The birth of Catskill Mountainkeeper

The birth of Catskill Mountainkeeper

Seeking a vision

By FRITZ MAYER

MONTICELLO, NY — A new environmental and planning group aims to create a vision for the region and prevent “ill conceived, out-of-scale development.”

The group’s name is Catskill Mountainkeeper, and is modeled after Riverkeeper, the environmental group that played a crucial role in bring the Hudson River back to life after it was nearly killed by industrial pollution in the middle of the 20th century.

Mountainkeeper launched itself on May 10 with a news conference on the lawn in front of the Sullivan County Government Center. The organization boasts an impressive list of supporters.

The board includes the president of the Open Space Institute, the organization that buys land to be preserved as open space in the Catskills. Another board member is on the board of the National Resource Defense Council, the group that is battling the proposed Mohawk casino over environmental issues. Another board member is a member of the Catskill Center for Conservation and Development. And another board member is Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

Joseph Martens, the chairman of the Mountainkeeper board, said the group’s main mission is to establish a vision for the seven counties situated in the Catskill Mountains: Sullivan, Ulster, Delaware, Greene, Otsego, Schoharie and part of Albany County.

Martens said the Catskill region is at a crossroads, and Mountainkeeper intends to create a “network of citizens” to advance the goals of smart planning.

Ramsey Adams, the executive director of Mountainkeeper, said the organization, which will open an office in Youngsville in July, would be funded through individual donations, grants and fundraising events.

Wes Gillingham, a local organic farmer who is the organization’s program director, said the group would be joining the fight against the New York Regional Interconnection power line project. He said farmland protection would also be at the top of the group’s agenda. “These mountains have shaped the kind of people we are, ” he said. He hoped that Mountainkeeper would help ensure that his children will be able to continue to enjoy the same quality of life that he has as a lifelong resident of the region.

More information about the group can be found at www.catskillmountainkeeper.org.

Discovery Center CEO remarks

Patrick Dollard, CEO of The Center for Discovery, the largest private employer in Sullivan County and an organization that has been at the forefront of green technology initiatives here, spoke at the Mountainkeeper news conference.

He said in his role with the center, which treats people with disabilities, he has become convinced that the environment is inextricably linked with the development of human genes. He said he is seeing more and more that grandparents are becoming concerned about how pollutants such as mercury and PCBs are having a negative impact on the health of their grandchildren. He said there is evidence that environmental conditions may be linked to diseases such as autism and neurological disorders, and certainly to ones like cancer.

He said, “People need to pay attention to human environmental impacts, to what we’re doing to our food, water and air.”

He envisioned that Catskill Mountainkeeper could play an important role in pursuing that agenda.

Group Wants to Preserve Catskills, Legacy

By Patricia Breakey

Delhi News Bureau

A group has formed to unite residents of the Catskill region in preserving the quality of life.

Catskill Mountainkeeper started with the idea that an advocate was needed for the 6,000-square-mile region that encompasses Delaware, Greene, Otsego, Schoharie, Sullivan and Ulster counties and a portion of Albany County, Wes Gillingham, organization spokesman, said last month.

"The Catskill Mountains have a regional identity that other areas in the state don’t have," Gillingham said. "We can take advantage of that by creating a regional task force."

Gillingham, a vegetable farmer, said he wants to work to protect the Catskills.

"I live here, I farm here, and I love living and working here," Gillingham said. "I want the Catskills always to have a quality of life my family and neighbors can enjoy.

"The last thing my neighbors and I want to do is fight traffic and see the farms and forest land taken over by haphazard development," he continued. "Some parents talk of wanting a better life for their children. I just want my kids to have some of the simple freedoms I had as a child.

"These mountains have really shaped the kind of people we are here in the Catskills, and now it is time for us to shape what these mountains will look like in 20 years and beyond," Gillingham said. "That’s why I decided to take on what I see as a crucial job for our region’s future."

Another Catskills farmer, Amy Kenyon, said recently that she "is hoping to work to give the people who live and work here a voice in what’s happening in their town. I want to see local folks getting involved. It’s their community, and it’s their issues."

Kenyon, president of Farm Catskills, a Delaware County-based group intended to strengthen farming in the region, added, "If our rural character is to survive, we need a good regional vision that protects our region’s wonderful vistas, open spaces and farmland _ the things that make us different."

Gillingham added that because the area is so large, "it’s hard to keep track of what’s happening on the other side of the mountains," so the group plans to utilize the Internet to keep in touch.

"We have a modern, capable website where people can register and become part of the group," Gillingham said.

Ramsay Adams, executive director, in a media release said, ``Our goal is to bring together people who have never talked with each other and have them join in the fight to preserve the Catskill way of life.’’

On its website, http://www.catskillmountainkeeper.org, the group will post updates on regional development news, operate online discussion boards and provide campaign-organizing advice and tools.

Registration is free, Gillingham said.

"Residents of the Catskills are as diverse as in any place on earth," Joe Martens, group chairman, said in a media release. "But one thing everyone can unite on is that this is a special region that needs its people speaking up so that its tremendous cultural and natural resources stay intact."

The group’s priority is to push for a comprehensive, regional vision that takes into account thinking about smart growth and wise use of the area’s natural resources, Martens said.

"We all know there’s a great deal of development pressure on the Catskills, but we also know there are good and bad options under review this very moment," Tom Alworth, a Catskill Mountainkeeper board member and Catskill Center for Conservation and Development executive director, said in a media release.

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Patricia Breakey can be reached at 746-2894 or at starde...@stny.rr.com.

Catskill Mountainkeeper Launches

2007-06-06 00:15:15 - Group seeks to unite residents from all parts of the Catskills to protect
open space and promote smart growth in the region's villages, mountains and valleys

Monticello (June 5, 2007) - Catskill Mountainkeeper, a grassroots group intended to unite the entire region's residents in the battle to preserve the quality of life here, announced it is open for business at a news conference in front of the Sullivan County Government Center.
'Residents of the Catskills are as diverse as in any place on earth, but one thing everyone can unite on is that this is a special region that needs its people speaking up so that its tremendous cultural and natural resources stay intact,- said Joe Martens, the group's chairman. 'Catskill Mountainkeeper will build an active network of citizens to make that happen.-
Martens also is the president of the Open Space Institute, one of several groups sponsoring Catskill Mountainkeeper.
The group's key priority is to push for a comprehensive, regional vision that takes into account new thinking about smart growth and wise use of the area's natural resources, Martens said. Working with other established groups, Catskill Mountainkeeper then will organize citizens across the region's counties to contribute their ideas for the region's future as part of that process.
At the news conference on May 10th, 2007 members held poster-board cutouts of the region's six counties (Delaware, Greene, Otsego, Schoharie, Sullivan, Ulster, plus a portion of Albany County, which is geographically in the Catskills), bringing them together in a symbolic illustration of the regional unity that the group plans to foster.
The group offers free membership in keeping with its goal of having a broad spectrum of citizen involvement.
'With a combination of the web and plain old shoe-leather organizing, our goal is to bring together people who have never talked with each other and have them join in the fight to preserve the Catskill way of life,- said Ramsay Adams, the executive director of the new group.
On its website, www.catskillmountainkeeper.org, the group will post updates on regional development news, operate on-line discussion boards and provide campaign-organizing advice and tools.
'We all know there's a great deal of development pressure on the Catskills, but we also know there are good and bad options under review this very moment,- said Tom Alworth, another Catskill Mountainkeeper board member and the executive director of the Catskill Center for Conservation and Development, another sponsoring organization.
'When it's out-of-scale, non-sustainable proposals like the massive casinos proposed for Sullivan County, Catskill Mountainkeeper can help get the word out - and make sure that those who want clear air, open space and a great quality of life win the day for our region,- Alworth added.
'I live here, I work here, and I love living and working here, and I want the Catskills always to be a place I am proud to live in,- said Wes Gillingham, Catskill Mountainkeeper's program director and also the co-owner of the Wild Roots Farm in Sullivan County.
'The last thing my neighbors and I want to do is fight traffic, see the countryside taken over by haphazard development or breathe polluted air - so that's why I decided to take on this job,- said Gillingham, 'Our vision of the Catskills is for economic success by focusing on the industries that we do best, like the resurgence of farming, tourism based on the enjoyment of our natural beauty and vibrant downtowns.-
Another Catskills farmer, Amy Kenyon, said she is looking to Catskill Mountainkeeper to provide farmers and other local residents with the tools to get their voice heard.
Kenyon also is president of Farm Catskills, a Delaware County-based group intended to strengthen farming in the region. 'If our rural character is to survive, we need a good regional vision that protects our region's wonderful vistas, open spaces and farmland - the things that make us different,- said Kenyon.
Patrick H. Dollard, the chief executive officer of The Center for Discovery - Sullivan County's largest employer - also endorsed Catskill Mountainkeeper.
The group will open an office in Youngsville, Sullivan County, this June. Other major sponsoring organizations are the Natural Resources Defense Council and Audubon New York.
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