Cortland Standard .net

By COLLEEN SIUZDAK
Staff Reporter
csiuzdak@cortlandstandard.net
Local residents can comment on a management plan that will help maintain Griggs Gulf State Forest on the southern edge of Cortland County as well as some other forests in surrounding areas.
The meeting will run from6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. April 1 at Tompkins Cortland Community College’s Student Center in Dryden.
The Draft Rockefeller Unit Management Plan covers5,801 acres on four state forests near the intersection of Broome, Cortland and Tioga counties including: Beaver Dam, Griggs Gulf, Michigan Hill and Turkey Hill state forests.
Griggs Gulf State Forest, located in the towns of Harford, Lapeer and Richford, is available to residents for recreational activities such as hiking, fishing, snowmobiling, trapping and horseback riding.
The forest covers 2,365 acres.
Jim Dempsey, director of the Cortland County Convention and Visitors Bureau, said any plan that helps manage the forest would be a benefit to the county.
“Anything they can do to better manage the forest and increase the opportunities to hike ... would be a great asset for us,” Dempsey said.
Dempsey added the forest already attracts many people to hike because of the scenery and the trails that are not difficult to hike.
“Probably one of the most frequent comments we hear from visitors is how beautiful the scenery is,” he said. “They have no idea.”
Valerie Hahn, who lives in a house surrounded by the Griggs Gulf Forest, said Friday afternoon she is happy to hear the DEC is looking into management to benefit the park.
“We always wondered why it wasn’t more prominent,” Hahn said, standing on one of the state forest roads with her daughter Calendula, 8. “It’s a nice recreational area and ... if they took some care with managing the logging, it would improve the forest.”
Hahn said she has lived there for almost eight years and loves living in the forest environment.
“We’re very happy being forest dwellers and having recreational opportunities,” Hahn said. “The only reason we’re not skiing today is because they have been plowing. Otherwise, we’d ski from our doorstep.”
Some of the changes in the proposal include enhancement of wildlife related activities, installation of an informational kiosk, maintenance of road and boundary lines and overall sustainability of the environment in the forests.
The management goals of the plan include ecosystem management, resource protection, infrastructure and real property, public use, and forest management and health, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s website.
The DEC is responsible for managing state lands and the proposed management plan will maintain the nature of the forest, including ecosystems for fish and wildlife. The plan will also encourage land use and environmental education.
“This meeting provides an excellent opportunity for the public to comment on the future use and sustainable management of four large forests in the southern tier portion of the region,” DEC Region 7 Director Kenneth Lynch said in a news release. “Goals and objectives in the plan will be used for the next 10 to 15 years to manage these state forests, which offer great recreational opportunities for all people in the region.”
The public meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. for open discussion with DEC staff and at 7 p.m. a formal presentation by a state forester will offer an overview of the plan.
The official public comment period will begin at 7:30 p.m.
Residents who cannot attend the meeting can submit comments by mail to: DEC, Division of Lands and Forests, 1285 Fisher Ave., Cortland, NY, or by email to:henry.dedrick@dec.ny.gov.
Comments on the plan will be accepted until May 6.
A copy of the plan is on the DEC’s website at www.dec.ny.gov/lands/100629.html. The plan is also available for review at the DEC offices at 615 Erie Blvd. West, Syracuse and 1285 Fisher Ave., Cortlandville.