Forest landowner characteristics on fragmented ownerships in the Catskill and Delaware Watersheds

The Catskill and Delaware Watersheds provide 90 percent of the drinking water supply to New York City. Seventy-five percent of the Watershed is forested and the majority of the land is owned by Non-Industrial Private Forestland Owners (NIPF). Parcelization of private lands and land use may impact water quality within the Watershed. This study follows up the work of LaPierre and Germain (2005), which documented the decrease in average parcel size and increase in number of smaller parcels in the Catskill Counties portion of the Watershed. This work documents parcelization in Delaware County and compares owners of parcelized versus intact properties between 1984 and 2005. The study describes landowners' property modifications, land use, and forest management practices and the impervious surface area coverage on their forested parcels. The results suggest that as properties are subdivided, forest management is decreasing and impervious surface area is increasing in the Watershed.;Keywords: Forest Management, New York City Watershed, Non-industrial Private Forestland, Parcelization, Urbanization.