Posts Tagged ‘land management’

Wednesday, January 4, 2023

DEC Lands and Forests – Should It Still Do More with Less?

DEC discussing future accessible trail to Boreas Pond lean-to

Governor Kathy Hochul has signed the “30:30 by 2030” state legislation whose objective is, in line with national goals, to bring New York State’s percentage of protected lands and waters up to 30 percent by 2030.

The eminent, late biologist and ecologist E.O. Wilson urged that the nations of the world protect 50% of the lands, freshwaters and oceans under their jurisdiction in order to slow the loss of habitats and species dependent on them, including humans whose livelihoods completely depend on the health of fisheries, forest products and other natural ecosystems. At the same time, E.O. Wilson’s goal would accelerate carbon sequestration within the rich, but shrinking carbon sinks of coastal eelgrass beds, mangrove swamps, ocean surfaces and inland forests. Habitat protection and climate mitigation are inextricably linked, he taught us.

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Tuesday, July 6, 2021

A Conversation with Aaron Mair

Aaron MairBy David Crews

Aaron Mair of Schenectady, New York served as 57th President of the National Sierra Club. A retired epidemiological-spatial analyst with the New York State Department of Health, Mair’s experience includes more than three decades of environmental activism and over twenty-five years as a Sierra Club wilderness volunteer leader, where he has worked diligently for environmental justice. Mr. Mair recently joined the Adirondack Council to direct a “Forever Adirondack Campaign” to protect clean water, jobs, and wilderness. Editor and wilderness advocate, David Crews, had a chance to talk with Aaron about the inescapable mutuality of connection from Yosemite to the Hudson Valley and Adirondacks. This interview was previously published in Adirondack PEEKS, and is forthcoming in Wild Northeast (2021). (Reused by permission, thanks to John Sheehan at the Adirondack Council)

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Monday, May 24, 2021

$450,000 in Grants Available for Private Forest Landowners

Young beech trees retain their leaves throughout the winter monthsNew York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Basil Seggos announced that $450,000 is now available in the first round of the State’s new ‘Regenerate NY’ Forestry Cost Share Grant Program. The grant program is designed to assist private landowners growing the next generation of forests, which are crucial for mitigating climate change, providing wildlife habitat, protecting air and water quality, and supplying an important renewable resource.

“Nearly 75 percent of New York’s 18.7 million acres of forestland is privately owned,” said Seggos. “Each year, New York’s private forests remove CO2 from the atmosphere at a rate equal to the emissions from two million gasoline-powered automobiles, underscoring the importance of partnering with landowners to sustain our forests and fight against climate change. The Regenerate NY grant program supports the renewal of our forests and will help New York State meet our ambitious carbon-reduction goals, and I encourage interested landowners to take advantage of this new program.”

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Monday, June 8, 2020

Wilderness Management and COVID 19 Management Are Similar

As I watch Governor Andrew Cuomo’s press conferences daily, I continue to be extremely impressed by his overall handling of the COVID 19 Pandemic. His daily briefings are fact-based with his opinion sprinkled in. It is inspiring. He may have stumbled out of the gate on how quickly he started the State’s PAUSE, his handling of the nursing home situation, and his kerfuffle with Mayor Bill de Blasio is a distraction, but overall I give him an A minus.

The phases to opening the state within each of the State’s ten regions is nothing short of genius. Its fact based, has clear phases and for each phase has clear criteria for determining whether to go to the next phase or whether things need to be shut down once again. His plumbing valve metaphor for opening the state with gauges to help determine whether the state will continue to open the valve or close it down based on how the gauges/indicators are doing is a model for the rest of the country. I’ll be surprised if it doesn’t work pretty well in helping the state move forward.

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