's Environmental Protection Fund.[9]

In January 2020, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the addition of 112 acres to the state park, as a result of a partnership with the Orange County Land Trust.[13]

Park description and facilities

The park's forest habitat is important for the survival of several species, including timber rattlesnakes,[9] black bear, fox, various raptors and songbirds, and many rare invertebrates and plants. The forest is embedded in a larger area of over 100,000 acres (400 km2) of largely uninterrupted woodland that serves both as a wildlife corridor and as a watershed for nearby urban areas. The park contains a number of lakes and reservoirs including Sterling Lake[14] and Blue Lake.[15] Hunting, fishing, ice fishing, hiking and snowshoeing opportunities are available.

The park lies in the New York - New Jersey Highlands, a one-million-acre (4,000 km2) stretch of natural habitat from the Hudson to the Delaware River that links the Abram S. Hewitt State Forest in New Jersey with Harriman State Park in New York. The park conserves a part of the Northeastern coastal forests ecoregion.[16] It also protects the Appalachian Trail corridor, which crosses the northern portion of Sterling Forest. The park is administered by the Palisades Interstate Park Commission. The Appalachian Trail in Sterling Forest is maintained by the New York - New Jersey Trail Conference.

The park includes the Frank R. Lautenberg Visitor Center, which offers exhibits about the local environment and overlooks Sterling Lake. The Sterling Mountain Fire Observation Tower and Observer's Cabin is located on Sterling Mountain.

A New York State hunting license and a Sterling Forest State Park hunting permit are required to hunt in the park, which is only permitted during deer and turkey season. Some areas are closed to hunting.

See also

References
  • Palisades, 100,000 Acres in 100 Years, Fordham University Press, Robert O. Binnewies
Specific
  1. "Sterling Forest State Park". NYS Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation. Retrieved March 31, 2016.
  2. "Section O: Environmental Conservation and Recreation, Table O-9". 2014 New York State Statistical Yearbook (PDF). The Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government. 2014. p. 674. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 16, 2015. Retrieved April 10, 2016.
  3. Berger, Joseph (February 11, 1998). "For $55 Million, New York Acquires Sterling Forest". The New York Times. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
  4. "State Park Annual Attendance Figures by Facility: Beginning 2003". Data.ny.gov. Retrieved March 31, 2016.
  5. "Sterling Forest State Park". parks.ny.gov. Retrieved 2018-08-08.
  6. Botshon, Ann, 1942- (2007). Saving Sterling Forest : the epic struggle to preserve New York's highlands. Albany: State University of New York Press. p. 9. ISBN 978-1-4294-7122-0. OCLC 181017225.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. "90 Acres Added to Sterling Forest State Park (NY)". The Trust for Public Land. Retrieved 2018-08-08.
  8. Palisades, 100,000 Acres in 100 Years, Fordham University Press.
  9. McKenna, Chris (November 28, 2006). "State buys 575 acres of highly desired land". Times Herald-Record. Archived from the original on August 19, 2007. Retrieved March 31, 2016.
  10. "Sterling Forest State Park (NY) Gains 1,065 Acres". The Trust for Public Land. Retrieved 2018-08-08.
  11. "Sterling Forest Capstone Protected (NY)". The Trust for Public Land. Retrieved 2018-08-08.
  12. Collins, Glenn. "Ending Years of Dispute, New York Buys the Final Piece of Sterling Forest". Retrieved 2018-08-08.
  13. "Cuomo unveils proposal to add 4,000 acres to Mid-Hudson parks in 2020". www.warwickadvertiser.com. Retrieved 2021-02-07.
  14. "Sterling Lake - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation". www.dec.ny.gov. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  15. "Blue Lake - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation". www.dec.ny.gov. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  16. Olson, D. M, E. Dinerstein; et al. (2001). "Terrestrial Ecoregions of the World: A New Map of Life on Earth". BioScience. 51 (11): 933–938. doi:10.1641/0006-3568(2001)051[0933:TEOTWA]2.0.CO;2.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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