Research


Scope and Content Note

The series consists of overlay maps that are products of a wetlands inventory project conducted by the Division of Fish and previous hit Wildlife next hit of the Department of Environmental Conservation. The maps provide data on the location, size, and plant composition of the wetlands. Vegetation are precise indicators of wetlands and most accurately reflect wetlands habitat and conditions. The maps also identify: fourteen different "covertypes" of wetlands based on plant classification, represented on the maps by number; three covertypes of wetlands based on size, represented on the maps as linear, fringe, and/or mixed; bogs and mats; drainage links (two or more wetlands less than 200 feet apart in which the combined area equals 6.2 acres or more are considered one wetland and referred to as "linked"); channels, represented as a dashed line and "ch"; summer vegetation for counties where satisfactory summer photography was available, represented by an "X" following the spring covertype and described by the covertypes following it; "Gazetteer lakes" (an open body of water that is 2.5 hectares or larger) assigned a number from a 1970 published U.S.G.S. Bulletin; and grid coordinates, based on the New York Transverse Mercator grid construction used in map construction.

Each overlay sheet has two preprinted blocks. The first is an identification block with information on map preparation and sources of support for the project. The second is a title block in the lower right corner which includes varying amounts of inked-in information on zone number, quadrangle name, corresponding Land Use and Natural Resources Inventory map number, base map information (usually "USGS topo"), information on the photography used (date and source) for each county, and a "status" section labeled "initial", "check", "DTO", and "draft" that is filed in with initials and dates. Each map also carries a printed disclaimer that the overlay is not an official Department of Environmental Conservation regulatory map under the Freshwater Wetlands Law.

The maps are arranged by county and then alphabetically by location within the county, and coincide with U.S. Geographical Survey quadrangles done to a scale of 1:24,000. They are executed in India ink on plastic sheets, and are designed to be positioned over a base map by placing the neat line corner marks over the outside borders of the base map. The bulk of the maps measure 72 x 53 cm. Information on alignment procedures and the codes and numbers used on the overlays is available from the user guide, prepared by the Division of Fish and previous hit Wildlife, that accompanies the series.