Kaaterskill Creek is New York's most beautiful and accessible wildland waterway. With the advent of Social Media this amazing gem is in danger of being lost to us forever. Massive crowds alerted by videos of cliff diving from Fawns Leap arrive throughout the summer. These groups number in the thousands weekly park along 23A a very narrow roadway, block emergency vehicles, destroy habitats, and leave waters littered and unhealthy.
New York State Law requires that stewardship of the natural resources and the ecosystem of this Wildland waterway be placed above all other interests. Region 4 DEC, New York State Department of Transportation and New York State Troopers have failed at the hopeless task of adequetly protecting this unique waterway from waves of too many visitors.
New York State Department of Health does not test these waters for safety, (All bathing areas in New York State that have high a density of visitors are tested for ecoli and other health hazards.)
New York State Department of Environmental Facilities has never done a baseline biosurvey to determine if there are natural heritage features (plants and animals) within this body of water worthy of protection.
The casual parking opportunities along 23A and the gravel dump that was left in Palenville's Veterans Park create excessive access and encourage high intensity recreatinal use.
This waterway is overused, abused and is in danger of loosing all that makes it worth visiting.
To avoid loosing this asset, we propose that all parking from Veterans Park (Woodstock Ave.) in Palenville to Haines Falls be illegal and posted imediately.
