![[Tompkins Trails]](tompkins_trails.gif)
Below are links to pages about outdoor recreational areas in Tompkins County, NY, USA and surrounding areas in the Finger Lakes.
Tompkins County has much forest land in public ownership. Most of "undeveloped" lands are State Forests/Wildlife Management Areas maintained by the DEC . These lands were purchased by New York State as farm buy-out programs in the 1930's.
The western history of the land starts with the Sullivan campaign which divide the land into large military tracts. Numerous towns and villages were established in the early 19th, many of which don't exist in much capacity today. Much expansion occurred in the 19th century. At that time, central NY was the "great west" and many resources were exploited. Most of the land was timbered between 1820-1860's, maybe in conjunction with slash-and-burn agriculture. Agriculture dominated in the last half of the century. Though the virgin forest land posessed much topsoil, I suspect farming practices soon eroded all of that. Many of these farmsteads were only worked one generation, though many certainly lasted into The Great Depression of the 1930's. Much private land was sold to New York State during the 1930-1940's as part of a farm buy-out program, creating State Forest areas.
State acquistion of the properties brought a progression of use-policy as the DEC's policies envolve. First, many farmlands were planted with forest plantations of Spruce, Red Pine, White Pine, and even Tamarack. Timber was economically useful, wise erosion control, good labor for the CCC's, but also converted the pasturelands and hay feeds to forest and farmsteads to non-habitablity. In the 1940-1950's, the lands were primarily maintained for sports uses, like hunting. The 1960's built many wildlife management features, particularily ponds. Current management strategies tend more toward the DEC's Multi-Use policy though hunting is still a big activity. Some of the forests (such as Connecticut Hill) are still activity managed for game.
As the timber stands are becoming mature, much logging is being done. Partial harvests occur in most of the forests.
This is all to say that the hand-of-man is ubiquitous. Numerous stone and root fences mark old property boundaries and cherry trees line old hedgerows in the middle of forests. Its interesting to locate old farmyards and tool through period cemetaries. And though you can find forests 100 years old, you will be hard-pressed to find one older than 150. Most forests are left over from the decline of argiculture in the 1930's. I know of no virgin stands of forests.
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