Hamptonburgh Preserve Boardwalk

LAN became involved with the Hampton Preserve Boardwalk when we volunteered our survey services to locate wetland delineation flags, trees greater that six inches in diameter, and perform topographic measurements of an approximately seven-acre portion of the Hamptonburgh Preserve in Hamptonburg, NY.

The Orange County Land Trust (OCLT) is the steward of the Preserve which contains 130 acres of prime nesting habitat for waterfowl, woodpeckers, bluebirds and other cavity-nesting birds, and 74 acres of rolling wildflower meadows, farmland and riverine forest along the Wallkill River.

OCLT was planning to construct an ADA accessible interpretive trail including approximately 1,000 linear feet of elevated boardwalk and observation platforms in portions of the trail containing wetlands. LAN was retained by OCLT to submit applications to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for wetland line verification and jurisdictional determination,  and to prepare site plans and budgetary construction cost estimates for various designs and material types.

LAN worked closely with OCLT staff to create a plan that complied with the preserve’s conservation easement, and promoted educational opportunities by incorporating informative materials and strategic placement of viewing platforms for direct observation of the various ecotones along the trail. OCLT utilized LAN’s plans and budgetary construction cost estimates to solicit project funding from various granting agencies.