The Forest Legacy Program promotes good stewardship of privately held forestlands through a partnership of federal, state, and local government efforts. Forest Legacy grants are awarded each year to purchase lands or conservation easements on lands to be protected in perpetuity. In December, the federal government announced that Northern Forest states (New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine) would receive $15.6 million in Forest Legacy grants. Maine received the lion’s share of funding in the region for two projects. The grants include $10.3 million for the West Branch Project and $1.2 for Mount Blue State Park/Tumbledown Mountain. Other Northern Forest lands receiving funding include the Ossipee Mountains and Pond of Safety in New Hampshire, parts of the Nulhegan basin in Vermont, and Fish Creek watershed lands in the Adirondacks.

Five outstanding projects in the Highlands will share $6,672,000 in 2001 Forest Legacy grants. In New York, $500,000 will go toward the purchase of 1,000 additional acres of Sterling Forest, including critical lands surrounding Sterling Lake. New Jersey was granted $750,000 to purchase tracts that will link a corridor of preserved lands within the Beaver Brook Watershed. The Newark Watershed (New Jersey) was granted funds to purchase development rights on 2,700 acres near Farney State Park. Great Mountain Forest (Connecticut) was granted $4,151,000 for a conservation easement on more than 5,000 acres of forest, including habitat for rare and endangered species. The northern Highlands received money to protect over 1,000 acres along the Taconic Range, which runs the length of the New York/Massachusetts border and is vulnerable to second home development.

REGIONAL

The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) is currently considering a proposal to expand Route 15, which runs through the heart of the N.J. Highlands past miles of forest and wetlands that the NJ Fish and Wildlife Service has identifie as the highest-priority habitat for threatened and endangered species in the state. Expansion of Route 15 could damage these sensitive habitats and lead to more sprawl development in the Highlands.

* Send a letter to the NJDOT opposing the expansion of Route 15 and encouraging officials to explore alternative transportation improvements by visiting www.highlandscoalition.org (click on “What You Can Do” in their left margin), or send your letter to: Office of the Commissioner, N.J. Dept. of Transportation, 1035 Parkway Avenue, Trenton, NJ 08625.

After a 10-year, exhaustive scientific study of the contamination of the Hudson River from PCBs, the U.S. EPA announced a proposed plan to clean up the river. The proposed clean-up of 100,000 pounds of PCBs will be one of the most aggressive environmental efforts ever proposed to restore a contaminated river and protect the public's health. The PCB contamination of the Hudson dates back to a 30-year period ending in 1977 during which the General Electric Company (GE) discharged as much as 1.3 million pounds of PCBs directly into the river from their facilities in Hudson Falls and Fort Edward, N.Y. The dredging would reduce risks to health and fish by five times immediately following the cleanup. The state will be able to relax fish consumption advisories within two years.

* Written public comment will be taken on the proposed plan until Feb. 16, and should be sent to: Alison Hess/Doug Tomchuk, Hudson River PCBs Public Comment, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 290 Broadway, New York, NY 10007.

A lack of federal and state funds threatens to reduce the number of USGS gauging stations in Connecticut. Gauge stations provide essential data for water supply planning, flood, and drought management, waste load allocations for sewer discharges, minimum stream flow standards, protecting ecological habitats, and supporting boating, fishing and other recreational activities. The Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection is unable to budget the resources necessary to maintain the gauge network at its present level. If extra dollars aren’t found, only 30 gauging stations will be available for more than 8,000 miles of river in CT.

* Call Governor John Rowland’s office (800-406-1527) to request an additional $160,000 per year for the next two fiscal years for this program. The information provided by the gauging stations is too valuable to lose.

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management (DEM) is currently considering whether or not off-road vehicles should be re-introduced in Myles Standish State Forest (MSSF). In 1996, the DEM decided to remove the ORVs from MSSF after determining that ORV riding in MSSF was not appropriate due to the forest’s abundance of rare and endangered species and unique natural habitats. Of the 10 state-owned forests in Massachusetts, MSSF is the only one banning ORVs. Pressure from the ORV community has moved DEM to reconsider the issue. DEM released a draft “Trail and Resource Management Plan” in November that indicates their inclination to allow ORVs back in the forest. The comment period closed on Dec. 29, but the plan can be accessed at http://www.state.ma.us/dem/programs/mssfplan/index.htm.

The licensing process for five dams on the Housatonic River is proceeding. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is presently receiving comments on their proposed scoping document. This document sets out the parameters for FERC’s environmental analysis of the hydropower dams and begins to identify which alternatives FERC will review. Comments on the scoping document will be accepted until Jan. 8. FERC is also close to deciding what additional information must be added to the license application in order to understand the environmental and recreation impacts of the dams and their operations. Since rivers are a public resource, FERC is required by law to balance power generation with environmental and recreational needs.

* Get more information or find out how to get involved by emailing rdinerman@amcinfo.org or calling 413-443-0011, ext. 11.