# Public feature audit

Date: October 9, 2026

## Conclusion

The public feature set is suitable for a historical-research map when its evidence qualifiers remain visible. The audit supports ten coherent landscape observation units, two strong cultural landmarks, one strong water/berm landmark, one probable field-pattern landmark, one strong probable farm-access corridor, one natural drainage context corridor, and one lower-confidence linear-feature hypothesis.

Nothing in these layers is a surveyed boundary, archaeological determination, public-road determination, or proof of legal access.

## Landscape observations

| Feature | Public decision |
|---|---|
| Pond and wet margin | Keep. Clear in 1968 and later detailed imagery; the 1960 signature remains possible only. |
| Western woodlot and brush | Keep. Coherent unit with strong cross-date persistence. |
| 135 farmstead setting | Keep. The area is clear, but the polygon does not imply continuity of every building. |
| Western meadow and pasture remainder | Keep as broad context. It is heterogeneous and should not be assigned only to 135. |
| 208 northwest woodland | Keep as a stable woodland anchor. |
| 208 north-central open field complex | Keep. The 1968 field and later woodland/brush succession are well supported. |
| 208 west-central cultivated and mown pattern | Keep. Visible in 1968, with later fragmentation. |
| 208 eastern open and scattered-tree complex | Keep. Distinct in 1968 with medium-high baseline confidence. |
| 208 southern open-field complex | Keep. Coherent, with visible later succession. |
| 208 southeastern woodland and hollow edge | Keep as a strong persistent landscape anchor. |
| Residual edge and transition slivers | Retain in the authoritative GIS but hide on the public map. These disconnected topology remnants are not a coherent public-facing feature. |

## Corridors

| Feature | Public decision |
|---|---|
| Probable historic farm access lane / roadbed | Keep as probable. A 1968 aerial and the 2018 terrain/orthophoto comparison corroborate a continuous curving cut-and-fill farm-access route. It is not identified as a public road or legal right-of-way. |
| Possible eastern linear bank / boundary feature | Keep as an explicit hypothesis. The persistent line may be a wall, fence bank, soil bank, ditch, or management boundary; its identity is unresolved. |
| Natural southeastern hollow and drainage corridor | Keep as natural context and distinguish it from cultural corridors. |

## Landmarks

| Feature | Public decision |
|---|---|
| 208 house vicinity and access bench | Keep. Detailed imagery supports the generalized setting; broad Sentinel-2 years do not resolve it. |
| Probable rectilinear former field-bank system | Keep as probable. Low-relief terrain lines correspond to 1968 field divisions, but individual lines remain unclassified. |
| Pond basin and constructed berm | Keep as a strong terrain and imagery control. The construction date is unresolved. |
| 135 farmstead building-pad setting | Keep. The point is generalized and is not a structure footprint. |

## Additional supported readings

- A probable access pattern connects the 135 farmstead area and the 208 house vicinity. This is a cultural-landscape interpretation, not a legal-access conclusion.
- Parts of the 1968 field organization remain legible as low-relief terrain under later woody succession. The function of individual lines is unresolved.
- Landscape change on 208 was asymmetric: several open units underwent marked succession while the northwest and southeastern woodland anchors remained broadly persistent.
- The 135 farmstead, pond/berm, and surrounding meadow form the most consistently legible developed/open western core in the detailed-image sequence.
- No separate high-confidence cultural landmark is currently supported within parcel 173.-2-37. This is a negative research result, not proof that no feature exists.

## Remaining verification priorities

1. Conduct non-invasive field checks of the probable access route, probable field-bank system, and possible eastern linear feature.
2. Inspect Schoharie County Drawer 1, Map 743 for Jacques Lane parcel geometry and access context.
3. Compare deed and easement legal descriptions with the mapped access route before making any ownership or right-of-way claim.
4. Treat 1973 obscured areas and 2017, 2020, and 2026 Sentinel-2 feature-level readings as no-conclusion evidence.

This file is a public delivery copy. The authoritative audit and identifiers remain in `Aerial_Satellite_Acquisitions/Historical_Change_Layer_1960_2026/FEATURE_AUDIT_2026-10-09.md` within the research project.