Presenting the New Catskill Mountainkeeper Website!

Mountainkeeper Proudly Flips the Switch on Our Newly Designed Website

Communicating with you is a critical part of our core mission and to satisfy our goal to keep you informed and educated about the issues that are important to the Catskills, we are proud to introduce our new revised and redesigned website.

We have changed our look, added substantial amounts of new content and improved our navigation so that it will be easier for you to find the information you’re looking for. Under the leadership of Catskill Mountainkeeper Board Member, Ilene Ferber, we are happy to announce our launch.

Here is a snapshot of the site.

We have incorporated many of your great suggestions and we encourage you to visit our site often as we will be continually updating and improving it. Please tell your friends about it and encourage them to get involved. We’d love to hear from you and have added a “Contact Us” section on each page for your convenience.

Please consider donating to Catskill Mountainkeeper so that we can continue to represent and work for you. All of our programs and initiatives, including this website, require a tremendous amount of staff time and cost. Catskill Mountainkeeper is a 501(c)(3) corporation and we are 100% reliant upon financial contributions to do our work. All of the money that we receive goes to pay for our program costs.

or mail a check to: Catskill Mountainkeeper, PO Box 381, Youngsville, NY 12791
www.catskillmountainkeeper.org

845.482.5400

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About Catskill Mountainkeeper
Catskill Mountainkeeper is an independent, not for profit, 501(c)(3) community based environmental advocacy organization, dedicated to creating a flourishing sustainable economy in the Catskills and preserving and protecting the area’s long term health. We address issues of water integrity for the Delaware and Susquehanna River Systems, the defense of the vast woodlands that encompass the Catskill Forest Preserve and the New York City Watershed as well as farmland protection. We promote “smart” development that balances the economic needs and concerns of the Catskill regions’ citizens and the protection of our abundant but exceedingly vulnerable natural resources.
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I Love My NY Water- Celebrity Ad featuring Mark Ruffalo, Zoe Saldana, Josh Charles, Amy Ryan, Nadia Dajani and Ethan Hawke

For Immediate Release: June 8, 2011

Contact: Ramsay Adams, Executive Director, Catskill Mountainkeeper

Phone: 845-482-5400

ramsay@catskillmountainkeeper.org

Mountainkeeper and a coalition of groups concerned about fracking have released the first in a series of videos featuring celebrities including Mark Ruffalo, Ethan Hawke, Zoe Saldana, Josh Charles, Amy Ryan and Nadia Dajani declaring their love for New York Water. The campaign was launched with a Huffington Post Blog by Mark Ruffalo which you can read here.

Click here to watch the 1 minute video:

Watch the :30 second spot here

‘Clean Water NOT Dirty Drilling’ - a coalition of organizations working to protect communities and the environment from the dangers of natural gas development - is celebrating the launch of its ‘I Love My New York Water’ campaign with the release of a new ad.

The intention of these videos is to raise awareness on the harmful effects of fracking - a process of natural gas extraction that utilizes high-volume pressure injections of millions of gallons of contaminated water to pump gas from underground shale formations - and its effects on water.

“The consequences of drilling for natural gas are severe and are already being witnessed in states across the nation,” says Catskill Mountainkeeper Executive Director, Ramsay Adams. “It is imperative for New Yorkers to take a stand to prevent gas companies from mobilizing in our state to utilize the same practices that have devastated the water supplies in other areas, including right next door in Pennsylvania.”

Water from New York State reservoirs provides for over 15 million New Yorkers, and the state houses the largest unfiltered reservoir in the country - sending fresh water to residents in cities from NYC to Philadelphia.

"If hydro-fracking were to get its legs in New York State, the consequences would be hugely far-reaching, and damaging in ways that we can only begin to grasp ” says NRDC Senior Attorney, Kate Sinding.

The coalition hopes these videos bring statewide and national attention to the protection and preservation of water supplies. “Our water is a precious and irreplaceable resource,” asserts Ulster County Legislator, Susan Zimet and CEO of Zimet Group, Executive Producer of the commercial. “It’s imperative that we start treating it as such.”

‘Clean Water NOT Dirty Drilling’ was established by Catskill Mountainkeeper, Citizens Campaign for the Environment, Earthjustice, EARTHWORKS, Environmental Advocates of New York, Natural Resources Defense Council, and Riverkeeper.

Catskill Mountainkeeper February 7, 2011 ALERT

Catskill Mountainkeeper Opens Office in Woodstock, Dr. Kathleen Nolan to Head High Peaks Regional Advocacy -------------------------- FREE Open House for Woodstock Community on February 26th Woodstock, New York - Catskill Mountainkeeper has opened a new office in Woodstock, New York and has hired Kathleen Nolan, MD, MSL, as Director for the High Peaks Region. Woodstock is the gateway to the Catskills High Peaks and is a cultural and historic cornerstone for the entire region. Our new office is located right in downtown Woodstock in the Historic Woodstock Byrdcliffe Guild, America's oldest continuing art colony. We are honored to share a home with this historic American institution. Dr. Nolan has been a staunch environmental advocate since she moved to the Catskills over 20 years ago. She brings to Mountainkeeper a keen interest in preserving the economic, environmental, and aesthetic values of pristine mountain peaks and ridgelines. She will focus on the challenges of reining in poorly designed and over-reaching development, while championing sustainable energy projects, open space preservation, advancement of recreational opportunities, and the revival of town and village centers. "Working with Catskill Mountainkeeper keeps me at the center of the most important issues facing the Catskill region," says Nolan, in response to her appointment. "Mountainkeeper's leadership role has been proven in their defense of clean air and water through their review of hydraulic fracturing in the Marcellus Shale and in their opposition to casino gambling as a shortsighted approach to economic development in rural areas. I am delighted to join Mountainkeeper as an educator and advocate on these and other critical issues facing the Catskills region." With her impressive resume, Nolan comes to Woodstock by way of rural Tennessee. She attended both Saint Louis University and Yale and previously worked for the Hastings Center, writing and teaching on diverse topics in bioethics. She came to the Catskills in 1989 to pursue residential training at a Zen Buddhist monastery and in 2003 she became Executive Director of Tibet Aid in Woodstock. In 2009 she founded Catskills Live! Trails and Wilderness Association. Currently, Nolan serves on the Ulster County Tourism Advisory Board, the Ulster County Trails Advisory Committee and as an officer for the Catskill Heritage Alliance and the Ashokan-Pepacton Watershed Chapter of Trout Unlimited. Nolan and Mountainkeeper Executive Director Ramsay Adams will welcome the Woodstock community on Saturday February 26th from 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM with an opening party for the new office at the Byrdcliffe Guilds' Kleinert/James Arts Center (the office itself is located next door at 34 Tinker Street, 3rd floor.) Local luminaries including author and poet Will Nixon, folk-rock indie music stars Mike + Ruthy, Woodstock Film Festival's Meira Blaustein and1969 Woodstock Festival Co-Founder Michael Lang will be on hand to introduce Mountainkeeper to its new community. Partygoers will enjoy delicious tastings from Woodstock restaurants and shops and get a chance to hear about the environmental, educational and volunteer opportunities in the Woodstock office. The entire event is free and open to the public. Space is limited so please RSVP by email: info@catskillmountainkeeper.org or call 845.482.5400 Kathleen Nolan, Woodstock, NY. February, 2011 (photo provided by Mountainkeeper) Kathy Nolan's Mountainkeeper email is kathy@catskillmountainkeeper.org In other staff news, Mountainkeeper veteran Aaron Bennett has accepted the position of Deputy Coordinator for the Ulster County Department of the Environment. Aaron continues to work with Mountainkeeper on our education initiatives and will continue to lead our hugely popular "Hike the High Peaks" program. We are very proud and excited for Aaron. ____________________________________________________________________________________ UPCOMING EVENT - FREE - THE ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF PARKLAND FRIDAY FEBRUARY 18, 2011 Catskill Mountainkeeper in Partnership with the Catskill Center and the Catskill Heritage Alliance Announces Catskill Cornucopia's Presentation: "Economic Benefits of Parkland" Research in the Adirondack and Shawangunk Mountains shows that public lands are clearly beneficial to the economic health of local communities. Learn how we in the Catskills can adopt the lessons of important studies from the experts who conducted them. Catskill Cornucopia invites you to join us for "Economic Benefits of Parkland," a presentation and group discussion held at the Ashokan Center in Olivebridge, at 1:30 pm on Friday, February 18. The presentation is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served. Kenneth Strike, the author of Adirondack Park Regional Assessment Program: An Appraisal, and Brian Zweig, who recently conducted the Study of the Economic Impact on the Local Economy of Minnewaska State Park Preserve, Mohonk Preserve and Sam's Point Preserve (in the Shawangunk Mountains) will discuss how economic impacts are calculated, describe what economic benefits have been demonstrated, and suggest where to focus when considering how public lands here in the Catskills can strengthen our own local economies. Catskill Cornucopia provides a forum for interesting and topical discussions on issues directly connected with life in our mountain communities and is presented through a partnership of the Catskill Heritage Alliance, Catskill Mountainkeeper and the Catskill Center for Conservation and Development. For more information call 845.482.5400 or visit http://www.catskillcenter.org/images/stories/pdf/release020411.pdf Economic Benefits of Parkland 1:30pm Friday, February 18th Ashokan Center 477 Beaverkill Rd Olivebridge, NY 12461 Get Directions to the Ashokan Center _____________________________________________________________________________ About Catskill Mountainkeeper Catskill Mountainkeeper is an independent, not for profit, 501c3 community based environmental advocacy organization, dedicated to creating a flourishing sustainable economy in the Catskills and preserving and protecting the area's long term health. We address issues of water integrity for the Delaware and Susquehanna River Systems, the defense of the vast woodlands that encompass the Catskill Forest Preserve and the New York City Watershed as well as farmland protection. We promote "smart" development that balances the economic needs and concerns of the Catskill regions' citizens and the protection of our abundant but exceedingly vulnerable natural resources. Please Help Support Mountainkeeper. A small donation goes a long way. Our online donation system is simple and secure - just click here: To contact Mountainkeeper call 845 482 5400 or email: info@catskillmountainkeeper.org

Bill McKibben storms Barnfest

Bill McKibben storms Barnfest Author/activist stokes crowd to ‘Get to Work’ on 10/10/10 By SANDY LONG ROSCOE, NY — Acclaimed author and international organizer on climate change, Bill McKibben stepped up onto a small stage framed by apple trees against a cloud-studded blue sky on July 31, and told hundreds of people perched on the rolling lawn, “I’ve been all over the world and I would not trade New York State. It’s the most beautiful place on Earth. This fight that you’re in will be up and down. We have to take on the fossil fuel industry, the most profitable industry there ever was.” McKibben was speaking at Barnfest, an event organized by Catskill Mountainkeeper (CM) to celebrate life in the Catskills and increase awareness of issues related to natural gas exploration while raising funds in support of CM’s ongoing work. Artwork created from recycled materials and services donated by supporters throughout the area were auctioned during the day. Locally produced food and live music by the Stoddard Hollow Band and renowned folk performers Jay Ungar and Molly Mason blended beautifully in the idyllic setting. CM executive director Ramsay Adams said the organization has been overwhelmed with local spirit and energy. “If we’re going to create a grass-roots constituency to protect this great place, it’s got to be community, from the ground up,” he said. “We’ve got issues: gas drilling, casinos, loss of farms to deal with. Like Bill’s work on climate change, we need to focus our energy to think globally while acting locally.” With a quick apology for “being a downer,” McKibben stressed the importance of addressing Marcellus Shale development in terms of its relationship to the global issue of climate change. “We need to be clear about what it is we’re fighting and what is at the root of it,” he said. “We will not win this battle until we come to terms with the fact that fossil fuel is quickly destroying the planet. We’ve raised the temperature of the earth about one degree so far. “In the last six weeks, NASA told us that we’ve come through the warmest six months, the warmest year and the warmest decade on record. Everything frozen on Earth is melting. Fourteen countries have set new temperature records. Climatologists have made it clear that unless we get off fossil fuel right away, we will see the temperature rise five degrees in the course of this century. If one degree melts the Arctic, we’d better not find out what five or six degrees does.” McKibben lamented the continuing failure of the U.S. government to act. “It is not enough to sit down with our political leaders and tell them that the planet is coming to an end,” he said. “We have to figure out a way to tell them that their careers are coming to an end unless they do the right thing. “The only way to do that is to build a movement. You’ve got the start of a good movement here. But if it’s only about the problems around the Marcellus Shale, then it’s not going to matter. If we keep pouring carbon into the atmosphere, even the most wonderful organic farmers won’t be able to do a damn thing, because if it rains 30 days in a row, or doesn’t rain for 30 days, then you can’t grow anything.” The broader movement McKibben refers to—350.org—gained serious momentum in January 2008. “We were both horrified and elated when our greatest climatologist, Jim Hansen, put a number on our peril, which allows us a way to organize across language barriers,” said McKibben. 350 parts per million (ppm) CO2 in the atmosphere is the safe limit for humanity, according to Hansen. The atmosphere is currently at 390 ppm. McKibben and others organized their first worldwide action in 2007, called Step It Up. That was followed last year by an event conducted on October 24 that produced 5,200 demonstrations in 181 countries in what CNN called “the most widespread day of political action in the planet’s history.” The movement is a force to be reckoned with as people across the globe register events on the website for this year’s Global Work Party scheduled for 10/10/10. At press time, 1,057 actions in 118 countries had already been scheduled. “People will put up solar panels and put in community gardens so that we do not need to rely any longer on fossil fuel,” McKibben said. “We’ll send a sharp political message when we put down our shovels, pick up our cell phones and call our political leaders to action to hammer out some legislation, to say, ‘I’m getting to work; what about you?’ “If we’re not able to do it in the next few years, the consequence will be a world fundamentally altered, unable to deliver anything like the beauty and meaning and integrity of the world we inherited. There are no guarantees of victory, but all over the world, people of good conscience will keep fighting as long and as hard as they can.” Earlier, award-winning actor Mark Ruffalo urged continued commitment. “Every now and again, we get a chance to come together as a community, and gas drilling happens to be that lousy thing that’s bringing us all together,” he said. “It’s important that we don’t tear ourselves apart over this. If we’re divided, we’re done. People have put themselves out there in a big way to change this, from the bottom up. Everyone has something to offer.” Following his talk, McKibben reflected. “Sometimes I get worn out and despairing, but around the world, every place we go, there are thousands of people, young people especially, who are ready to go to work.” Visit 350.org and catskillmountainkeeper.org for more information.

TRR photo by Sandy Long
Bill McKibben addresses a crowd of several hundred who attended Catskill Mountainkeeper’s second annual Barnfest in Roscoe, NY. (Click for larger version)

TRR photo by Sandy Long
Actor Mark Ruffalo, event host, introduces Craig and Julie Sautner, of Dimock, PA, who display a bottle of murky water drawn from their well. The Sautners attribute the contamination to gas drilling activities and told the crowd, “Don’t let them do to you what they did to us.” Ruffalo became involved following a visit to Dimock. “What really kicked it off was seeing how those people were living there, with poisoned well water, and the way the gas companies were dealing with them. My wife, Sunrise, and I have three kids. It’s their future, their water that we’re fighting for.” (Click for larger version)

TRR photo by Sandy Long
Children perform to the Woody Guthrie tune, “This Land is Your Land,” singing, “This land is our land. It’s not a gasland. Think of our future. It’s all in our hands. From the Delaware River, to the Catskill forests, we need our land to be drill-free.” (Click for larger version)

Mountainkeeper Spring 2009 News

(May 2 & 3) Potters of Sullivan County Host Annual Hot Kiln Tour to Benefit Mountainkeeper

This year, for the first time, the Potters of Sullivan County have teamed up with the Catskill Mountainkeeper for the Annual Hot Kiln Tour Weekend on May 2 & 3 from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Although many of the potters have studios and gift shops that are open year round, this is your chance to tour the county, visit the potters, see their process and the new work that has inspired them during the quiet months of winter.

The potters all start with the same lump of clay, but their finished products are as varied as they are. Potters participating this year are Duke Pottery, Earthgirl Pottery, Honey Hill Pottery, Cecily Fortescue Ceramics, Sunshine Pottery, Hillside Studios, Claryville Pottery and Catskill Artists Gallery. Directions to studios are on the Sullivan Co. Pottery Trail Map. These free maps can be found in area shops & restaurants, or visit the official website of the Potters of Sullivan County, www.seepotsspun.com. Once you start the tour, each potter will be happy to give you directions to the next potter. (A percentage of all sales for the weekend will be donated to Mountainkeeper).

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DEC announces partnership with Sullivan County to keep the Beaverkill Campground open for the 2009 season

Youngsville, NY - April 24, 2009 - Catskill Mountainkeeper applauds the NYS DEC's decision to partner with Sullivan County to keep the Beaverkill Campground open during these tough budgetary times.

We would like to thank Commissioner Pete Grannis and Region Three Director Willie Janeway for their efforts on this important issue. Catskill Mountainkeeper organized a campaign to help keep the Beaverkill Campground open including an online petition that received more than 600 signatures in partnership with Friends of the Beaverkill, Roscoe Chamber of Commerce, Livingston Manor Chamber of Commerce and the Sullivan County Visitors Association.

"This is how government should work" said Ramsay Adams, Executive Director of Catskill Mountainkeeper. "Community leaders organized a campaign; the County and State heard the call and worked hard to find a solution."

Catskill Mountainkeeper would also like to thank Senator John Bonacic, Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther, Legislators Elwin Wood and Jonathan Rouis along with the rest of the County Legislators and Sullivan County Manager David Fanslau.

622 people have signed the petition as of Monday April 27, 2009
View the signatures here

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Mountainkeeper to Give Talk on Gas Drilling at Cooperstown Village Library

The Friends of the Village Library of Cooperstown announces the April Adult Lecture Series for Thursday, April 30th at 7pm in the Cooperstown Village Meeting Room, just below the village library on Main Street. Ramsay Adams and Wes Gillingham from the Catskill Mountainkeeper organization will present an informative program on gas drilling. This educational lecture will include a general overview of gas drilling, hydraulic fracturing and regulatory issues.

If you have any questions, please contact Lisa Lippitt at 607-547-8154.

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(April 15, 2009) Mountainkeeper featured in Earth Island Journal story:

The Battle Over New York's Marcellus Shale

“One thing that’s happened,” says Wes Gillingham, Program Director of Catskill Mountain Keeper, “is that this whole issue has awakened people to the complexity of hydro fracking and the whole issue of regulatory oversight and whether it’s adequate or not. And to the basic question of whether it can be done safely at all.” Read the entire story by Adam Federman, Contributing Writer, Earth Island Journal here

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New York, Pennsylvania, share common concern over gas drilling

	Thursday May 22, 2008
Copyright © 2008 Mid-Hudson News Network, a division of Statewide News Network, Inc. This story may not be reproduced in any form without express written consent.
New York, Pennsylvania, share common concern over gas drilling
Gillingham: "... make them do it that way" HONESDALE PA – Catskill Mountainkeeper is taking its latest environmental battle across the river. The rapidly growing concern over the rapid influx of natural gas prospectors threatens the Delaware River, from both sides, says Mountainkeeper Program Director Wes Gillingham. Speaking before a crowd of more than 500 in Honesdale, about 20 miles inside Pennsylvania from the Delaware River, Gillingham said there is little, now, that would stop gas wells from being drilled practically on the banks of the river. He adds there is little that restricts potentially devastating mining practices, anywhere the wells go. If wells are to be a part of the scene, the concern is to make sure it is done in the least invasive way. “They’re not going to do it if don’t make them do it that way. We have to … when I say ‘we’, I’m not just talking about Catskill Mountainkeeper, I’m talking about every individual landowner and resident of this region, really have to take control of this issue, and force best management practices. Landowners, too, can band together and choose not to sign leases, because it’s not worth the risk.” Attorney Harry Weiss, of Philadelphia, representing a group of Wayne County property owners, agreed the National Park Service authority is generally restricted to the river itself, not adjacent properties. That point also conceded by Upper Delaware Council Executive Director William Douglas. But Weiss does not see gas prospecting as all bad. “It has potential, if things are done right”, Weiss said. He urged partnerships between property owners contemplating signing leases with drilling companies. Many of the people attending the more than two-hour session wanted little to do with unchecked natural gas extraction. Among the concerns voiced during a question and answer session were what happens if one property owner is harmed by drilling on a neighbor’s property, what kind of chemicals are used in the extraction process and what recourses do anyone have, if there is damage by drilling companies. One well is already being drilled in Wayne County, just across the Delaware from Sullivan County. Several people on both sides of the river have been approached by drilling companies. The forum in Honesdale was organized by the Upper Delaware Council and National Park Service. Audio comments Harry Weiss (attorney) :45 Wes Gillingham (Catskill Montainkeeper) :25 For more on gas leasing forum, visit PoconoNews.Net
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