Diane Valden is reporting for The Columbia Paper after 19 years of work the Ancram Conservation Advisory Council has announced completion of the town’s Biodiversity Map. CAC Chair Jamie Purinton delivered the completed map and a report on the council’s 2019 achievements and activities to the Ancram Town Board at its January 16 meeting. “It’s amazing,” Purinton said of the map, telling the board it represents “27,000 acres of field work.” Habitats were identified and mapped by the assessment team by remote sensing and field observations. The habitat information was digitized and edited by Hudsonia Ltd. Road locations and names were obtained from the New York State GIS Clearinghouse website and modified where necessary. The map will be updated every 5 or 10 years. Questions about remaining properties the biodiversity mapping team could not access will be answered as the map evolves over time. Read the full story in The Columbia Paper.