History

Credit: USFWS Shawangunk Grasslands National Wildlife Refuge.

Shawangunk Grasslands National Wildlife Refuge is one of New York's top 10 areas for grassland dependent migratory birds. This exceptional habitat was formerly the Galeville Military Airport. In 1994, the U.S. Department of Defense determined it longer needed the site. It was subsequently transferred to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1999. Today, the property is a unit of the nation's national wildlife refuge system.

If left undisturbed, the refuge grasslands will be replaced by shrubs and eventually revert to a forested wetland. The grassland that you see today was created when the military filled a wetland with tons of earth to make the airstrip in the 1940's. Seeds and runners from the original trees and shrubs remained in the soil and eventually started regrowing. The grassland persisted over the past 50 years by routine mowing and livestock grazing to remove emerging woody plants. When the air field was abandoned, mowing eventually stopped. Woody plants continued to encroach upon the grasslands creating the mosaic of shrubs, trees, weeds, and grass that you see today.

Keeping this grassland and controlling the invasion of weeds, woody shrubs, and trees is the highest management priority for the refuge. Even though human created, this grassland is increasingly important for grassland-dependent migratory birds (see Shawangunk Grasslands Bird List). As grasslands are gobbled up for subdivisions and shopping malls, there is less nesting, feeding, and foraging habitat remaining for these species.

As part of its management strategy, the refuge will strive to restore and expand the habitats of six species of declining migratory birds that currently or historically occupied the refuge:

• Bobolink
• Savannah sparrow
• Grasshopper sparrow
• Upland Sandpiper
• Northern Harrier
• Short-eared Owl

To accomplish this, the refuge will undertake management activities to control the growth of plants that compete with grasses. Our cooperative farming program allows us to work with local residents interested in mowing the refuge for hay. Other treatments like herbicide application to control weeds and re-seeding will be considered. Our Comprehensive Conservation Plan will prescribe treatments that are most cost-effective to maintain the grassland community.