Less land in the state’s plan
By MARY ESCH, Associated Press WriterALBANY - The first Open Space Conservation Plan of Gov. David Paterson's administration talks about climate change, healthy communities and collaborative actions to preserve open space, putting less emphasis on major state land buys at a time of tightening budgets.
The 2009 draft plan builds on previous versions updated several times during the three-term Republican administration of Gov. George Pataki, who cut deals to protect more than a million acres from development through conservation easements or purchases.
While Pataki's major focus was on large wilderness tracts in the Adirondacks, the open space plan from Democrat Paterson's administration - while still calling for big Adirondack purchases - increases the emphasis on other parts of the state, including its biggest cities.
''Traditionally, the plan has been geared toward identifying land acquisition priorities, without much thought given to the broader scope,'' Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Pete Grannis told The Associated Press.
The 2009 version, Grannis said, recognizes the economic limits on all government funding and refocuses on four goals: responding to global warming; fostering green communities; connecting people with nature and recreation; and safeguarding the state's unique natural and cultural heritage.
As in previous plans, priorities are outlined for each area of the state. But the emphasis has shifted somewhat in many areas to reflect the goals.
''In Long Island, there's a greater emphasis on access to shoreline and beaches, and protection of beaches and estuarial areas,'' said Neil Woodworth of the Adirondack Mountain Club. ''In New York City there's a much stronger emphasis on environmental justice and access to parks, which ties into the governor's proposal to have more healthy, outdoor exercise accessible to children.''
In upstate New York, there is an emphasis on purchasing blocs of land and conservation easements in the Catskill Mountain region and the nearby Shawangunks. ''There's greater development pressure in these areas than in the Adirondacks,'' because of the proximity to metropolitan New York, Woodworth said.
Numerous sites along the Hudson River are highlighted as opportunities to promote habitat conservation and watershed protection as well as provide greater public access to the river.
In the Adirondacks, the main focus is on consummating major land deals that have been negotiated in recent years. The largest of those is the 161,000-acre tract purchased from the Finch, Pruyn & Co. paper company by the Nature Conservancy. The state will buy about 70,000 acres of that and a conservation easement on about 90,000 more acres. The land includes 144 miles of rivers, more than 90 mountains and 70 lakes and ponds in six counties.
Another large Adirondack parcel slated for state purchase from the Nature Conservancy is 14,600-acre Follensby Park near Tupper Lake.
Including the tracts in the open space plan doesn't mean they'll be purchased by the state anytime soon. The Nature Conservancy negotiated a deal for the 104,000-acre Sable Highlands tract in the northeastern Adirondacks four years ago and the state just completed its part of the transaction this fall.
''In general, the plan looks pretty good,'' John Sheehan, spokesman for the Adirondack Council, said. But he sees a few troubling signs in Albany that don't bode well for Adirondack land acquisitions.
''We were troubled that the governor didn't mention the Adirondacks in his State of the State address,'' delivered to the Legislature on Wednesday, Sheehan said. ''An urban focus isn't something that will be friendly to the Adirondacks.''
Environmental groups also are concerned about Paterson's cuts to the Environmental Protection Fund, which pays for land purchases as well as other environmental projects around the state.
Grannis said the fund was cut to $205 million from $255 million. ''There will be a slight cutback in money targeted for land acquisition, but not much,'' he said. However, environmental groups are dubious about whether the $205 million is realistic, given that a significant part of it relies on the Legislature passing a new bottle bill that gives unclaimed bottle deposits to the state. Similar bills have been introduced for 20 years without success.
''These are very tough times,'' Grannis said. ''The plan talks about thinking strategically about open space protection in full recognition that we're not going to have the resources we've had in the past to make every acquisition that might be possible.''
A series of public hearings will be held to solicit comment on the plan.
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twinrivers
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01-16-09 9:26 PM
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The opportunities to purchase some of the former Finch Pruyn lands and the Follensby tract should not be delayed. They will provide environmental and economic benefits to the Adirondacks and the state. Without the unlikely bottle bill the fund essentially wiped out.
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YouKnowImRight
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01-10-09 6:58 PM
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Less is more-
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