The NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has long had a plan to extensively log their lands in Putnam County once our forests reached maturity, as they now have. The first step in that plan was a "secret" plan exposed only by chance last spring: a "Model Forest" on Mount Nimham, one of the most heavily used recreational areas in our county and the very heart of Putnam County. When this plan was crafted Putman County was a very different place...

Neighbors, residents of the county, mountain bikers, hikers, birders, hunters, and people out walking their dogs will be negatively affected by this. Wide areas of the mountain and its surrounding communities will be damaged by the noise and pollution of this logging operation on more than 400 steep acres (almost half the entire mountain!). The roads around the mountain will see heavy equipment, logging trucks and tour busses(!) pounding up and down Route 301 and Gipsy Trail, a narrow and winding residential roadway.

THIS IS JUST THE FIRST PROJECT in a series that will spread across our county on DEC lands in the years to come unless we value our forests as forests, allowing them to grow old and redevelop natural ecosystems that have not existed in these hills for 250 years.

We're ALMOST THERE NOW! Let's make the right choices.

Below is more detailed information and below that are sample letters to the DEC.

Let's save Putnam's Highlands - forever - in our lifetimes.

Jeff Green
PlanPutnam

I - The Proposed Amendment

The DEC seeks to amend the 1994 Unit Management Plan for the Highlands Region (UMP) to allow installation of a "Model Forest Program" on the portion of Nimham up the hill from Gipsy Trail Road and behind and above the County's Veteran's Memorial Park. The forestry program would first use 87 acres, but allow itself to grow to more than 400 acres covering virtually all the land bound by Gipsy Trail Road, Route 301 and Nimham Court, the road leading to the fire tower.

The program would begin with the construction of a 10 foot wide all weather road (with additional footage for berms on either side) built by the Army Corps of Engineers for this industrial use, three large staging 'platforms' on the old Cole's Mills Trail, and a "skid trail" down along a stream which feeds the West Branch Reservoir and that is within a few hundred feet of residences on Smokey Hollow Road and Route 301.

The DEC will clear cut portions of the forest along the new logging road, removing many specimen and ancient trees they consider "in the way" and 'selectively cut' the remaining portions, with the goal of reducing the trees across the forest by 40-60% (thus one of every two trees on average will be cut and removed). The program will continue indefinitely with continuing clear cutting and intermediate "treatments", along with the experimental use of herbicides and controlled burning - in a public water supply and a heavily used recreational area. This mountain is also riddled with old arsenic mines and their tailings piles that could be distrubed and leak into the water supply.

DEC plans to have Nimham serve as a center for "outreach and education", with groups coming in to observe the ongoing logging operations. Heavy construction and logging vehicles, as well as tour buses(!), will travel along Route 301 and Gipsy Trail Road and turn up the steep one lane hill at the Mt. Nimham access road. The plan also "anticipate(s) future projects under the Model Forest Program" in the Hudson Highlands Unit.

II - Concerns About the Proposed Amendment

There are substantive and procedural concerns about the proposed amendment.

Substantive concerns include:

(1) The forestry operation(s) will ruin forever the aesthetic value of Nimham as a quiet mature forest. The aesthetic value of old growth forest is particularly significant because of the proximity of Mount Nimham and the Highlands region to over 20 million people, and is increasingly significant as development reduces the amount of old growth forest and open spaces in the area.

(2) Opportunities for recreational use in this busy, developing region will be reduced at a time when the demand for recreational use is increasing greatly. Outdoor recreation is a critical public good which should be promoted by the state, not reduced.

(3) The forestry operation will displace the current and growing recreational use of the Nimham area, forcing hunters, mountain bikers, hikers and horseback riders onto already busy adjoining lands, including the remaining portions of the Nimham MUA, DEP lands, private lands, and into the County Park which is not prepared for such uses.

(4) Local residents moved into the area in reliance upon the recreational and aesthetic use of Mount Nimham. A loss of value in and enjoyment of their homes will result from the reduction of recreational opportunities on public lands and the presence of the undesirable effects from logging.

(5) The West Branch reservoir may be contaminated from this project. The water quality in that critical reservoir may become polluted with sediment, road debris, aresnic from old mines, and diesel oil resulting from: the road construction and maintenance of the Coles Mills Logging Road; the use of heavy equipment in the very steep forest and on the roads; the erosion caused by the loss of root structures; the disruption of wetlands, streams and stream beds; the use of herbicides; and, the passing of heavy machinery and trucks and buses on Gipsy Trail Road and Route 301, thus threatening the filtration avoidance determination (FAD) the NYC DEP has with the Federal government.

(6) Gipsy Trail Road and Route 301 will be damaged and made dangerous by heavy trucks and logging equipment and buses. Trucks, logging equipment, and buses will foul the air quality and disrupt traffic on rural Gipsy Trail Road and Route 301 which are routes used frequently both formally and informally for recreational bicycling and jogging.

(7) The forestry operation will foul the air on Mount Nimham, as a result of the operation of heavy machinery, the planned fires, and the significant reduction of trees and other growth.

(8) The logging operation will be noisy, and reduce the enjoyment of nearby public lands (County and DEC), private lands (including Gipsy Trail and Sedgewood), public lakes (County Lake, West Branch Reservoir), private lakes (Pine Pond, China Pond, Barrett Lake, Nimham Lake), and private homes.

(9) The logging, especially the planned clear cuts, will spoil the scenic view from the fire tower (which is currently under restoration by local volunteers), from adjacent private and public lands (including the Putnam County Park), and from public lakes (Putnam Park Lake, West Branch Reservoir), and private lakes (Pine Pond).

(10) With the removal of more than half the trees and the ongoing industrial operations the ecology of the region will be disturbed, particularly the wildlife, stream life, and birds.

(11) Residents, governments and businesses in Kent, and in those in areas surrounding New York City Reservoirs in the Croton, Delaware and Catskill regions, have borne costs of watershed and reservoir protection, as mandated by DEP. It abuses their faith in the reasonableness of those costs and measures imposed on them to have their government conduct an "experiment" on the effect of logging on water quality above the West Branch Reservoir, one of the most important in the system.

(12) Putnam County, local civic groups, and local businesses have invested heavily in a campaign to promote Putnam as the county "where the country begins" and have dedicated resources to promoting open spaces, bicycling events and roadways, outdoor events and recreation, nature appreciation and tranquility. DEC's plans undermine those successful strategies.

(13) Mount Nimham is a sacred place for the descendants of Native Americans, and for those who respect their claims to the unspoiled land and to a rightful place in our history. The few remaining forests in the Highlands should be left as wild and untrammeled as possible in respect of that heritage and of the wrong committed against the people of Daniel Nimham.

(14) Logging is not a reasonable activity to promote on lands held in trust in the New York City watershed, and residents of New York City will be made to bear the cost of water degradation that may result from this logging or other logging in the East of Hudson (EOH) watershed.

(15) Logging on such a limited scale is not an economically beneficial activity when the true costs of road construction, erosion control, water protection, and recreational and aesthetic loss are assessed against the revenues from timber sales, and this heavily subsidized Model Forest Program will obscure that essential fact. The Model Forestry program is therefore a sham if it promotes logging as a means of realizing value from small land holdings in sensitive watershed areas actively used for recreation.

(16) Promoting logging East of the Hudson is irresponsible because logging inflicts costs on the surrounding community, and these costs are unreasonably high in well populated areas with busy roads, thin rocky soils, heavy recreational use and important reservoirs and watershed lands.

(17) Logging on federal lands held in trust for the United States has been proven to be uneconomic and therefore this "experiment" does not need to be repeated on state lands held in trust for the citizenry of New York State.

(18) Intact forests are valuable for absorbing carbon emissions and other greenhouse gases. Reduction of intact forests is therefore not a productive use of public resources, especially those dedicated to the purpose of promoting Environmental Conservation and Protection.

Procedural concerns include:

(1) DEC intentionally failed to notify local residents, recreational users of Nimham, and local governmental agencies of the proposed amendment and the plan to log the Highlands was passed before dramatic demographic changes occured in Putnam County.

(2) Even though local residents, recreational users and local governmental agencies are now learning about the proposed amendment, DEC will not substantively address the issues raised by local residents, recreational users of Nimham, and local governmental agencies.

(3) DEC erroneously issued a (draft) "Negative Declaration" asserting that the proposed amendment would have no negative environmental impacts.

(4) Once DEC adopts this amendment there will be no ability to control or limit logging on all DEC land in the Hudson Highlands Unit, to regulate the operation under local law, or to receive compensation for damage to local resources.

III - Sample Letters

People to send your letters to:

Commissioner Erin Crotty NYS Department of Environmental Conservation 625 Broadway Albany, NY 12233-1010 http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/about/emailform.html DEC Region 3 Director: Marc Moran 21 South Putt Corners Road New Paltz, NY 12561-1696 Regional Natural Resources Supervisor William Rudge 21 South Putt Corners Road New Paltz, NY 12561-1696 Phone (845) 256-3092; Fax (845) 255-4659 Jeff Wiegert, Supervising Forester, NYS DEC 21 South Putt Corners Road New Paltz, NY 12561-1696 jawieger@gw.dec.state.ny.us (845) 256-3111 René H. Germain Assistant Professor State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry Syracuse, New York rhgermai@mailbox.syr.edu John J. Schwartz Associate Project Manager Watershed Forestry Program New York City Department of Environmental Protection Kingston, New York jschwartz@catgis.dep.nyc. ny.us

Kent Town Supervisor Bil Tulipane Kent Town Hall 531 Route 52 Kent Lakes, NY 10512 1 (845) 225-3943 Governor George Pataki Office of the Governor State Capitol Albany, NY 12224 Ph: (518) 474-8390 Fax: (518) 474-1513 Congress: Representative Sue Kelly 21 Old Main Street - Suite 107 Fishkill, NY 12524 - 1848 Ph: (845) 897-5200 Fax: (845) 897-5800 State Assembly: Sandra Galef Ossining, NY 10562 - 4802 Ph: (914) 941-1111 Fax: (914) 941-9132 State Senate: Vincent Leibell 1441, Route 22 - Suite 205 Brewster, NY 10509 - 4357 Ph: (845) 279-3773 Fax: (845) 279-7156 New York Journal News

For archiving, please forward a copy of your letters to:

PlanPutnam
c/o Jeff Green
145 Miller Hill Road
Kent CLiffs, NY 10512

or

forests@planputnam.org

Dear _______________

As a recreational user of the Mount Nimham State Forest I urge you to reconsider DEC's decision to log our maturing forests.

At one time we may have placed a high value on managing the forests in Putnam County as woodlots but with increasing pressure for developable lands and the resulting loss of open spaces, we now value these lands more as natural ecosystems and highly valued recreational areas which result in thousands of tourist visits each year. Because of this, I encourage you to manage these maturing forests in a manner compatible with their current use.

Thank you for helping to protect and preserve the Hudson Highlands.

Sincerely,

Dear _______________________

As a resident of the [Town of Kent/Putnam County] I feel DEC has been less than open in the way it has handled development of the Mount Nimham Model Forest Project. From the outset local governments, especially the Town's Conservation Advisory Council and adjoining property owners, should have been involved in the decision making process or, at the very least, informed and given ample opportunity to offer advice, suggestions and objections if any had arisen.

I also strongly believe that genuine forests in the Hudson Highlands are rare and what few are left are endangered by encroaching development and that the best use of these lands is for recreational and therapeutic uses, viewshed protection and environmental enhancement and that logging these forests is not compatible with that vision. I urge you to reconsider your decision to log these forests.

Thank you for helping to protect and preserve the Hudson Highlands.

Sincerely,

Dear ____________________

I am a strong believer in giving the next generation a better world than what has been given to us. We have a choice to make in the Highlands, a choice that we can only make once in our lifetimes - and that choice is how we are to use the dwindling natural lands in our suburbanized area.

I strongly believe we can and should offer the next generation old growth forests in these hills and urge DEC to manage our forests appropriately and encourage a return to natural ecosystems by removing from the forest edges invasives such as bittersweet, knotweed and russian olive and allowing the rest of the ecosystem to balance itself out and mature gracefully on its own.

Thank you for helping to protect and preserve the Hudson Highlands.

Sincerely,

Dear ____________________

It is often said that since man can "improve" nature, we should. However, there are many examples of where man's "improvements" have turned out to be anything but! The Gypsy Moth, africanized bees, kudzu, barberry and purple loosetrife are just a few "improvements" that come to mind!

I urge you to allow the remaining State held forests in Putnam County's Highlands to be managed in a way that will allow them to regain a natural balance after 250 years of logging and abuse and allow us to hand old growth forest to the next generation of Highlanders.

Thank you for helping to protect and preserve the Hudson Highlands.

Sincerely,