Mianus River Gorge

Entrance

The Mianus River Gorge is a 755-acre (3.06 km2) nature preserve jointly owned by The Nature Conservancy and the Mianus River Gorge Preserve. It is located in Bedford, New York. The first 60 acres (0.24 km2) were purchased by the Preserve, with help from the Conservancy, their first land preservation deal.[1] It has grown over the years and is still managed by the Preserve. In March 1964, it was designated a National Natural Landmark[2] for its old growth climax hemlock forest and the gorge of the Mianus River.

History

In 1954, Gloria and Anthony Anable[1] reached out for help from The Nature Conservancy which pledged $7,500 to help purchase 60 acres (240,000 m2) of land in the gorge, its first land preservation purchase.[3]

In 1990, 17 acres (69,000 m2) were donated as part of a development deal.[4]

In 2007, The Nature Conservancy purchased eight acres (32,000 m2) of adjacent wetlands to protect the gorge and its watershed.[5]

Geology

The gorge is a periglacial formation, carved by streams as the glacier retreated. It contains several types of bedrock including Bedford Augen Gneiss (an igneous intrusion from the Late Devonian period[6]), Hartland Schist, Precambrian and Cambrian gneiss and quartzite. Cameron's Line passes through the preserve.

The old Hobby Hill pegmatite quarry is located in the northern section of the preserve.[7] The Havenmeyer Falls is also part of the preserve.

Wildlife and vegetation

In 2003, the Preserve began to manage its deer population via limited bow hunting. They did so to decrease the risk of excessive deer populations causing damage to the vegetation. They believed that very small scale reductions could effectively manage the population without adversely affecting neighboring populations due to the rose petal hypothesis of deer populations.[8]

There are numerous species of trees, shrubs, vines, herbs, and ferns within the preserve.[9]

Access

The preserve is open from April to November, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. There are approximately five miles (8 km) of well-marked hiking trails.[10]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Nature Conservancy success stories
  2. ↑ NPS NNL Summary
  3. ↑ Nature Conservancy and the Mianus River Gorge Preserve
  4. ↑ New York Times, "New Routes to Westchester Preservation", November 4, 1990, Mary Mcaleer Vizard
  5. ↑ Press release of purchase
  6. ↑ USGS Catskill Geology
  7. ↑ GORP.com Hiking description
  8. ↑ Mianus.Org Fall 2007 newsletter
  9. ↑ NYNJCT Botany description of site
  10. ↑ USGS Summary of park

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mianus River Gorge.

Coordinates: 41°11′09″N 73°37′17″W / 41.185951°N 73.621394°W / 41.185951; -73.621394 (Mianus River Gorge)

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, February 07, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.