The end of 2022 was busy with policy news as Gov. Kathy Hochul signed and vetoed remaining bills. On the afternoon of Dec. 23 she signed the 30-by-30 bill setting a conservation goal for the state to protect 30% of its lands and waters by 2030. You can read more on that here.
MINEVILLE, N.Y. – Leaders of Adirondack environmental organizations joined with local elected officials here today to urge Gov. Kathy Hochul not to mothball the former Moriah Shock Incarceration Facility as is planned by Dec. 31, but instead to reuse it to bolster conservation and boost employment. The leaders said there were several possible options that would bring new life to the structure. Reuse would help a small Adirondack community recover from the job losses and lost business opportunities associated with the closure of a state institution, they said. They also pointed to several recent state initiatives that would benefit from an additional state building in the Adirondacks, from which to offer training and housing.
“Moriah Shock campus is a diamond that lies within the eastern portion of the Adirondack Park,” said Moriah Town Supervisor Thomas Scozzafava. “The facility is in great condition and has the infrastructure to support this proposal. Moriah lost over 100 jobs when they closed it, which has had a severe economic impact on our community. To let this facility sit vacant is a travesty when a number of reuses are possible.”
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Turn Moriah Shock into Adirondack conservation hub
By Aaron Mair, NYS Sen. Dan Stec and NYS Assemblyman Matt Simpson
The Adirondack Park and its “forever wild” Forest Preserve are the heart and lungs of New York, taking in the carbon that causes climate change and exhaling fresh, clean air to reinvigorate our atmosphere. New York needs more personnel in the Adirondacks to manage the forests it already owns, as well as forests it hopes to protect in the future.
The closure of the Moriah Shock Incarceration Facility in the tiny Adirondack hamlet of Mineville is an opportunity: Several state conservation initiatives would benefit from an additional state building in the Adirondacks. Leaders of Adirondack environmental organizations joined with local elected officials in Mineville last month to urge Gov. Kathy Hochul not to mothball the Moriah facility but instead to reuse it to bolster conservation, social justice and employment in the North Country.
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