Coastal Services Center

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Saving Open Space

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The Goal:

Preserve parcels of undeveloped land in the community.

The Issue:

How do you identify the best lands to protect?

The Answer:

Conduct an open-space analysis using land cover/land change data and then determine which open-space areas are in need of protection from encroaching sprawl.

The Example:
Long Island's South Shore Estuary Reserve

For 70 miles along the coast of Long Island, from Nassau County west to Suffolk County, lies the South Shore Estuary Reserve. Given special status by the New York State Legislature, this series of shallow, interconnected bays and tidal tributaries provides a highly productive habitat for fish and wildlife. It also supports the largest concentration of water-dependent businesses in the state. One and a half million people live along the shoreline and in the uplands of the reserve. Millions more visit the South Shore each year.

When a retrospective change analysis was conducted along Long Island's South Shore for the years 1984 to 1994, researchers discovered a total of 12,000 newly developed acres. Approximately 5,000 acres were transformed from forest and 5,000 acres from grassland (mostly agricultural). Another 2,000 acres were identified as being land in transition to development.

Open space protects environmentally sensitive lands and also provides opportunities for public hiking, biking, horseback riding, and nature study, contributing significantly to the region's sense of place. Local government officials want to preserve land, but often don't know where the best property is located and have no way to prioritize and maximize purchases. An open-space analysis helps researchers identify and characterize large expanses of undeveloped land that occur within the county. Armed with this information, officials can best target the county's preservation and conservation efforts.

Applying Land Cover Data:

For the base map of the open-space analysis a satellite-derived land cover map for Nassau and Suffolk Counties in Long Island was used. Using the NOAA Coastal Change Analysis Program (C-CAP) protocol (Dobson and others 1995) a 9-class land cover map was developed from a 1994 Landsat Thematic Mapper image.

1994 land cover data for Suffolk and Nassau Counties on Long Island, New York, with the South Shore Estuary boundary.

To identify open space, all of the undeveloped land cover classes were grouped. To complete the analysis, the following data layers were overlaid with this land cover classification and used in the open-space analysis:

• Data on parks and other public open spaces, which were already digitized.
• Nonpublic open spaces (undeveloped land belonging to private individuals and companies).

The resulting map was used to identify all parcels of undeveloped land at least 5 acres in size. The next step for the researchers is to develop criteria for ranking the ability of undeveloped lands to meet regional objectives based on societal value, proximity to critical habitats, size, and cost. Once the criteria are established, selection of open spaces for conservation and preservation on Long Island will be much easier for government officials.

This graphic was created using the 1994 Long Island land cover data and is for illustrative purposes only. Using the land cover data only, pixels were selected and grouped if they were 5 acres in size or greater, and represented undeveloped lands, such as wetland, forest, or scrub/shrub.

In addition to helping coastal managers prioritize land purchases, an open space analysis enables officials of two municipalities to cooperate on acquisitions. For example, the managers of the towns of Brookhaven and Islip were able to collaborate on an effort to protect the ecologically important Patchogue River. Approximately 30 acres in the headwaters of the Patchogue River were identified on the open-space analysis maps as good areas to preserve. The maps had shown farmland, open spaces, and recreational parkland in close proximity to the Patchogue River. Preservation of these lands would provide better water quality, natural resources, and open space benefits.

The Result:

Open space analyses help earmark important properties that may be candidates for outright acquisitions or conservation easements. These analyses help managers locate and link potential and existing open space lands together, resulting in larger tracts of open space, and an overall greater public benefit. They also give planners an opportunity to look for broad trends or patterns, such as a series of lands that might be developed into a greenway.

To learn more about the South Shore's open space analysis, see the New York Department of State's South Shore Estuary Reserve: Open Space Preservation Study.

Works Cited:
Dobson and others, 1995. NOAA Coastal Change Analysis Program (C-CAP): Guidance for Regional Implementation. NOAA Technical Report NMFS 123. U.S. Dept. of Commerce.

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