Flora & Fauna, Park Projects, Stewardship

Environmental Stewardship At NY State Parks

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Environmental conservation was a driving force in creating New York’s state parks system that you know and love today. From protecting Niagara Falls from industrial development to preserving the views outside of Albany at Thacher State Park, our agency has been working to preserve our lands and make them available for public enjoyment since its founding. This simple mission has taken on a different meaning in the face of climate change and the shift to clean energy. Here are some ways we’re meeting the challenges of environmental conservation in the 21st century.

Shifting to Renewable Energy

New York State Parks is charged with shifting all operations to renewable energy by 2030, either through the purchase of renewable energy or through generating our own.

The solar array on the visitor center at Letchworth State Park in Livingston and Wyoming Counties.

Statewide, Parks operations consume around 45 million kilowatt hours of electricity (the same annual usage as about 4,000 homes). The agency currently has 50 solar arrays around the state generating more than 6MW, which help reduce carbon emissions and save money. This includes everything from roof-mount arrays to large ground-mounts built in pre-disturbed areas like the back of parking lots.

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Recreation, safety

Swim Safely This Summer

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The days are getting longer, and it won’t be long before the swim season is here! 2024 kicked off with the exciting announcement of NY SWIMS: the largest investment in public swimming in nearly a century.

This multifaceted program seeks to provide all New Yorkers with access to safe swimming opportunities, particularly in underserved and heat-prone communities. It calls for new or revitalized swim areas at Sojourner Truth, the East Bathhouse at Jones Beach, and Lake Sebago at Harriman State Park. It expands our existing learn-to-swim program, supports lifeguard recruitment and retention, provides transportation to people who can’t otherwise access swimming, and includes grant funding for communities to build or renovate swimming facilities.

The NY SWIMS program also has a serious goal: to reduce childhood drowning. On average, 11 people drown every day in the United States during the summer. Drowning is the leading cause of death among children aged one to four years old in the United States, and the second-leading cause of death for children aged 5 to 14. Children with autism are 160 percent more likely to die from drowning. Other medical conditions also increase drowning risk. As you begin to plan your summertime swimming adventures, here are some tips to keep it safe.

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2024 Centennial Celebration, Park History, State History

Celebrating 100 Years of NY State Parks and Historic Sites 

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Happy birthday to us! The New York State parks and historic sites system is now 100 years old, and we celebrated our founding and lit up almost two dozen landmarks around the state in Parks green and Centennial gold to mark the day last week.

Although several of our parks and historic sites have existed for more than 100 years—Washington’s Headquarters State Historic Site and Niagara Falls State Park, for example—it was on April 18, 1924, that the State Council of Parks (SCOP) was formed, creating our modern parks system.

A Centennial birthday cake at the newly opened Robert H. Treman exhibit reception in Ithaca.

Established by Governor Alfred E. Smith and the New York State Legislature in 1924, SCOP and subsequent voter support for a $15 million Bond Act placed the future of many of New York’s public lands in our hands. Alongside great partners, staff at our agency have served as stewards since then, preserving New York’s most treasured lands and historically significant places. Today our system spans over 250 properties in every part of the state, improving the lives of millions of New Yorkers and connecting communities to the outdoors.

Learn more about the history of NY State Parks and Historic Sites with our interactive timeline, “Blazing a Trail.”

Missed our birthday? No problem. We created a video recap documenting the events of the day. You can find this video, along with other Centennial content, on our YouTube channel. Be sure to subscribe if you haven’t already, as we’ll be adding even more announcement videos into this digital goody bag as the year goes on!

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Park Personnel

New Class Steadily Builds Park Police Team

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A couple of days before a certain round celestial body passed in front of another certain round celestial body, the New York State Park Police added a nice “round” number – 20 new graduates – to its ranks. Some of these new officers were put right to work – sent to the path of eclipse totality to help with an influx of visitation. Nearly one million people visited New York’s state parks and historic sites between April 6 and 9 to witness the eclipse.

After the eclipse, the new officers will spend the next couple of months in field training. They are assigned regionally to learn and prepare to serve State Parks’ 250 properties. Last year, our agency saw record attendance of 84 million, so the need for personnel has not slowed. The new officers will receive supervised training from senior officers, followed by assignment to patrol responsibilities.

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2024 Centennial Celebration, Art

Honoring State Parks’ 100th Anniversary with Poetry

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If you’re visiting a New York State park or historic site in the Hudson Valley this year, you might have a poetic encounter!

New York State Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (OPRHP) is presenting a new temporary public art project, Poetry in the Parks, to celebrate the Parks Centennial. Poems selected by the Poetry Society of America (PSA) and OPRHP are installed in three New York State parks and one historic site stretching from Westchester to Columbia County.

Clermont
FDR State Park
Lake Taghkanic
Walkway Over The Hudson
Walkway Over The Hudson
The five poems of the inaugural Poetry in the Parks installation.

This inaugural installation of Poetry in the Parks includes works by Andrea Cohen at FDR State Park in Yorktown Heights; U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón and New York Poet Laureate Patricia Spears Jones  at Walkway Over the Hudson State Park in Highland and Poughkeepsie; Robert Hass at Lake Taghkanic State Park in Ancram; and Ishion Hutchinson at Clermont State Historic Site in Germantown. Integrated with the architecture found in the parks, the selected poems are meant to be discovered by visitors to help them reflect on the beauty of their natural surroundings.

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The official blog for the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation