Catskill Escarpment - Natural Environment

Natural Environment

The forests of the Escarpment reflect their history, location and topography. The retreat of the glaciers, particularly on the ridgetops and northern and eastern slopes, scoured the rock, further distressing the growing environment on what are the Catskills' steepest and most exposed slopes. As a result the coniferous evergreen species characteristic of boreal forests such as red spruce and the balsam fir Bartram sought appear in much higher concentrations, and at lower elevations, then they do elsewhere in the Catskills. The summit of North Mountain, at 3,180 feet (970 m) above sea level, is covered in boreal forest, the lowest Catskill summit of which this is true. While there are no true alpine zones in the Catskills, Kudish has found the only areas in the range which come close along the Escarpment at elevations between 2,260 and 2,720 feet (690 and 830 m) along the Escarpment as it rises from lakes to North Mountain. These are exposed ridgetops where three-toothed cinquefoil, and in one mountain sandwort, is found. Since those species are shade-intolerant, it suggests that the sites have not reforested since the end of glaciation.

At lower elevations, the many fires that have raged over the region have left it with a mixed forest where oak and pine predominate. Several large areas of Norway spruce were planted on the north slopes of Windham High Peak during reforestation efforts following state land acquisitions in the 1930s. Due to the history of fires and logging on the northern sections of the range, there are very few areas of first-growth remaining outside of the boreal plots. The largest is the summit of Blackhead; the largest hardwood first-growth is likewise the 0.9 square miles (230 ha) around the summit of Windham High Peak. The Eastern hemlocks around Spruce Creek below Kaaterskill Falls are also a virgin stand. They survived the era when tanners sought the species for the tannin in its bark since the steep and perilous nature of that terrain made them too difficult to profitably extract. It and many of the other ravines draining into Kaaterskill Clove also support some plants species rare in New York State, such as roseroot stonecrop and fragrant cliff fern (listed as threatened and endangered at the state level, respectively).

Dominant fauna of the Escarpment are the species found elsewhere in the Catskills: white-tailed deer, porcupine, fisher, black bear and snowshoe hare. There have been some rare bobcat sightings up on the ridge. Bird species like the rare Bicknell's thrush and ruffed grouse nest in the boreal forests. A few rattlesnake dens are known to exist on the rocky ledges of Overlook at the southern end of the range. The paucity of water on the ridgetops and the slopes means that there are few major fish or amphibian species in the Escarpment, save around North-South Lake.