Saratoga County Green Infrastructure Plan - NY

Adopted in November of 2006, the Green Infrastructure Plan for Saratoga County is a regional initiative to identify and safeguard valued community open space resources. The plan brings together the county’s most important open space resources, including natural systems such as streams, wetlands and watersheds; working landscapes such as farms and managed forests; recreational and trail opportunities such as multi-use trails and fishing access; and cultural resources such as scenic and historic corridors.

Community members in the county have actively participated in the creation of this plan. The plan began with a set of regional workshops in several communities throughout the county, designed to identify shared values for resource protection and priorities. Many community members participated in these workshops and helped to create an open space vision for the future of Saratoga County. These workshops helped to set the stage toward the creation of the recommendations set forth in this plan. Hence, this is a plan built from the ground up.

The plan builds upon local conservation goals and efforts to create regional priorities. This plan advances the concept of “borderless communities” in Saratoga County. Green infrastructure resources, such as rivers, wetlands, and even farmlands, do not always follow local municipal borders. In fact, the resources and economics of the region are more often unifying and cohesive, rather than divisive and fragmented. Often, it makes sense for several communities to collaborate to conserve a regional resource such as a greenway or natural area. This plan helps to identify these regional resources and provides a framework for communities to work together, with county leadership, to achieve a common goal.

The plan is about growing partnerships. This plan for Saratoga County is more than a plan for county governmental action. This plan recognizes at its foundation that successful open space conservation projects are the work of dedicated individuals and organizations motivated toward a common vision. This plan illustrates that vision. It will be in the hands of many to turn the vision into reality.

The core strategy of this plan, then, is the concept of growing partnerships for conservation. So much has been accomplished towards this end, yet there is much more work to be done. To accomplish the goals set forth in this Green Infrastructure Plan for Saratoga County, there will need to be continued expansion of participation and support from all corners; from land owners to the municipalities, and from nonprofits to the county, state, and federal agencies.

For more information on this plan, see Related Links at bottom right of page.