Ooms Conservation Area Wetlands Delineation & Permitting

The Ooms Conservation Area, located just outside of the Village of Chatham, Columbia County, NY, includes 3 miles of trails on 180 acres of land and offers visitors year-round opportunities to enjoy the rolling grasslands around Sutherland Pond. An existing boardwalk connecting trail segments encircling the pond has fallen into disrepair and is in need of replacement, to ensure the safety of visitors to the area. Great Ecology performed a jurisdictional wetlands delineation and led the environmental permitting effort, in collaboration with the Columbia Land Conservancy and Dirtworks, the trail design consultant for the project.

Great Ecology’s role in the project was to conduct a jurisdictional wetlands delineation, in accordance with the 1987 U.S Army Corps of Engineers Wetland Delineation Manual and Regional Supplement, and to review design plans and specifications for the replacement boardwalk. In addition, Great Ecology coordinated the environmental permitting effort with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC), which included preparation of a NYS Article 24 Freshwater Wetlands Permit application.