The NRI

The NRI Mission

The NRI is being created to inform residents of the City of Newburgh about the natural resources found within Newburgh and on City-owned lands in the Town of New Windsor and Town of Newburgh, like the reservoir watershed Washington Lake and Brown’s Pond/Silver Stream reservoirs. Once completed, it can help policymakers in the City of Newburgh make well-informed decisions related to land-use, conservation, and development. The NRI describes and illustrates many aspects of the landscape and the significance of those resources to residents, stakeholders of the City, and both the local and regional ecosystem.

Newburgh’s Conservation Advisory Council (CAC) applied for State funding to prepare the NRI. The CAC obtained a grant from the New York State Environmental Protection Fund through the Hudson River Estuary Program of the State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). Newburgh’s Planning and Development Department is coordinating and guiding preparation of the NRI through a Steering Committee made up of the following individuals:

• Chuck Thomas, CAC Chairperson

• Ronald Zorilla, Outdoor Promise

• Neil Curri, GIS Professor, Vassar College

• Ingrid Haeckel, DEC Hudson River Estuary Program Manager

• The City of Newburgh Planning and Development Department staff

• The Orange County Department of Planning staff

• NRI Consultants:

  • Hudsonia Ltd. staff

  • GREENPLAN, Inc. staff

After studying the natural resources of the City, their importance to the City, and the existing regulations for protection of the resources at the local, state, and federal levels, an NRI Steering Committee will develop a list of “Recommendations” that can help all those involved in land-use policy in the City of Newburgh to make well-informed decisions. The recommendations will serve to aid City agencies, landowners, developers, conservation organizations, or anyone making decisions that affect land use, conservation, and development.

Much of the information collected for the NRI mapping and descriptions has been obtained from the New York State Geographic Information System (GIS) Clearinghouse and from the Cornell University Geospatial Information Repository (CUGIR). The DEC will oversee the project for the Hudson River Estuary Program and will provide guidance, information, and helpful ideas during its preparation.

Hudsonia & GREENPLAN have been hired by the City to carry out the project. In addition to creating the report, the consultants will host a public workshop to share information about the process of developing the NRI and to present the draft document.