Conservation Advisory Council

Our goal is to identify and map “Open Space” within the Town of Pendleton.  This is our first step to creating a Conservation Plan, with the community, in order to preserve and protect the Town’s natural assets and rural agricultural heritage, as future development continues to occur.

Open space may be defined as an area of land or water that either remains in its natural state or is used for agriculture, free from intensive development for residential, commercial, industrial or institutional use.  Open space can be publicly or privately owned.  It includes agricultural and forest land, undeveloped coastal and estuarine lands, undeveloped scenic lands, public parks and preserves.  It also includes water bodies such as lakes and bays.  The definition of open space depends on the context.  In a big city, a vacant lot or a small marsh can be open space.  A small park or a narrow corridor for walking or bicycling is open space, though it may be surrounded by developed areas.  Cultural and historic resources are part of the heritage of New York State and are often protected along with open space. (https://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/317.html)