§ 11-2001 — New York state bird conservation area program

§ 11-2001. New York state bird conservation area program.\n 1. There shall be created a New York state bird conservation area\nprogram which shall consist of such state-owned waters, lands, or\nportions thereof as are necessary to safeguard and enhance populations\nof wild birds native to New York state and the habitats therein that\nbirds are dependent upon for breeding, migration, shelter, and\nsustenance.\n 2. Any property designated shall be described and depicted upon a map\nand a copy of any and all such documents shall be forwarded to the\ncommissioner for inventory, research, and reference purposes for the\ngeneral public. A master inventory list and maps of properties that are\ndesignated as part of the New York state bird conservation area program\nshall be kept on file by the commissioner who shall also deposit a copy\nof such at the New York state museum and science service, and at the\nCornell Laboratory of Ornithology.\n 3. For purposes of this title the term "important bird area" shall\nmean a site providing habitat to one or more species of breeding or\nnon-breeding birds bounded by natural or anthropogenic features or\nboundaries. To be eligible for designation under this section a site\nmust be an important bird area. Any site that meets or matches one or\nmore of the following criteria in this subdivision shall be eligible\nfor designation as part of the New York state bird conservation area\nprogram because it is an important bird area.\n a. Waterfowl concentration site: a location that regularly supports at\nleast two thousand birds such as loons, grebes, cormorants, geese,\nducks, coots, and moorhens.\n b. Pelagic seabird site: a location that regularly supports at least\none hundred birds of open water such as shearwaters, storm-petrels,\nterns, fulmars, gannets, jaegers, alcids, and other like birds and/or\nten thousand gulls at one time during some part of the year so long as\nthe primary food source for such birds is not anthropogenic.\n c. Shorebird concentration site: a location that supports at least\nthree hundred birds such as plovers, sandpipers, and other like birds\nduring some part of the year.\n d. Wading bird concentration site: a location that supports at least\none hundred birds such as bitterns, herons, egrets, ibises, and other\nlike birds during some part of the year.\n e. Migratory concentration site: a location that is a flight corridor\nrest stopover site for an exceptional number or diversity of migratory\nsongbirds during either spring or fall seasons.\n f. Diverse species concentration site: a location that supports a\ndistinctive group of indigenous bird species that is the consequence of\nlocal habitats that are resultant of unique vegetational, geological,\ngeographical, topographical, or microclimatological circumstances.\n g. Individual species concentration site: a location that supports at\nleast one bird species during one or more seasons of the year as a\nregionally unique, dense (for the species) population.\n h. Species at risk site: (1) a location that supports a significant\npopulation of a species that is listed either federally or by New York\nstate as endangered, threatened, or of special concern, or (2) which\nsupports a species that is verified by either the commissioner or the\nstate ornithologist as being rare or declining within New York state, or\n(3) an exceptional, rare, or remnant native habitat, vegetative\ncommunity, or landscape segment that supports one or more significant\nhabitat dependent populations of wild bird species.\n i. Bird research site: a location where a wild bird population\nresearch and/or monitoring project of at least five consecutive years\nduration is conducted and contributes to the science of ornithology\nand/or bird conservation policy through publicly accessible scholarly\nand/or scientific publications.\n 4. Designation may be accomplished by the head of any state agency or\nentity having jurisdiction over state lands or waters for such\nappropriate properties as may exist within their respective\njurisdictions and consistent with their respective missions.\n 5. A designating state agency or entity shall publish notice\nconcerning the designation of a New York state bird conservation area in\nthe environmental notice bulletin prior to such designation. Such notice\nshall provide for a thirty day public comment period following\npublication of the notice.\n 6. The head of any state agency or entity having jurisdiction over\nstate lands or waters previously designated as New York state bird\nconservation areas may seek to remove all or a portion of such lands or\nwaters from such designation provided, however, that prior to such\nremoval the commissioner publishes a finding that the designated area or\nportion of such area no longer meets the criteria in subdivision three\nof this section. Such finding shall be published in the environmental\nnotice bulletin and shall provide for a thirty day public comment period\nfollowing publication of the notice.\n * 7. a. The Montauk Point shoals area of the county of Suffolk, having\nmet the criteria of subdivision three of this section, is hereby\ndeclared to be an important bird area and the commissioner shall\ndesignate such area as part of the New York state bird conservation area\nprogram.\n b. For the purposes of this title, "Montauk Point shoals area" means\nthose marine and coastal areas off the shore of Montauk Point, in the\ncounty of Suffolk, extending to the coastal waters within a sixty foot\nbathymetric contour that encompasses the area beginning just west of\nShagwong Point on the northern shore of Montauk Point, continuing east\naround Montauk Point, and terminating just east of Ditch Plains on the\nAtlantic Ocean side of Montauk Point. Such area consisting of waters\nthat are sixty or less feet in depth, and within between three and\none-half to four miles from the shoreline. Provided, that the\ncommissioner shall be authorized to change the boundaries of such area,\nby rule, as he or she shall deem necessary.\n c. That portion of the New York state bird conservation area program\ndesignated pursuant to this subdivision shall be known as the "Montauk\nPoint shoals bird conservation area".\n d. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to impose new fishing\nrestrictions.\n * NB Effective October 8, 2024\n