The Ever-Changing Landscape

The Ever-Changing Landscape. . , A satellite view of the Esopus plains and Hurley. The gentle landscape you see today is the result of immense environmental change , from tropical seas with huge coral reefs to icy worlds of mile thick glaciers scraping and scouring the land. Cool tundra and spruce forests evolved into the thick forests of our familiar trees. The Esopus creek broadened the valley and deposited thick alluvial soils. , European arrivals cut down the forests to make way for farms and pastures, roads and houses. Fires, droughts, and floods have had their hand in shaping things too. These changes eliminated some plants and animals, and encouraged others. , Native cattails and bluebirds now compete with alien species like purple loosestrife and starlings. Beeches and chickadees are old-timers while ash trees and red bellied woodpeckers arrived more recently. Oaks survive fires better than white pines, but the pines quickly take advantage of any sunny opening when a flood knocks down the oaks. The balance changes constantly, although the landscape may seem immutable to us. , Town of Hurley , A Link in the Delaware and Hudson Heritage Corridor.