Dear Mr. Weigert,

As a homeowner on Gipsy Trail Road in the Town of Kent, Putnam County, I was dismayed to learn of the DEC’s plan to transform Nimham Mountain into a logging project. I hike regularly through this forest, which is less than a mile from my home. I know Nimham Mountain well as a home for many kinds of wildlife, and as a place where people can enjoy a respite from the noise and bustle of urban living. In fact, the 1994 Unit Management Plan for the Hudson Highlands spells out the reasons why these woods are so valuable to so many New Yorkers:

… only one hour from downtown Manhattan, and serviced by two railroads, two interstate highways and the Taconic Parkway, the Unit is easily reachable by well over 100 million people on any given day. As the region’s population continues to grow and more and more open space is lost to development, it is expected that demand for recreational opportunities provided by State lands in the Hudson Highlands Management Unit will become acute. (p.27)

As a regular visitor to the Adirondacks, I understand and support the DEC’s plan to demonstrate that logging can provide a sustainable alternative to encroaching overdevelopment in rural areas. But Nimham Mountain currently serves thousands of New Yorkers each week as an irreplaceable recreational area in a county that is already developed. As a State park, it is already protected from development. My neighbors and I strongly urge the DEC to protect it from a logging project that will destroy the park we love and replace it with an industrial site.

Please keep me informed of any future meetings concerning this proposed project, either by e-mail or regular mail. Like most of my neighbors, I received no notice of the October 2 meeting at which you presented this plan to transform our neighborhood.

Thank you for your assistance in this matter,

Sincerely,

AF