Catskill Streams Buffer Initiative

Catskill Streams Buffer Initiative Goal

The overall goal of the CSBI is to inform and assist landowners in better stewardship of their riparian (streamside) area through protection, enhancement, management, or restoration. DEP and its partners (County Soil & Water Conservation Districts and Cornell Cooperative Extension) will assist private, riparian landowners throughout the West of Hudson Watershed by providing:

1) Riparian Corridor Management Plans to create awareness about riparian management issues specific to individual properties

2) Best management practice design and/or prescriptive measures and installation to encourage positive riparian stewardship and

3) Educational materials and activities as needed by landowners to understand the critical role of their buffer and how to maintain it in optimal functioning condition.

Click Here for program guidelines

Click Here for CSBI application materials - this is the information you need to apply for Catskill Streams Buffer Initiative assistance.

Catskill Streams Buffer Initiative Partners

The CSBI is led by a core team of six CSBI Coordinators (Coordinators)– five working from County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) offices in the West of Hudson Watershed, and led by one overall program manager from DEP in Kingston, New York. The CSBI is a functional unit of the DEP Stream Management Program (SMP), and as such the six Coordinators will be supported by technical teams established through the SMP at each SWCD as part of their contracts to implement stream management plans. Please contact your local CSBI Coordinator to discuss your riparian project:

Background Resources and Educational Materials on Riparian Buffers - Click here