Natural Resource Inventory

Over the past two months, a fledgling group has formed to take on the task of a natural resource inventory for Otsego County, representatives from Otsego Land Trust, SUNY Oneonta, and the town of Richfield Springs have organized the initial steps of a Regional Natural Resources working group to consider creation of a council, and a solid stakeholder group is taking shape. Representatives from Otsego 2000, Otsego Land Trust, Otsego County Conservation Association, County Soil and Water, Mohawk Valley Economic Development District, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, SUNY Oneonta, and Hartwick College are all on board.

The working group hopes to gather data on the soils, forests, microbiomes, water sources, and other valuable natural resources in the area. An undertaking of this scope, with buy-in from so many critical stakeholders, has the potential to make a real impact. The mapped data from a resource inventory can help to inform county and town planning. The working group offers a space for considering collaborative grant applications to protect high-value ecosystems. The working group may also initiate collegiate student experiential learning and internships, and support further academic research on our region’s natural elements. Likewise, other desired outcomes include a framework for integrating the value of our resources in local business practices, cross-organizational sustainability partnerships, and an opportunity to guide smart energy planning by creating mapped low-value lands that are better for commercial solar installations. Furthermore, the group hopes to enable the protection of drinking water, support local village climate-smart initiatives, and inspire value for state open space plans.

Individually, each organization might struggle to complete any one of these tasks, but by teaming together we may be able to secure the future our of region for generations to come.

The Regional Natural Resources working group was birthed from a roundtable brainstorming discussion at the Regional Innovation Council. The RNRC is currently a working group, expecting to initiate combining geospatial data on natural resources in early 2024.

For more information, contact Cherise Tolbert: cherise@otsegolandtrust.org.