Urban vs. Rural, NYS Environmental Divide

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Description and Analysis of Environmental Map:

The environmental map that I have created on ArcGIS Explorer includes 5 different layers. The first layer I have chosen to plot would be none other than the blue line that symbolizes the boundary of the Adirondack State Park. I chose to plot the Adirondack State Park due to the fact that the Adirondack Park is the largest Park in the U.S., while also being the largest state protected area within the continues United States. On the map the area within the Blue line takes up approximately 1/6 of the area of New York and is located on the northeastern section of the state.

I then chose to plot the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s (NYSDEC) regions and their regional offices. I chose to plot the NYSDEC regions and offices due to the fact that the DEC are the stewards of the Adirondack park along with the rest of the wilderness and forested areas located within New York State. The NYSDEC regions divide the state into 7 separate regions, with at least 3 DEC regional offices located within each region. The areas with the most regional offices appear to be located in highly urbanized areas, with New York City and Long Island containing several more offices than the more rural regions of the state.

I then also chose to plot the line that divides and separates the Northern hunting boundaries of the state from the Southern hunting boundaries. I chose to plot this hunting line to show the regional differences in hunting seasons and regulations that New York has chosen to create. The Northern-Southern Hunting Line divides the state in half horizontally, and is located in the gap between the Adirondack and Catskill mountain ranges.

I then also chose to plot the location of Nuisance Control Operators working within New York State. I chose to plot the location of nuisance control operators to see how rural and urban areas within the state compare in regards to the severity of wild animal problems and their population sizes. When looking at the locations of nuisance control operators, it can be seen that the majority of their locations are found in the lower half of the state and are found more frequently in urban areas and much less in the northern rural areas such as the Adirondacks that has only 12 operators.

When looking at the map I have created, I some patterns that exist between the layers I have plotted. The pattern that sticks out to me the most can be seen in the location of nuisance control operators in the state. The operators appear to be located throughout the state, and are more concentrated in the southern and more urbanized areas of the state. There is also notably only a dozen found to be located within the rural regions of the Adirondacks. This pattern can be seen clearly when only the Nuisance Control Operators layer is left showing on the map, and the area of the Adirondacks can still clearly be seen with nuisance operator locations surrounding the park’s boundary instead of the famous blue line. I believe that this pattern can be connected to the population densities of the state’s regions.

Another pattern I witnessed can also be seen in the location of DEC regional offices in the state. Looking at the map it is clear that there are far more offices located in the southern half of the state then the northern half. This is also easily seen due to the division of the state made by the Northern-Southern Hunting Line. It can also be seen that the regional offices are located in far more urban areas than rural. This once again is exemplified when looking at the fact that the rural Adirondacks hold only 4 regional offices, while the more urban Long Island and New York City metropolitan area holds over 20 offices.

Although I did not plot a population density layer on my map I do believe that’s it is common knowledge that population densities in urban areas are much higher than populations within rural areas. Taking this knowledge into account along with the patterns and connections I have described above; I believe that it is clear that the higher the population of a region along with the higher levels of urban development within that region are directly linked to the location and increased amount of nuisance control operators and DEC regional offices that will be located within that more densely populated and more urbanized area.

The primary source for the majority of my GIS mapping data came from the NYSDEC’s Geo data inventory database online. I was also able to locate the Adirondack Park boundary, or Blue Line GIS data through the APA’s GIS online public database. The publishing and date of publication information of each data layer goes as listed below.

-Northern-Southern Hunting Line data published by the NYSDEC on 2008-03-27.

-Nuisance Control Operators data published by NYSDEC on 2010-12-01.

-NYSDEC Regions and Offices data published by NYSDEC on 2011-03-09.

            -Adirondack Blue Line data published by the APA on 1993-09-14.