§ 11-0539. New York natural heritage program.\n 1. There is hereby established within the department the New York\nnatural heritage program. The program is charged with:\n a. analyzing existing sources of information, monitoring and taking\ncensuses of plant and animal populations, and cooperating with other\npublic agencies and scientific and educational institutions, including\nthe New York state museum and the office of parks, recreation and\nhistoric preservation, to identify the location and status of plant and\nanimal species and ecological communities, with an emphasis on rare\nspecies and rare ecological communities;\n b. developing systems for ranking the state and global rarity of plant\nand animal species and ecological communities and producing lists of\nsuch rankings in consultation with the state biological survey and other\nappropriate entities and individuals; and\n c. maintaining comprehensive data management systems integrating\ninformation on the location and status of rare plants, animals, and\necological communities, and analyzing and interpreting such information\nfor the purpose of conserving and managing the state's biological\ndiversity.\n 2. Upon request, and subject to the provisions of subdivision four of\nthis section, the department shall provide information from the New York\nnatural heritage program to other state agencies, public authorities,\ncounties, towns, villages, cities and landowners or their authorized\nrepresentatives.\n 3. The department may contract with a private entity to administer the\nNew York natural heritage program.\n 4. Notwithstanding the provisions of article six of the public\nofficers law or any other provision of law, the department may deny\naccess to inspection of records, data or information collected or\nmaintained by the New York natural heritage program that identify\nlocations or habitats of rare, threatened or endangered species or\necological communities where the destruction of such habitat or the\nremoval of such species therefrom would impair their ability to survive,\nprovided, however, that the commissioner may permit access to such\nrecords, data or information to persons, educators, schools or\nuniversities engaged in legitimate scientific and academic research.\n 5. No provision contained in this section shall in any way be\nconstrued to diminish or extend the department's authority to protect\nthreatened or endangered species of wildlife or rare, threatened or\nendangered species of plants pursuant to sections 9-1503, 11-0535 and\n11-0536 of this chapter or any other provision of law.\n 6. Nothing in this section shall authorize any person to enter private\nland without the permission of the private landowner.\n 7. State-owned waters, lands or portions thereof may be designated as\nnatural heritage areas in order to conserve and manage plants, wildlife\nor ecological communities, with an emphasis on rare plants, wildlife,\nand ecological communities which support such plants or wildlife.\n a. For purposes of this title, a site shall be eligible for\ndesignation as a "natural heritage area" if it matches one or more of\nthe following criteria:\n (i) provides habitat for "endangered species" or "threatened species"\nas defined in section 11-0535 of this title for animals and 9-1503 of\nthis chapter for plants;\n (ii) provides habitat for rare species where rare means species ranked\nas S1, S2 or S3 under criteria developed pursuant to paragraph b of\nsubdivision one of this section; or\n (iii) contains "significant ecological communities" where such term\nmeans all rare ecological communities as well as the best examples of\ncommon communities.\n b. Any property designated as a natural heritage area shall be\ndescribed and depicted upon a map. The description shall include a\nnarrative setting forth the plants, animals or ecological communities\npresent on the property. The department shall make maps depicting\nnatural heritage areas avai
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