Acting Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Basil Seggos was unanimously confirmed by the state Senate to be the 15th commissioner of the DEC on Thursday.

Seggos was named acting head of the agency in early October last year. He had previously served as Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s deputy secretary for the environment. Before that, Seggos had worked in various environmental-related positions with the Hugo Neu Corporation, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and as a legal clerk at the White House. He had also served as chief investigator and attorney at Riverkeeper and is a captain in the U.S. Army Reserve.

In the Adirondacks, where DEC plays a prominent role as owner and manager of 2.9 million acres of land, Seggos has already made waves in his short tenure at the DEC. Part of that was in finalizing the contentious Remsen-Lake Placid Travel Corridor decision that would remove 34 miles of train tracks from Lake Placid to Tupper Lake and replace them with a multi-use trail, as well as upgrading 45 miles of track from Big Moose to Tupper Lake. The plan was put forth by the DEC and Department of Transportation and was finalized in May after several years of public hearings and comment periods.

The DEC and Adirondack Park Agency are currently being sued over the plan by the Adirondack Rail Preservation Society, parent company of the Adirondack Scenic Railroad, which operates a tourist train from Saranac Lake to Lake Placid during part of the year.

The DEC’s plan to allow mountain biking in the Essex Chain of Lakes tract was also viewed by some as a violation of the State Land Master Plan, but was approved by the APA. Classification of the newly acquired Boreas Ponds tract is already generating some contention between environmental groups and local governments. The green groups are calling for a wilderness designation while local governments would like to see more motorized access to the area for biking and snowmobiling.

Outside the Adirondacks, the DEC’s decision to not allow high-volume hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) of shale for natural gas will have to be upheld, and the state faces increasing threats from invasive species such as the emerald ash borer. The borer can kill ash trees, of which there are an estimated 900 million in the state. The beetle has now been confirmed in 34 New York counties.

“I’m excited for the opportunity to lead this great agency as we continue to protect and preserve the state’s land, air and water resources for future generations,” Seggos said in a press release. “Governor Cuomo has built one of the strongest environmental records in the nation, and I look forward to working with the Senate, Assembly, and all New Yorkers to build on this legacy and tackle the emerging threats facing our natural resources.”