What is Open Space?
According to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, “Open space is simply land or water that is undeveloped (free from residential, commercial, industrial, or institutional use). Open space can be either private or publicly owned and includes areas such as forests, agricultural fields, public parks and preserves, and coastal lands. These spaces can be as small as a vacant lot or as large as the Adirondack and Catskill Forest Preserve.
Open spaces provide benefits to New York State's economy, culture, environment, and our population's general well-being by providing:
- Scenic beauty, cultural value and historic significance
- Production of food and forest products
- Outdoor recreation
- Protection or restoration of ecological functions
- Wildlife diversity and habitat for endangered plant and animal species
- Fisheries, viewsheds, public access and ecotourism potential
- Mitigation of natural hazards, such as flooding, and protection of water supplies
- Values that can take decades or centuries to mature and can be quickly lost to new development”