Glenmere Lake

Glenmere Lake is a colonial mill pond or reservoir located in Orange County, New York, United States. It is New York State's largest habitat[2] of the Northern Cricket Frog (Acris crepitans), listed as endangered by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

Glenmere Lake
Glenmere, October 2008
LocationOrange County, New York
Coordinates41°20′09″N 74°19′48″W
Basin countriesUnited States
Surface elevation531 ft (162 m)
ReferencesUSGS[1]

The lake is part of the greater Orange County-owned Glenmere Preserve, one of the largest wild areas in Orange County. Glenmere Lake is the most biologically diverse natural feature of Orange County, with hardwood swamp, shale ridgelines, wide marsh, mossy bogs, vernal pools and an open-water reservoir. Such biodiversity, present in New York’s fastest-growing county, underscores the critical nature of Glenmere’s unique habitat.[3] The Glenmere Reservoir lands are home to bald eagles, six species of hawk and six of owl. Endangered plant and animal species inhabit the Glenmere lands[4]- in fact, New York State’s largest and virtually last population of endangered northern cricket frogs inhabits the entire parcel.

Glenmere straddles Orange County’s two largest Hudson River watershed basins: The Wallkill, on its western side, and the Moodna, on its east (Represented by its westernmost tributary, the Black Meadow Creek). The Glenmere Reservoir Lands include a "watershed ambiguous zone" where small brooks split off into either watershed. The lake and associated county lands comprise sections of the towns and villages of Warwick, Chester, Sugar Loaf and Florida.

The 1912 Glenmere mansion still overlooks the reservoir.

Studies of the lake and its associated periphery are performed by the educational non-profit Glenmere Conservation Coalition.[2]

The state recently slapped Orange County, the Town of Chester and Village of Florida with a $350,000 penalty, finding they had blown off decades of warnings to keep the Glenmere Lake Dam in safe condition and had attempted repairs on the dam without obtaining permits.[5]

References
  1. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Glenmere Lake.
  2. Glenmere Conservation Coalition website.
  3. John Lew (April 5, 2008). "Glenmere Lake Discovery Day attracts more than 100 people" Archived 2012-04-18 at the Wayback Machine, Warwick Advertiser.
  4. Matt King (July 7, 2008). "Endangered frog halts development", Pocono Record.
  5. Novinson, Michael. "3 municipalities fined $350K in dam dispute". recordonline.com.
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