October 26, 2020 -- ARKVILLE, NY: With the recent announcement by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to establish an advisory group to address high use and overuse in the Catskills, the Catskill Center is excited and ready to work alongside this highly motivated group of representatives. The effort is to be known as the Catskills Strategic Planning Advisory Group (CAG). The group’s charge is to study how the increased use has impacted the staff, facilities, and resources within the Catskill Forest Preserve and find solutions that protect natural resources, support local economies and provide a safe, quality recreational experience for the Park’s visitors and residents.

The Catskill Center’s Executive Director, Jeff Senterman will represent the Catskill Center on the CAG. In line with the mission and strategic goals of the Catskill Center, Jeff will be working to ensure the continued protection of natural resources, communities, and character of the Catskill Park.

“The increasing numbers of visitors to the Catskill Park represents both a challenge and an opportunity,” said Catskill Center’s Executive Director Jeff Senterman, “while we must ensure that our natural resources remain protected and that use is appropriately managed, we must also ensure that we take this opportunity to engage with visitors to help them understand the beauty and value of the extraordinary Forest Preserve lands of the Catskill Park, and find ways for them to robustly participate in our local economies. We look forward to working with the other members of the CAG to learn about, explore and implement the solutions that will work for our Catskill Park.”

The Catskill Center has been keenly aware of the increased use of trails and hot spots across the region for a number of years. Advocating for more resources as the leader of the Catskill Park Coalition, introducing visitor experience programs in the Park, and leading on the ground stewardship efforts have been a central mission of the organization over the last decade.

As the leader of the Catskill Park Coalition, the Catskill Center has led the effort at introducing the Catskill Park to legislators and advocating for increased resources. Results of that advocacy have included millions of dollars in funding being directed to the Catskill Park for efforts to repair trails, improve parking, open and operate the Catskills Visitor Center, fund stewardship efforts, improve state campgrounds and more. Each year the Catskill Center organizes and leads the more than 30 members of the coalition to educate and advocate for these resources. That work culminates in the annual Catskill Park Day where organizations and volunteers visit with elected officials and agency personnel to advocate for the Catskill Park.

The Catskill Center operates and manages the Catskills Visitor Center (catskillsvisitorcenter.org) in Mt. Tremper. The opening of the Congressman Maurice D. Hinchey Catskills Visitor Center (CVC) in 2015 was the result of more than 30-years of work to establish a central visitor center for the Catskill Park that could offer both visitors and residents Park interpretation and information. Today the CVC serves thousands of visitors annually with Catskill Center staff on hand to offer guidance, interpretation, information, and much needed outreach to the visitors of the region.

In 2017 the Catskill Center created the Catskill Stewards Program in response to the increasing levels of use at the Peekamoose Blue Hole. Today, seasonal full and part-time stewards from the Catskill Center are stationed at three of the busiest hot spots of the Catskill Park (Peekamoose Blue Hole, Kaaterskill Falls, and Platte Clove) and work diligently to inform visitors of ways to avoid contributing to harmful impacts that plague the trails and famous sites. In 2020 alone Catskill Center Stewards interacted with more than 70,000 visitors in just these three locations, a more than 20% increase from 2019 levels.

As part of the CAG, the Catskill Center will give voice to the need to protect unique natural resources, for better and more facilities, for appropriate DEC planning and enforcement staffing, increased visitor interpretive services and increased educational programs. Alongside regulation and new facilities, it will be central to offer visitors educational opportunities focusing on responsible outdoor recreation. Effective education will help enable visitors to make safe and smart decisions on the trail, which will protect their experience and the natural resources of the Forest Preserve. It will also be important to ensure that visitors have the tools to enjoy, visit and spend time in the communities of the Catskill Park, to ensure that our economies also benefit from this increasing number of visitors.

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