file. - Otsego County Conservation Association

threatened species lists, the rdSGEIS in its current form falls short of protecting our environment
from the ill effects of habitat fragmentation.
We propose the following concrete mitigation measures that should be required for gas field
development:
If there is an open space or an edge area available to drill in, the well pad must be placed
there instead of in a core forested area or a contiguous grassland area.
“Soft edges” must be required for all infrastructure development in forested areas.
A short list of acceptable measures to create “soft edges,” such as 1) planting shrubs
(referring to a list of native shrubs that would be acceptable, or a reference to contact an
expert to assist in determining acceptable shrubs for the area) and 2) creating non-linear
edges/jagged edges, which would be required for pipelines, well pads, and roads through
forested areas.
Track development at the regional scale.
Identify and protect wildlife corridors that connect habitat areas on a state-wide scale, by
prohibiting development in these corridors that would result in fragmentation and/or
obstruction of the use of the corridors by wildlife.
Require specific mitigation measures to allow wildlife to safely cross roads.
7.4.1.2 Reducing Indirect and Cumulative Impacts of Habitat Fragmentation
In referencing the Wilbert et al 2008 study in Chapter 6, the DEC clearly indicates that it
understands the importance of planning for development at the scale of an entire gas field:
“[Wilbert et al. 2008 findings suggest] that landscape-level planning for infrastructure
development and analysis of wildlife impacts need to be done prior to initial development of a
field. Where development has already occurred, the study authors recommend that …
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