The Metropolitan Conservation Alliance, a program of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), released a scientific report on Earth Day identifying a three-town area just outside of New York City that is critical to not only the protection of wildlife, but also reducing the impacts of suburban sprawl. The report says that the towns of Lewisboro, Pound Ridge, and North Salem contain an unusual collection of animals including bobcats and river otters, as well as large tracts of undeveloped land that need protection from poorly planned development.

Announced at a press conference at the Pound Ridge Town House by officials from WCS and Westchester Land Trust, the report calls the region the "Eastern Westchester Biotic Corridor" (EWBC) and makes specific recommendations to protect its remaining wild places. These include creating municipal ordinances that take a region-wide view when considering the impacts of development, purchasing individual tracts as "buffers" to existing parks, and a variety of other approaches.

The two groups say ever-increasing development is reaching farther and farther from New York City, which is why planning is so important for municipalities that have not yet suffered the effects of suburban sprawl.

"The purpose of this report is to plan in advance the protection of a corridor consisting of large swaths of habitat that still connect to one another," said the report's co-author Dr. Michael Klemens, director of the Metropolitan Conservation Alliance, a program of the Wildlife Conservation Society. "If these areas are carved into smaller pieces by unwise development, they lose their ability to protect wildlife."

"We intend to use the findings of this study to guide our land preservation program, and we hope the three municipalities give it careful consideration as well," said Paul Gallay, executive director of the Westchester Land Trust, a conservation group based in Bedford Hills working on land preservation and development issues.

According to Dr. Klemens, officials from the three towns have already looked favorably upon the plan to carefully control development and protect lands critical for wildlife. Two of the towns entered into formal agreements with MCA/WCS; the third town was brought into the partnership due to strong local interest.

The report's data found a wide array of "species of conservation concern" living in the EWBC region, including more than a dozen species of reptiles and amphibians, and scores of nesting birds, some of which migrate from as far as South America. At the heart of the corridor is Ward Pound Ridge Reservation, a 4,700-acre county park in Lewisboro and Pound Ridge, which the State of New York has designated as a Significant Biodiversity Area.

However, the State also acknowledged that core protected areas such as Ward Pound Ridge are insufficient to protect the rich wildlife of the Hudson Valley region. The WCS report links State-level conservation initiatives with locally empowered land-use planning efforts - a combination that will help ensure the future of our region's wildlife, habitats and ecosystems.