Uncertain Future for Cortlandt's Forests

CORTLANDT MANOR, N.Y. – A forestry expert invited to Cortlandt Town Hall Thursday night by the town's Conservation Advisory Council said the fate of Cortlandt’s wooded forests and wetlands is uncertain unless conservation efforts are put into place. The forestry expert said the forests could be in danger in as little as 50 years.

“At first glance, forests appear to be static,” said Brendan Murphy, “but they’re actually incredibly dynamic.” A forester with the Watershed Agricultural Council, a privately operated and New York City funded watershed protection group, Murphy went on to explain how the Croton Watershed was impeccably clean because of the surrounding forests. Cortlandt is 46 percent wooded, said Murphy.

“Forests are the most effective path to clean water,” he said. Murphy also said that Cortlandt has a high percentage of riparian forests, or forests adjacent to water sources. He called these critical land dynamics that help filter water, which nearly nine million people drink.

Deer overpopulation, invasive species and even-aged trees threaten forest stability in Cortlandt, according to Murphy. The deer eat many saplings as Cortlandt’s middle aged forests attempt to regenerate themselves. Saplings access to sunlight is often smothered out by invasive species, which often grow much faster than native species, but add little value to the ecology.

In addition, the even age of the trees, and overly dense forests keep the trees from growing large and healthy. Instead, the trees are stunted because of lack of soil nutrition. Murphy recommended beginning a forestry plan, which are common in northern New York, but are rare in Westchester County.

Westchester County has some of the worst forest regeneration in New York, according to a 2010 study by the Nature Conservancy, ranking nearly all of Westchester with “poor” forest regeneration. This means that “nearly one third of New York’s forests may not have sufficient regeneration to replace the forest in the future.”

Some neighboring communities have begun forestry plans for specific plots of land, including Somers. Critical wooded lands in Cortlandt, as identified by Murphy, included Blue Mountain Reservation, Furnace Brook Headwaters Preserve, Valeria, Hudson Highlands and Teatown Lake Reservation.

Murphy is a native of Yorktown, and recently moved back to Cortlandt from upstate New York.

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