Minnewaska Fire Latest Example of Climate Change in Hudson Valley
Minnewaska State Park in Ulster County is back open after a wildfire that blazed for more than a week was contained on Sept. 4. The fire was the byproduct of a summer defined by harsh heat and a lack of rain.
The suspected cause of the fire was a lightning strike on Aug. 27 and it eventually spread to approximately 142 acres of the park. Firefighting crews from the Hudson Valley, other parts of New York State, and even the province of Quebec were called to battle the blaze.
“It was pretty crazy to hear there was a wildfire here,” said Rachel DeMott, who was hiking the Awosting Falls carriage trail at Minnewaska with some friends. “We come here a few times a year, and when I heard about it in the news, I was like, ‘I thought wildfires only happen out west.’ It was shocking for sure.”
In addition to the heat, the Hudson Valley has also dealt with drought this summer, creating just the right conditions for the blaze at Minnewaska. Scenic Hudson director of parks and community outreach Rita Shaheen and her staff were also on high alert for their parks.
“At Mount Beacon, we decided to post fire hazard signs and we also put alerts on our website,” Shaheen said. “I live right by Minnewaska, so the fire was jarring for sure, but it could have also been any of the Scenic Hudson parks.”
According to Hudson Valley Weather, “The Poughkeepsie area (as of Sept. 1) has seen between 20% and 40% of what we would expect in an ‘average’ year. For instance, over the last 30 days… Poughkeepsie should see about 4.2 inches of rain. Instead, only 1.08 inches of rain fell. About 23 percent of average.”
“I’ve lived in the area for 36 years and I don’t think I’ve seen a summer like this one,” Shaheen said. “A couple of my neighbors actually ran out of water…and with climate change, we are trying to figure out what works and what doesn’t with how we manage the parks.”
So far, September has brought somewhat milder heat and over three inches of rain to Poughkeepsie. The kinder weather has brought hikers like DeMott back out during the daytime.
“Today was one of the few days where we could come out and do stuff in the middle of the day,” DeMott said. “For a lot of the summer, it was either I get up early and go on a run or something or wait until the sun sets because it’s just been so hot.”
DeMott was not alone in being deterred by the heat. Shaheen also found it difficult to enjoy some of her usual summer activities.
“During the summer, I usually go swimming at Minnewaska,” Shaheen said. They have an open water swimming program, and I was so reluctant to go because it would hike that you have to take to get to it. It’s only about a mile. Normally, no big deal but I didn’t feel like I could do it because it was always too hot.”
Even though the rain and milder weather has brought some green back to the landscape, Shaheen worries that it might be too little, too late.
“You want that rain on a consistent basis,” she said. “We’re at the point now where we are seeing more people now that the weather is better, but heavy rain like we had at the beginning of the month is just another sign of the changing climate and not necessarily a good thing.”
