- Open for Recreation: Year-round
- Fee: Free
- Contact Information:
- DEC Region 5 Warrensburg Sub-Office (M-F, 8:30AM - 4:30PM), (518) 623-1200; [email protected]
- Search, rescue, wildfire, and enforcement matters: 911- or - 1-833-NYS-RANGERS (1-833-697-7264)
A local Forest Ranger is a valuable source of information for the state land you would like to visit.
- Location: Town of Dresden, Washington County
- Wildlife Management Unit: 5G
- Map: Maple Bend Island WMA Map (PDF) || Google Earth || DECinfo Locator
The primary purposes of Maple Bend Island Wildlife Management Area (WMA) are for wildlife management, wildlife habitat management, and wildlife-dependent recreation. The WMA overlooks the great Lake Champlain and is a subset of Lake George Wild Forest.
DEC acquired this unique property in 2012 from the Nature Conservancy (TNC) to keep some of the largest wetlands on Lake Champlain intact. The property features 2,140 feet of undeveloped shoreline and 70 acres of wetland communities that support rare plants and falls within an area that provides critical breeding, staging, and migration habitat for thousands of waterfowl species.
With funding through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's North American Wetland Conservation Act grant program, TNC purchased the property for $500,000 in November 2009. The property was then donated to New York State in May 2012. TNC has previously utilized North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) grants to protect Mill Bay Marsh and Huckleberry Marsh in the Lake Champlain watershed.
The NAWCA grant application was supported by Washington County and included a commitment by the county to transfer an adjoining 238-acre tract on Maple Bend Island. Both transfers added 439 acres with significant wetlands to public ownership. Protection of wetlands is an important part of mitigating the impacts of climate change by helping maintain the connection between wetlands and riparian (river bank) habitat.
