User:Antepenultimate/NYSP

Continuing Project: Improving New York State Parks articles

Seems I've been spending a bit of time bringing the articles for many New York state parks up to a minimum standard. There seems no shortage of basic work to be done on many of these articles. Mostly I attempt to:

Improve article structure
Add an infobox with a map
Locate, upload and add an appropriate free image (if one exists)
Clean up the prose, remove promotional language
Add basic references

I would say Whetstone Gulf State Park serves as a pretty good example of what many of these articles look like before and after.

I'm also hoping that one day, there will be no redlinks or redirects in the State Parks section of the Protected Areas of New York template, but who knows when I'll get around to that. It would also be nice to fix up the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation page, which is quite sparse at the moment.

Improving List of New York state parks

The List of Pennsylvania state parks and its map template ({{State parks of Pennsylvania map}}) would be nice to emulate if I ever have a spare year.

After some much-needed prodding (not that kind), I've started to play around with some table formats for the main NYSP list article at my NYSP list sandbox... which was finally moved to the mainspace on April 13, 2016! Still more to do there, but this is a big leap forward.

A list of what I've done so far:

Getting tired of scrolling past this

To do

Taconic State Park merger - proposed November 14, 2016

Hart's Brook Nature Preserve
Lake Lauderdale State Park
Lock 32 State Canal Park
Schunnemunk State Park create section at Schunnemunk Mountain?
- New York State Parks: Schunnemunk State Park
- NYNJTC
- 2001 Open Space Plan: "The State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has acquired the majestic Schunnemunk Mountain in the Orange County towns of Cornwall, Woodbury and Blooming Grove from the Open Space Institute using funds from the State Environmental Protection Fund. The 2,458-acre property, known as Schunnemunk Mountain State Park, is an incredible new State Park that expands recreational opportunities in the Hudson Highlands and continues efforts to protect the best of our outdoor heritage, providing New Yorkers with the enjoyment of this mountain's extensive network of hiking trails, scenic overlooks, and natural beauty. The land will be managed by the State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (OPRHP)."
- New York State Open Space Conservation Plan & Generic Environmental Impact Statement, 2006: "Schunnemunk Mountain which was acquired in 2004 was New York’s 163rdState Park. Located in the Orange County towns of Cornwall, Woodbury and Blooming Grove, the 2,466 acre property is nearly 1,700 feet in elevation and extends more than 8 miles. The mountain is covered by deciduous hardwoods, scrub and pitch pine, an understory of blueberry and large stands of mountain laurel. OSI assisted in the acquisition of the site. Another 144 acres was gifted to enlarge the park to 2,610 acres."
- Friends group announcement
- WAMC, easement link to Storm King State Park
- OSI 2010
- OSI 2013
- PPC, start date, brief history^[1]
- NYSP/Governor, 2001 plans to acquire park
Two Rivers State Park Recreation Area

Boat launches (low priority)

Research

Massapequa State Park, a former state park in Nassau County

Mentioned on p. 21 of Fifty Years: New York State Parks, 1924-1974 as being acquired ~1924.^[2]
Map showing Massapequa State Park, 1929, same location as Massapequa Preserve
Engineering/boundary report, claims mixed state/county ownership
Massapequa Reservoir
- DEC page, notes former state ownership
Peter J. Schmitt Massapequa Preserve aka Massapequa Preserve
- Nassau County page
- Newsday renaming article, mentions Nassau county acquired the land in 1981
- Town of Oyster Bay Final Massapequa Creek Watershed Management and Corridor Restoration Plan

Start date checks, per 50years, ~p10:

Clark Reservation in 1915 (originally placed under the care of the New York State Museum due to the geologic importance of the site.
Saratoga Spa State Park in 1909 as a reservation

Basking in the accolades

Holy smokes, somebody noticed! I tend to prefer working on unpopular articles, so this is a rare event indeed...

		The Original Barnstar
		For your excellent work creating articles on the State Parks of New York state. Thanks very much for your excellent work, it is quite impressive! Carrite (talk) 14:52, 17 April 2015 (UTC)

And another! The improbability of it all boggles the (in fact, easily tired) mind.

	The Tireless Contributor Barnstar
	Thanks for all your efforts with New York State parks. Beautiful photos, too! Kind regards, DA Sonnenfeld (talk) 10:40, 22 December 2015 (UTC)