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Thompson Pond in
/ref> The pond was designated a
/ref> Thompson pond and Stissing Mountain were the inspiration for the New York State Environment displays in the Warburg Memorial Hall at the
The preserve is open dawn to dusk, every day of the year for passive recreational and educational use. There are hiking trails around the pond and one that goes to the top of Stissing Mountain. There is a http://stissingfiretower.org/
/ref>
Nature Conservancy Official Site
{{authority control Ponds of New York (state) National Natural Landmarks in New York (state) Nature Conservancy preserves in New York (state) Protected areas of Dutchess County, New York Bodies of water of Dutchess County, New York
Pine Plains, New York
Pine Plains is a town in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The population was 2,218 at the 2020 census.
The name is derived from the geographic character of the region. The hamlet of Pine Plains is on the northern border of the county.
...
is a 15,000-year-old glacial
A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...
kettle pond at the foot of Stissing Mountain. It is the source
Source may refer to:
Research
* Historical document
* Historical source
* Source (intelligence) or sub source, typically a confidential provider of non open-source intelligence
* Source (journalism), a person, publication, publishing institute ...
of Wappinger Creek
Wappinger Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed October 3, 2011 creek which runs from Thompson Pond to the Hudson River at New Hamburg, New York, New Hamburg in Dutc ...
, a tributary
A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they ...
of the Hudson River
The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...
that drains much of Dutchess County
Dutchess County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 295,911. The county seat is the city of Poughkeepsie. The county was created in 1683, one of New York's first twelve counties, and later org ...
.
The pond and mountain are part of a nature preserve managed by The Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, United States. it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US.
Founded in ...
.Nature Conservancy site/ref> The pond was designated a
National Natural Landmark
The National Natural Landmarks (NNL) Program recognizes and encourages the conservation of outstanding examples of the natural history of the United States. It is the only national natural areas program that identifies and recognizes the best e ...
in May 1973 for its calcareous
Calcareous () is an adjective meaning "mostly or partly composed of calcium carbonate", in other words, containing lime (mineral), lime or being chalky. The term is used in a wide variety of Science, scientific disciplines.
In zoology
''Calcare ...
bog
A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and musk ...
, unlike the more common acidic bogs in the Northeast.
History
Thompson Pond and two other nearby bodies of water, Stissing Lake, and Twin Island Lake, were all originally connected, but separated over time. The pond is supposedly named for Amos Thompson who settled in the area around 1746.Rootsweb essay/ref> Thompson pond and Stissing Mountain were the inspiration for the New York State Environment displays in the Warburg Memorial Hall at the
American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Located in Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 21 interconn ...
built in 1951.
In 1958 the Executive Secretary of the Conservancy, Elting Arnold, convinced Briarcliff Farms to sell the land to the Conservancy for $20,000 which was raised from public donations.
Visiting
The preserve is open dawn to dusk, every day of the year for passive recreational and educational use. There are hiking trails around the pond and one that goes to the top of Stissing Mountain. There is a firetower
A fire lookout tower, fire tower, or lookout tower is a tower that provides housing and protection for a person known as a "fire lookout", whose duty it is to search for wildfires in the wilderness. It is a small building, usually on the summit ...
at the summit that is open to the public./ref>
Plants and wildlife
There are more than 387 species of plants in the preserve including pipewort, round-leaved sundew, St. Johnswort andcattails
''Typha'' is a genus of about 30 species of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the family Typhaceae. These plants have a variety of common names, in British English as bulrushStreeter D, Hart-Davies C, Hardcastle A, Cole F, Harper L. 2009. ...
. The surrounding woods include oak
An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...
, sugar maple
''Acer saccharum'', the sugar maple, is a species of flowering plant in the soapberry and lychee family Sapindaceae. It is native to the hardwood forests of eastern Canada and the eastern United States. Sugar maple is best known for being the ...
, ash, hemlock and hickory
Hickory is a common name for trees composing the genus ''Carya'', which includes 19 species accepted by ''Plants of the World Online''.
Seven species are native to southeast Asia in China, Indochina, and northeastern India (Assam), and twelve ...
trees.
The preserve is part of the migratory flyway, over 162 bird species have been spotted here. There are also 27 types of mammals identified in the preserve.
See also
*List of National Natural Landmarks in New York
__NOTOC__
The National Natural Landmarks in New York include 29 of the more than 600 National Natural Landmarks (NNLs) in the United States. Twenty-seven landmarks are contained entirely within New York; the two exceptions are the Palisades of th ...
References
External links
Nature Conservancy Official Site
{{authority control Ponds of New York (state) National Natural Landmarks in New York (state) Nature Conservancy preserves in New York (state) Protected areas of Dutchess County, New York Bodies of water of Dutchess County, New York