Photo credit: NYS DEC/Ranger Dawson
For the last ten years, visitation to the Kaaterskill Clove region of the Catskill Park has been on an upward trend, culminating in 2020 with a record-setting year in many locations. The compounding effects of parking shortages, unsafe conditions along busy state highways, crowded trails, summits and other points of interest, impacts to water quality, and physical degradation of trails and other facilities has led DEC to begin conducting this VUM planning process.
Photo credit: NYS DEC/Ranger Dawson
Support NYSDEC to conduct a visitor use management planning process, with a focus on experiential, social, and public safety elements of visitor use management and visitor capacities, to promote sustainable visitor use.
NYSDEC contracted the services of Otak to implement the project. The Otak consultant team includes DJ&A, who is a national leader in visitor use management and visitor capacities; Ruby Mountain Consulting, providing expertise in the Interagency Visitor Use Management Framework; Ross Strategic, providing expert stakeholder engagement and conflict resolution services; and VHB, providing public involvement interfaces and comment analysis.
