Threats to the Ridge Actions that should be taken to save the Ridge About the Shawangunk Ridge Coalition Media coverage about the Shawangunk Ridge Learn more about the environment of the Shawangunk Ridge Conservation efforts on the Shawangunk Ridge Recreation on the Shawangunk Ridge Maps of the Shawangunk Ridge Links to supporters and affiliated sites Search this site for information Contact information for the Shawangunk Ridge Coalition Return to our home page

Legislators advance state designation of Shawangunk Mountains Scenic Byway
Mid-Hudson News
February 27, 2006

State legislators in the Shawangunk Mountains Region have introduced legislation in the Senate and Assembly to give the Shawangunk Mountains Scenic Byway official designation as a State Scenic Byway and add it to the state's scenic byway system.

The bill was introduced in the Senate by Senator John Bonacic and in the Assembly by Assemblyman Kevin Cahill. Senator William Larkin and Assembly Members Nancy Calhoun, Clifford Crouch and Thomas Kirwan all co-sponsored this bi-partisan legislation.

The Shawangunk Mountains Scenic Byway is an 82-mile network of roads encircling and bisecting the northern Shawangunk Mountains, outlining a region of over 115,000 acres with scenic, natural, recreational and historic resources of statewide significance.

The legislative action follows approval in October 2005 by the state Department of Transportation Scenic Byway Advisory Board of the Corridor Management Plan developed for the byway by representatives of the nine towns and two villages along the byway route and an advisory group representing Orange and Ulster county planners and regional business, preservation and community organizations.

Development of the CMP was funded by the Federal Highway Administration's National Scenic Byways Program, the Orange and Ulster county legislatures, Cahill and the Open Space Institute.

The Shawangunk Mountains Regional Partnership has been formed to implement the CMP. The Partnership's executive committee is made up of the chief elected official or representative of the participating towns of Crawford, Gardiner, Marbletown, Montgomery, New Paltz, Rochester, Rosendale, Shawangunk, Wawarsing and the villages of Ellenville and New Paltz. Regional committees are in the process of being formed to focus on projects involving managing tourism, improving transportation and preservation of the region's resources.

www.midhudsonnews.com/News/Shawan_Byway-27Feb06.htm