Keuka Highlands Unit
The Keuka Highlands Unit Management Plan is a ten year plan for the multiple use of about 3,688 acres of State Forest land. Two state forests, Pigtail Hollow and Urbana, make up the Keuka Highlands Unit and are located west of Keuka Lake in Steuben County. The Keuka Highlands Unit Management Plan was prepared by a committee of DEC Lands and Forests, Wildlife and Public Affairs staff at the Region 8 DEC office in 1993. Benefits such as water quality, a variety of healthy wildlife, and recreational enjoyment are insured by selectively varying the types and growth stages of tree stands within this unit, maintaining grasslands, and enhancing wetland areas.
The plan offers general information on the unit's history and geology, an inventory of the unit's resources, such as vegetative types and stages, fish, wildlife and habitat. It also describes the proposed goals and objectives along with policy considerations for managing the unit.
The vision of the plan is to ensure the biological integrity, improvement and protection of the Keuka Highlands Unit. This shall be done within the multiple use concept of management, which strives to serve the needs of the people of New York State by providing a broad based, biologically diverse ecosystem. Objectives of the plan include maintaining and enhancing a diversity of vegetative types and stages, together with the wildlife and cultural resources of the area.
In September of 2007 the process of re-writing the plan began. Public involvement is an important component to this process. We invite you to provide us with any comments or concerns regarding the future management of the Keuka Highlands Unit. Your comments may be general or specific. The Unit Management Plan will include historical information, natural resources inventories, and proposed management strategies. Topics to be covered include timber and wildlife management, public access, recreation, gas leasing, prescribed burns, and much more. The committee writing the new plan will review the objectives and actions of the current plan. The new plan will include some new actions, some on-going actions, and the removal of others.
Keuka Highlands full UMP (pdf, 3.3 Mb)
Plan Parts
Pages 1-32 (pdf, .96 Mb)
Pages 33-65 (pdf, .93 Mb)
Pages 66-102 (pdf, 1.3 Mb)
