Rome Sand Plains facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Rome Sand Plains |
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IUCN Category V (Protected Landscape/Seascape)
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 Rome Sand Plains
Location in New York
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| Location | Oneida County, New York, USA |
| Nearest city | Rome, New York |
| Area | 4,000 acres (16 km2) |
| Established | 1980 |
| Governing body | Rome Sand Plains Resource Management Team |
The Rome Sand Plains is a special natural area in central New York State. It covers about 15,000 acres (61 square kilometers). This unique place is located about 5 miles (8 kilometers) west of the city of Rome in Oneida County.
Imagine a landscape with sandy hills, called dunes, rising about 50 feet (15 meters) high. Between these dunes are low, wet areas known as peat bogs. The entire area is a mix of different habitats. You'll find forests with northern hardwood trees, open meadows, and wetlands.
About 4,000 acres (16 square kilometers) of the Rome Sand Plains are protected. This is important because it's one of the few "inland pine barrens" left in the United States. Pine barrens are usually found near coastlines. Another inland pine barrens in New York is the Albany Pine Bush, near the state capital, Albany.
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What Makes the Rome Sand Plains Special?
The Rome Sand Plains looks very different from the flat, farmed land around it. Most of the nearby land has been cleared for crops. But here, you'll find a variety of trees and plants.
Trees and Plants
The higher, sandy areas, including some dunes, are covered with forests. These forests have trees like American beech, white oak, red and sugar maples. You can also see white pine and pitch pine, gray birch, hemlock, and aspen trees.
Some parts of the uplands are called "pitch pine heaths." These areas have many pitch pines. Below them, you'll find smaller plants like blueberries and other shrubs that belong to the same plant family. In the wetter areas, pitch pine is still common, along with aspen, gray birch, and red maple. These wet spots also have a layer of shrubs.
Amazing Animals and Rare Plants
The Rome Sand Plains is home to several rare and interesting species. Some of these are very special:
- The purple pitcher plant and a sundew are both carnivorous plants. This means they eat insects!
- Rare birds like red-shouldered hawks and whippoorwills live here.
- You might also spot martens, which are small mammals.
- The frosted elfin butterfly is a threatened species in New York State. Its caterpillars eat the rare wild blue lupine plant, which also grows here.
- The barrens buckmoth is another unique insect found in this area.
- You can also find pine warblers, a type of bird.
Why is the Rome Sand Plains Protected?
For a long time, the Rome Sand Plains was privately owned. People mined the sand from the area. This sand was used to make molds for metal casting.
Around 1980, a company wanted to mine even more sand. This made people in the region realize how important it was to protect this special place. So, they started working together to save it.
Who Protects the Land?
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) began buying parts of the Sand Plains. They worked with groups like The Nature Conservancy and others.
- The NYSDEC now owns about 1,700 acres (6.9 square kilometers). This part is called the Rome Sand Plains Unique Area.
- The Nature Conservancy protects another 1,000 acres (4 square kilometers).
- The Izaak Walton League owns about 440 acres (1.8 square kilometers).
- Oneida County has an additional 770 acres (3.1 square kilometers) as a County Forest.
- The City of Rome also owns a small part.
All these groups work together to manage the entire Sand Plains area. They even have foot trails for visitors to explore!
How Was the Land Formed?
Scientists believe the Rome Sand Plains is a leftover from a huge ancient lake called Glacial Lake Iroquois. This lake existed about 12,000 years ago, at the end of the last ice age.
Lake Iroquois was much bigger than today's Lake Ontario. Its water level was about 100 feet (30 meters) higher than Lake Ontario's current level. This ancient lake drained into the Atlantic Ocean through the Mohawk and Hudson rivers. The place where the water flowed out was near where the Sand Plains is today.
Back then, the area where Lake Ontario now drains (near the Thousand Islands and the Saint Lawrence River) was blocked by ice. This is why Lake Iroquois had a different outlet and created the sandy landscape we see today.
