Town hears public unveiling of Natural Resources Inventory; consultants ask for resident photos

Consultants presented the town's Natural Resources Inventory project at the June 10 Shandaken Planning Board meeting, saying the inventory will provide high‑resolution maps and a narrative to help the town make evidence‑based land‑use decisions and pursue grant funding. "An NRI is essentially what it says. It is an inventory of what's there in your town, when it comes to naturally occurring features," lead consultant Julia Solomon told the board.

Solomon said the project is funded by the Hudson River Estuary Program and is intended to be pragmatic and map‑focused rather than a lengthy academic volume. Robert, described in the meeting as a town coordinator for the project, said the NRI will support the town's comprehensive plan update and will make Shandaken more competitive for grants and for progress within the Climate Smart Communities certification program.

The presenters described draft base maps showing town boundaries, parcel lines, topography, streams and hamlets, and discussed possible additional maps for historic and cultural resources, recreation assets and management plans for protected lands. Residents and board members asked about including easements, DEP parcels, and historic structures; the presenters said they will include data where available and welcomed community photo submissions for a "photo blitz" to gather local images by the end of summer.

Project staff said they expect to return with a more complete draft in early winter and offered to do orientation sessions to show how the maps can be used by the planning board, town board, ZBA and the public.