About the Program:
Program Committees & Work Groups - Habitat

Goals of the Habitat Module:

• To restore and maintain an ecosystem which supports an optimum diversity of living resources on a sustained basis
• To preserve and restore ecologically important habitat and open space
• To encourage watershed planning to protect habitat
• To foster public awareness and appreciation of the natural environment
• To minimize erosion; to decrease soil and water loadings of sediment and pollutants to the Harbor/Bight
• To increase public access, consistent with maintaining the Harbor/Bight ecosystem

During public meetings held in 1995 to review the draft CCMP, the HEP heard from the public that protection and restoration of habitat in the estuary should be our top priority. As a result, the CCMP was restructured to provide a habitat focus to the entire plan, and habitat protection has been a fundamental priority for the program ever since. The Habitat Work Group, chaired by Marc Matsil until April 2002, has made tremendous progress in implementing the Habitat module of the HEP CCMP. The group has developed a map and list of priority sites for habitat acquisition and restoration in the Harbor Estuary (click here), and has secured funding from the New York State Clean Water/Clean Air Bond Act and other sources for projects at a number of those sites. "Issues Maps" for Jamaica Bay and the Arthur Kill have been developed to outline threats to habitat and other environmental issues in those water bodies. In April of 1998, the Habitat Work Group and the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation co-sponsored a two-day symposium on landfill restoration, which brought together local and British experts to discuss options for remediating landfills. The symposium included a tour of Fresh Kills Landfill in Staten Island and presentations on landfill restoration success stories.

Recently, the Habitat Work Group compiled the “2001 Status Report,” which includes a manual of restoration project monitoring protocols (see Reports).

For more information, contact the HWG Chair, Alex Brash (NPCA) at 212-617-2989.

Habitat Publications

• A GIS Approach To Habitat Restoration Site Selection And Prioritization In The New York-New Jersey Harbor Estuary, Kelly Kunert, Master's thesis, Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, Duke University, 2005 | Click Here

Habitat Workgroup Documents

• Draft Recommendations for Improving Compensatory Habitat Mitigation in
  the NY-NJ Harbor Estuary | PDF
  
  
• Site Nomination Form for Harbor Estuary Program Priority Acquisition
  and Restoration List | PDF
  

Meeting Minutes

• January 17, 2007 | PDF
• September 12, 2006 | PDF
• April 11, 2006 | PDF
• January 19, 2006 | PDF
  
• November 3, 2005 | PDF
• August 31, 2005 | PDF
• June 22, 2005 | PDF
• April 27, 2005 | PDF
• January 27, 2005 | PDF
• May 17, 2004 | PDF
• January 27, 2004 | PDF
• September 16, 2003 | PDF
• July 15, 2003 | PDF
• May 20, 2003 | PDF
• March 12, 2003 | PDF
• January 23, 2003 | PDF
• December 5, 2002 | PDF
• October 30, 2002 | PDF
• September 12, 2002 | PDF
• July 24, 2002 | PDF
• June 27, 2002 | PDF
• May 2, 2002 | PDF
• March 7, 2002 | PDF
• January 10, 2002 | PDF
• December 12, 2001 | PDF
• November 13, 2001 | PDF
• August 23, 2001 | PDF
• July 19, 2001 | PDF
• February 28, 2001 | PDF
• February 21, 2001 | PDF
• January 24, 2001 | PDF
• October 19, 2000 | PDF
• December 18, 2000 | PDF

 

New York/New Jersey Harbor Estuary Program • 290 Broadway, 24th Floor • New York, NY 10007-1866
Phone: 212-637-3816 • Fax: 212-637-3889 • E-mail: info@harborestuary.org