|
DEC reviews logging comments
By MICHAEL RISINIT
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: February 24, 2004)
KENT Mount Nimham is quiet as winter heads
toward spring, and the state's
controversial plan to create a model forest on its flanks remains
quietly
under review.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation
is still reviewing
comments on its proposal to selectively log 85 acres of a 415-acre
parcel
to demonstrate how well-managed forests can protect water quality.
For the
most part, residents and local lawmakers still oppose the effort
in Kent,
calling for the state-owned forest to remain untouched and a recreational
haven.
"There's no reason to do Mount Nimham this
way," said Ray Mainiero, a
former Carmel High School biology teacher. "It will ruin
pristine forests."
In October, the state unveiled its plan to manage
part of Nimham's 1,100
state-owned acres near New York City's West Branch Reservoir.
The proposal
involves cutting down up to 60 percent of the trees in some areas.
If
successful, the model would be used to promote forestry as an
economic plan
for private lands surrounding New York City's reservoirs. Well-managed
forests, rather than shopping centers and parking lots, are the
city's
preferred land use for protecting water quality.
Many have disapproved of the model forest, which
is a collaborative effort
led by the DEC and involves the New York City Department of Environmental
Protection, the nonprofit Watershed Agricultural Council and the
State
University of New York's College of Environmental Science and
Forestry in
Syracuse. In December, the Kent Town Board unanimously adopted
a resolution
opposing the plan.
That same month, state Sen. Vincent Leibell,
R-Patterson, and Assemblywoman
Sandra Galef, D-Ossining, wrote DEC Commissioner Erin M. Crotty,
asking her
to take into account the opposition generated by the proposal.
The two met
with Crotty about two weeks ago. Leibell said last week that the
agency was
intensely reviewing the project's siting in Kent. Galef agreed.
"I can't say it's never going to happen,"
Galef said. "My feeling is, it's
certainly on the back burner and very much in limbo at this point."
A DEC spokeswoman said last week that the Nimham
model forest project was
still on the drawing board.
"As far as I know, we haven't given up on
it," spokeswoman Wendy Rosenbach
said.
The town maintains its opposition under a new
supervisor, William Tulipane.
But the head of Kent's Conservation Advisory Commission caused
a minor
uproar last week when he advocated discussing the project with
the DEC.
About 30 people showed up at the group's monthly meeting Wednesday
double
the usual number after hearing of chairman George Baum's
position, which
he characterized as a personal one.
"Given that DEC has the authority and responsibility
for managing the Mount
Nimham Forest Area as well as the other state forests, it would
seem to me
to be in our best interests to work with DEC to limit the scope
of such
activities so that the recreational, the tranquility, the biodiversity,
and
the environmental health of the entire area is preserved,"
Baum said in a
statement.
The Nimham model forest would be one of four
across the watershed managed
by the Watershed Agricultural Council. The Kent project is featured
on the
council's Web site, www.nycwatershed.org.
"We're waiting to hear from the DEC also,"
said Kevin Brazill, the
council's forestry program manager. "We're in a holding pattern."
Send e-mail to <mailto:mrisinit@thejournalnews.com>Michael
Risinit
|
