Raquette Boreal Unit
The Raquette Boreal Unit encompasses Forest Preserve and Conservation Easements lands in the Towns of Hopkinton, Colton, and Piercefield in St. Lawrence County. Forest Preserve lands include recently acquired parcels as well as lands previously part of the Raquette-Boreal Wild Forest. These lands have recently been classified into two units; the Raquette River Wild Forest, and the Raquette-Jordan Boreal Primitive Area. Easement lands in the unit include the Lassiter easement, the Conservation Fund easement, the International Paper easement, and the Niagara Mohawk easement.
Conservation easement lands are established and operate under the legal jurisdiction of Article 49 of the Environmental Conservation Law (ECL). Easements may be as simple as a limitation on the number of buildings that may be present on a piece of property to easements providing for public recreation use and limitations/requirements for sustainable timber management. Most easements which include public recreation rights require the State to consult with the landowner when developing public recreation plans for the property and may require the Department to submit such plans for landowner determination of compliance with the easement. Including these easement lands in the Raquette Boreal UMP fulfills the requirement of the easements regarding public recreational use and planning. Recreational opportunities offered by the landowner and the Department are outlined in the table below.
| Easement | Public Recreation Rights |
|---|---|
| Lassiter | Yes |
| International Paper Co. | Limited |
| Conservation Fund | None |
| Niagara Mohawk | Yes |
Raquette Boreal Unit Management Plan (December, 2006)
The Raquette Boreal Unit is a mix of State owned Forest Preserve lands and privately owned lands subject to Conservation Easements. Forest Preserve lands are classified as either Primitive or Wild Forest. The proximity of these lands to each other, the similarities of their natural resources, and current and potential interconnected recreational opportunities provided a strong rationale for combining these lands into one planning unit, therefore providing for planning over a broader landscape. However, ownership and classification differences necessitate the need for somewhat different management objectives and strategies for each subunit. For example, in some instances, certain recreational uses may be compatible across all of the unit while other recreational uses may be limited to specific portions of the unit, based on State Land Master Plan (SLMP) requirements for Forest Preserve lands or requirements/restrictions of the easement agreement on Conservation Easement lands.
Entire Raquette Boreal Plan ( 5.6 Mb, pdf - this is a large document and may be slow to download. As an alternative you may download specific sections using the links below)
Plan Parts:
Cover through Appendices (1 Mb, pdf)
Appendices 1 through 11 (552 kb, pdf)
Unit Maps (appendix 12):
Existing and Proposed Facilities (489 kb, pdf)
Unit Hydrology (600 kb, pdf)
Potential Deer Yard Habitat (957 kb, pdf)
Potential Spruce Grouse Habitat (989 kb, pdf)
Historic Deer Yard Habitat (356 kb, pdf)
Breading Bird Atlas Blocks (1.3 Mb, pdf)
To request a copy of the plan, please contact us at:
NYS DEC
Lands & Forests
6739 US HWY 11
Potsdam, NY 13676
315/265-3090
e-mail : r6ump@gw.dec.state.ny.us
