Recreate Responsibly

 

Memo­r­ial Day Week­end is upon us and after weeks of iso­la­tion and stay­ing home many of us are itch­ing to get out to the few places that are open to the pub­lic. While we here at the Ashokan Water­shed Stream Man­age­ment Pro­gram nor­mally would encour­age any­one to come and visit our region, we have to acknowl­edge that this year things are dif­fer­ent. While COVID-19 infec­tions and hos­pi­tal­iza­tions are declin­ing we still need to do our part to ensure that the spread is lim­ited and to keep new out­breaks from popping-up. To that end, while we want every­one to get out­side and enjoy the weather we need to do so responsibly.

The New York State Depart­ment of Envi­ron­men­tal Con­ser­va­tion and many other regional groups have encour­aged the fol­low­ing safety mea­sures:

• Stay Local! Stay close to home, keep your visit short and avoid high-traffic destinations.
• Be Safe! Avoid crowds and groups (includ­ing crowded trail­heads). Keep a dis­tance of at least 6 feet from oth­ers. Alert oth­ers as you’re about to pass or step aside to let oth­ers pass.
• Be Ready! Move quickly through park­ing lots, trail­heads and scenic areas. If a site is crowded, choose a dif­fer­ent park, trail or time to visit.
• Stay Home! If you’re not feel­ing well, stay home. Any­one older than 70 or with a com­pro­mised immune sys­tem should also stay home.

 

If you’re local to the Ashokan Water­shed we encour­age you to visit some of our many streams. Kanape Brook in the Town of Olive and Rochester Hol­low in the Town of Shan­daken both have walk­ing trails that mostly par­al­lel the streams. Ken­neth Wil­son Camp­ground has trails near the Lit­tle Beaverkill (camp­ing is cur­rently pro­hib­ited). Many of our streams, includ­ing the Eso­pus Creek, have pub­lic fish­ing access points along them where you can go angling. Visit the Ulster County RECon­nect Map to see those loca­tions as well as other hik­ing, fish­ing and out­door oppor­tu­ni­ties. Be sure to keep at least six feet apart, not share equip­ment, and san­i­tize your hands regularly.

We firmly believe that even dur­ing these dif­fi­cult times you can (and should) get out­doors and do so safely and with respect for oth­ers. Respon­si­ble recre­ation is impor­tant even dur­ing nor­mal times and now more than ever. Please do your part to main­tain social dis­tance and to keep your­self and every­one healthy.

Tags: recreate responsibly, recreation