A widening number of organizations are banding together for funding requests for the Adirondack and Catskill Parks forest preserve. In a letter to Gov. Kathy Hochul, 41 groups called for a $10 million allocation for forest preserve stewardship in the 2024-2025 state budget’s Environmental Protection Fund. Last year’s budget allocated $8 million.
The groups also call for additional investment in affordable housing and cellular and broadband infrastructure. They also hope Hochul will maintain funding for forest preserve visitor centers, support additional research and monitoring programs, develop an accessibility policy for state lands, clear a backlog of conserved land under agreement for public acquisition and add additional staff supporting forest preserve-related state agencies.
Open Letter to the Governor Concerning the Relocation of the APA
Dear Governor Hochul,
The undersigned former Board members and former employees of the Adirondack Park Agency are writing to express our opposition to the proposed relocation of the Agency’s headquarters to a new location in the Village of Saranac Lake. Our reasons for taking this position are detailed below.
The Park Agency is a regional agency which regulates land use and development throughout the Adirondack Park. It makes little sense to us for the Agency to choose a new location in one community without any outreach to other potentially interested communities and a careful consideration of alternatives.
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