Publications

WCS's Metropolitan Conservation Alliance publishes tools in our Technical Paper Series that help communities integrate biodiversity conservation into land use planning efforts.  We develop these papers in collaboration with land use attorneys, biologists, developers, municipal officials, agency personnel, and university researchers.  We also partner with local land trusts, watershed organizations, conservation districts, and others who can put these tools into the hands of the people and communities that need them.  Likewise, we value your input and suggestions for future land use tools.  Publications by MCA staff outside of our Technical Paper Series are also described below. 

WCS / MCA Technical Paper Series

NEW! North Castle Biodiversity Plan. WCS/MCA Technical Paper No 14. By Danielle T. LaBruna and Michael W. Klemens, MCA 2007. PDF available here. MCA conducted this study in the Byram Lake Reservoir section of North Castle in 2007 and discovered a core area of biological diversity. Contains map of Biodiversity Area, land use recommendations to conserve biodiversity, and recommendations for future studies.

Northern Wallkill Biodiversity Plan: Balancing Development and Environmental Stewardship in the Hudson River Estuary Watershed, WCS/MCA Technical Paper No. 13. By Danielle T. LaBruna and Michael W. Klemens, MCA 2007. PDF available here.  The Northern Wallkill Biodiversity Plan is the result of a multi-year partnership between MCA and the Town of Lloyd, the Town of New Paltz, and the Village of New Paltz, New York. This publication provides a map outlining the areas of highest biodiversity in the three municipalities as well as land preservation and land use recommendations to maintain this biodiversity.

Pocantico Hills Biodiversity Plan, Rockefeller State Park Preserve and Associated Private Lands: A Public-Private Land Stewardship Initiative, WCS/MCA Technical Paper No. 12.  By Danielle T. LaBruna, Michael W. Klemens, Julian D. Avery and Kevin J. Ryan, MCA 2006. $10.00 The Pocantico Hills Biodiversity Plan is the result of a public-private partnership between WCS/MCA, the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, Rockefeller family members, Friends of the Rockefeller State Park Preserve, and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. This report provides conservation, management, restoration, and public education recommendations to maintain and increase the wildlife biodiversity on Rockefeller State Park Preserve and surrounding Rockefeller family lands.  Includes map highlighting areas of significant biodiversity. Ideas presented apply to any North American suburban park containing temperate ecosystems.

Gruner, H. J., M. W. Klemens, and A. Persons. 2006. The Farmington Valley Biodiversity Project: A Model for Intermunicipal Biodiversity Planning in Connecticut. MCA Technical Paper No. 11. PDF available here.

The Farmington Valley Biodiversity Project presents a model for Connecticut towns to establish intermunicipal collaborations to prioritize and map areas important to the conservation of regional biological diversity. The model integrates biological data sets with land use and habitat maps utilizing GIS (Geographic Information Systems) applications. Information produced is designed to be incorporated within each town Plan of Conservation and Development. A community outreach component to promote the awareness of regional biodiversity is also included.


From Planning to Action: Biodiversity Conservation in Connecticut Towns, WCS/MCA Technical Paper No. 10.  By Michael W. Klemens, Marjorie F. Shansky and Henry J. Gruner, MCA 2006. $10.00 To counteract sprawl development and protect biodiversity, local land use decision-makers need three items: the scientific information to identify problems, the technical solutions to those problems, and the legal authority to implement those solutions. This resource provides guidance on all three. The twelve primary challenges facing land use decision-makers identified in this publication arose out of the authors’ collective experience working with municipal officials, and is a practical guide to making ecologically- and legally-informed development decisions. Although this report focuses on towns in Connecticut, the guidance here applies to other “home-rule” states such as New York. 

Biodiversity Planning through Local Land Use Planning: An Assessment of Needs and Opportunities in the New Jersey Townships of  Chester, Lebanon, and Washington.  WCS/MCA Technical Paper No. 9.  By Nicholas A. Miller, Michael W. Klemens and Jennifer E. Schmitz, MCA 2005.  PDF available here.

Biodiversity Planning through Local Land Use Planning is an assessment of needs and opportunities for New Jersey townships (in particular, Chester, Lebanon and Washington). This assessment is intended to serve as a foundation for adopting and adapting the Biotic Corridor approach which employs wildlife surveys as a baseline layer in the planning process and informs policy and land use decision-making.

Southern Wallkill Biodiversity Plan: Balancing Development and the Environment in the Hudson River Estuary Watershed. WCS/MCA Technical Paper No. 8. By Nicholas A. Miller, Michael W. Klemens and Jennifer E. Schmitz, MCA 2005. $8.00

The Southern Wallkill Biodiversity Plan emerged from a partnership between WCS/MCA, the NYS DEC Hudson River Estuary Program, and the towns of Chester, Goshen and Warwick, including villages and hamlets within these towns. This report provides policy and planning recommendations to support the establishment of a regional, multi-town approach to the conservation of wildlife and habitats.  It includes a map highlighting priority areas for conservation efforts across the three towns.

NEW! Croton-to-Highlands Biodiversity Plan: Somers Addendum. WCS/MCA Technical Paper No. 7-A. By Danielle T. LaBruna and Michael W. Klemens, MCA 2007. PDF available here. The research conducted for this volume, an addendum to the original Croton-to-Highlands Biodiversity Plan, extends the biotic corridor discovered in the original CHBP towns to the neighboring town of Somers, New York. Map of Somers Biodiversity Areas are included.

Croton-to-Highlands Biodiversity Plan: Balancing Development and the Environment in the Hudson River Estuary Catchment.  WCS/MCA Technical Paper No. 7.  By Nicholas Miller and Michael W. Klemens, MCA 2004.  PDF available here.
The Croton-to-Highlands Biodiversity Plan was developed out of a partnership between WCS/MCA and the four contiguous New York towns of Cortlandt, New Castle, Putnam Valley, and Yorktown.  This report provides policy and planning recommendations to support the establishment of a regional, multi-town approach to the conservation of wildlife and habitats.  It includes a map highlighting priority areas for conservation efforts across the four towns. 

Habitat Management Guidelines for Vernal Pool Wildlife.  WCS/MCA Technical Paper No. 6.   By Aram J. K. Calhoun and Philip deMaynadier, MCA, 2004.  $8.00
This document provides habitat management guidelines for maintaining vernal pool biodiversity in forested landscapes, especially in the commercially-harvested forests of northern New York and New England. 

Best Development Practices (BDPs): Conserving Pool-Breeding Amphibians in Residential and Commercial Developments in the Northeastern United States.  WCS/MCA Technical Paper No. 5.  By Aram J. K. Calhoun and Michael W. Klemens, MCA, 2002.  $10.00
This paper contains techniques to guide local and state planners, officials, and other land use decision-makers as they attempt to conserve vernal pool habitats and wildlife. It provides a pragmatic approach to conservation that encourages communities to attain a more complete understanding of their vernal pool resources, gather information that enables them to designate pools that are exemplary or worthy of protection efforts, and then develop strategies to fulfill that protection. 

NEW! Eastern Westchester Biotic Corridor: Bedford Addendum. WCS/MCA Technical Paper No 4-A. By Danielle LaBruna and Michael W. Klemens, MCA 2007. PDF available here. 

The research conducted for this volume, an addendum to the original Eastern Westchester Biotic Corridor report, extends the biotic corridor discovered in the original EWBC towns to the neighboring town of Bedford, New York. Map of Bedford's extensions to the biotic corridor are included.

Eastern Westchester Biotic Corridor.  WCS/MCA Technical Paper No. 4.  By Nicholas Miller and Michael W. Klemens, MCA, 2002.  PDF available here.
The Eastern Westchester Biotic Corridor (EWBC) is a partnership between MCA and the three contiguous towns of North Salem, Lewisboro, and Pound Ridge in northeastern Westchester County, NY.  This report provides science-based information and tools to support the establishment of a regional, multi-town approach to the conservation of wildlife and habitats.  This report can also serve as a model for other multi-town initiatives. 

Conservation Area Overlay District: A Model Local Law.  WCS/MCA Technical Paper No. 3.  Prepared for MCA by Pace University’s Land Use Law Center, MCA, 2002.  PDF available here.
This document contains an innovative tool for improved land use planning—a model ordinance that can be adopted by municipalities to delineate conservation area overlay districts.  The ordinance is based upon New York State law, but can be adapted for use in other states that have strong home rule authority.  Within ecologically sensitive areas, it seeks to reduce habitat fragmentation, maintain biodiversity, and protect significant natural features.  This model law enables towns to develop a template not only for ecological protection, but also for the siting of future development.

Open Land Acquisition: Local Financing Techniques Under New York State Law.  WCS/MCA Technical Paper No. 2.  Prepared for MCA by Pace University’s Land Use Law Center, MCA. 2000.  PDF available here.
This paper describes the authority that local governments have to raise revenues to purchase or otherwise protect open space.  It explores the types of programs that have been established using these techniques.  It is intended to assist communities interested in PDR (purchase of development rights) to help them decide which of several potential funding mechanisms would be most appropriate.

A Tri-State Comparative Analysis of Local Land Use Authority: NY, NJ, & CT.  WCS/MCA Technical Paper No. 1.  Prepared for MCA by Pace University’s Land Use Law Center, MCA, 1999.  $5.00
This paper investigates the local land use authority that towns within the tri-state region have to protect natural landscapes while making land use decisions and to collaborate with one another on an inter-municipal basis.  The document lists and describes statutes and cases that empower municipalities to plan and regulate across municipal lines; to adopt floating zones, overlay districts, and natural resource protection ordinances; and to provide incentives to encourage cost-effective and environmentally sound development patterns. 

Other Publications by MCA Staff

NEW! Local and landscape predictors of fish-assemblage characteristics in the Great Swamp, New York. Tracy Van Holt, Diane M. Murphy, and Lauren Chapman. 2006. Northeastern Naturalist. 13(3):353-374. PDF available here.

Nature in Fragments: The Legacy of Sprawl. Elizabeth A. Johnson & Michael W. Klemens (editors). Columbia University Press, 2005. (Temporarily unavailable)
This collection focuses on the impact of sprawl on biodiversity and the measures that can be taken to alleviate it. With contributions from biological and social scientists, conservationists, and land-use professionals, Nature in Fragments examines the genesis of sprawl, its effect on species, and the ways in which it alters natural communities, ecosystems, and natural processes.

Turtle Conservation.  Michael W. Klemens (editor). Smithsonian Institution Press, 2000. (Temporarily unavailable)
This book provides a comprehensive analysis of threats to turtles and tortoises worldwide, and considers the most significant problems facing these species.  It includes contributions by experts on turtle biology and conservation and reviews the outlook for marine, freshwater, and terrestrial species. 

Amphibians and Reptiles in Connecticut: A Checklist with Notes on Conservation Status, Identification, and Distribution.  By Michael W. Klemens.  CT Department of Environmental Protection, 2000. (Temporarily unavailable)
This list describes the native species of amphibians and reptiles in Connecticut, both common and uncommon.  It also provides distributional information and discusses the conservation status of each species. 

Amphibians and Reptiles in Connecticut and Adjacent Regions.  By Michael W. Klemens.  State Geological and Natural History Survey of Connecticut, 1993.   (Currently out of print)
Based on years of study and careful fieldwork on the often elusive and sometimes highly habitat-specialized herpetofauna, this book is a valuable source of information on the status, distribution, and ecology of species found within the region. 

Bog Turtle (Clemmys muhlenbergii)--Northern Population--Recovery Plan.  Prepared by Michael W. Klemens for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.  PDF available here.
This recovery plan describes actions that can lead to the protection and recovery of the Federally-listed northern population of the bog turtle.  It also presents guidelines for conducting bog turtle surveys.

Return to MCA's main page.