Funding Source for Small Community Projects

Museums, afterschool programs, libraries, community centers, and other local organizations are encouraged to apply for mini-grants from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s “Celebrate Urban Birds” project. Grants average $250-$500 and are used to fund neighborhood events that may involve art, gardening, science, community service or other cultural activities. To apply for a mini-grant, visit www.CelebrateUrbanBirds.org. Organizations working with underserved communities are strongly encouraged to apply. No experience with birds is required.

Application deadline is February 15, 2010.

Celebrate Urban Birds is a free, year-round citizen science project in which participants watch birds in their neighborhoods and report what they see. This information helps scientists better understand how birds survive in cities and make use of green spaces, including parks and gardens.

New Watershed Mapping Tool Available

Here's a new and potentially useful tool for mapping natural resources in Esopus:

"Today, the Hudson River Watershed Alliance in partnership with the Hudson Valley Regional Council, unveiled a new mapping service that will help local decision makers and watershed groups better understand the environmental resources in their communities. The Hudson River Watershed Atlas is a regional online mapping service designed to enable users to visualize, explore, assess and better understand the natural resources and built systems of the Hudson River Estuary watershed.

"The Atlas is built using an Adobe PDF platform, which allows users to select from a menu of 28 informative data layers to customize their own map. There are a total of 20 map panels that together provide geographic coverage of the Hudson River Estuary watershed. Each panel includes 25 different data layers which can be independently turned on and off, with three different possible background layers. Examples of data layers include, among others, streams, hydric soils, wetlands, FEMA floodplains, potential environmental justice areas, MS4 communities, lakes and ponds, fishing and public access points.

"The Hudson River Watershed Atlas can be accessed at www.hudsonwatershed.org. The Hudson Valley Regional Council obtained a grant in 2007 to enhance the capacity of the Hudson River Watershed Alliance and to undertake several projects. The Watershed Atlas has been funded in part by a grant from the New York State Environmental Protection Fund through the Hudson River Estuary Program of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation."

Cap and Trade

I thought to share with you all Annie Leonard's (of The Story of Stuff) new offering, "The Story of Cap and Trade". By all accounts this is an introductory video to a very complex issue. It looks like more windfall profits for the financial industry and polluters with us holding the bag and suffering the consequences for a carbon tax by another name. She has it right, lets spend our effort on real carbon reducing like wind, solar and efficiency and not give the polluters new tools to fleece us. I read tonight that John Kerry is a big supporter of Cap and Trade but has failed to support the Cape Wind energy project in his own backyard. Dave Murray

16 September Events

The following are some of the potentially relevant and/or interesting September calendar items distributed by Manna Jo Greene:

Tues., Sept. 1, Wetland Habitat Creation and Turtle Conservation Science, a one day workshop in Dutchess County for land managers, regulators involved with review of wetland permits, environmental policy-makers, ecological restorationists, or researchers studying rare wetland animals. Led by Erik Kiviat, Tanessa Hartwig and Gretchen Stevens. www.hudsonia.org 845-758-0600.

Fri., Sept. 4, 11 AM - 3 PM, Open Garden Day. Visit Master Gardener demonstration gardens- Shade, Edible Landscape, Xeriscape, Bird & Butterfly, plus the Nutrition Education (Grow a Row for the Hungry) and Biomass for Heat Crops gardens. Free tours at 11 & 1, garden information table, delicious food samples prepared from our garden harvest. Everyone is welcome!, Dutchess County Farm & Home Center, 2715 Rt 44, Millbrook. Questions? Contact Nancy Halas (horticulture) 845-677-8223 x 115, nh26@cornell.edu or Joy Weber-Maass (foods/nutrition) 845-677-8223 x 116, jw649@cornell.edu

Fri., Sept. 4, 7 pm & Sat. Sep. 5 (11-5, 7pm concert). CATSKILL MOUNTAIN ECO-HERITAGE FESTIVAL. Alternative energy demos & displays, interpretive walks, colonial craft demos, "Stories of the Catskills" by the Woodstock Oral History Collective, music by: Jay Ungar & Molly Mason, Mike & Ruthy, Rich Bala & the Barefoot Boys. Food available for purchase throughout the day. $5/person (Sat. day). $10/person for concert & dance. The Ashokan Center, Olivebridge, NY. (845) 657-8333. www.AshokanCenter.org .

Thurs. Sept. 17, 8am-2pm THE SEQRA SOLUTION: FINDING THE RIGHT BALANCE, SUNY New Paltz, Explore and discuss how SEQRA could be revised or applied more efficiently. Featuring officials, developers, attorneys and environmental advocates. $40 members, $50 non-members, $30 municipal officials. Agenda information at www.pattern-for-progress.org or call 845-565-4900 for more information

Thurs., Sept. 17, Oct 1 & 15 • 6 - 9 pm, Intro to Permaculture Design. This holistic approach to land stewardship reaches beyond the concept of sustainable design and culminates in a dynamic, productive, and energy efficient design for your urban or rural home landscape, your garden and orchard, or your communities and villages. Stone Ridge Campus & Camp Epworth. Continuing Education: 845-339-2025, www.sunyulster.edu, $125

Sat., Sept. 19, noon - 3 pm, Raising Chickens 101. Learn the fun facts about raising chickens at home for fun or profit. Learn to care for your mature chickens including coop design ideas, predator control, health issues, and proper feeding. Little Egg Farm, Stone Ridge. Continuing Education: 845-339-2025, www.sunyulster.edu, $49

Sat. & Sun., Sept 19 & 20, Noon to 6 p.m., WORKING ON WATER BOAT TOUR. Free rides and deck tours on historic tugs, fireboat, PT boat, educational activities, free trolley rides and lighthouse tours. Rondout Waterfront, Kingston. Schedule: www.WorkingOnWater.org

Sept. 24-27. BOUNTY OF THE HUDSON RIVER VALLEY. NYSOEA's annual conference (nysoea.org/conference.htm). Pre-conference field trips to Constitution Marsh, Hudson Highlands Nature Museum and Scenic Hudson parks, with a special sail on the Clearwater. Workshops will be held along the banks of the Hudson in Beacon and on the Fishkill Ridge/Hudson Highlands at the Fresh Air Fund's Sharpe Reservation. Arm of the Sea will present their new Quadricentennial show. shereth@scenichudson.org

Fri., Sept. 25, 7 p.m. THE HUDSON RIVER: TRANSFORMATION AND UNDERSTANDING. A special evening of art and science. Freshwater Ecologist Dr. David Strayer will discuss how human actions have transformed the Hudson River and its watershed. Following the seminar will be a reception for landscape painter Rebecca Allan; her work inspired by riparian environments, including the Hudson River watershed. Cary Institute Auditorium, 2801 Sharon Tpk., Millbrook. Free. RSVPs appreciated. 677-7600 x121 or freeman@caryinstitute.org

Sat., Sept. 26 (tentative time 9am-3:30pm) BIG ANNUAL MID-HUDSON SIERRA TAG SALE at the New Hackensack Church, Rt. 376, Wappingers Fall; indoors, rain/shine. Contact Bibi at bibis@juno.com

Sat., Sept., 26, 10-4, 7TH ANNUAL MARGARETVILLE CAULIFLOWER FESTIVAL sponsored by Central Catskills Chamber of Commerce. Margaretville Village Park. A FREE celebration of agricultural heritage, local food and community. Tractor Parade at 11:30 a.m. Continuous entertainment; Pure Catskills, Forestry, History and Wellness Tents; food by local restaurants; cooking demos; kid stuff; fine art and crafts. Rain or shine! www.cauliflowerfestival.com . 845-586-3300

Sat., Sept. 26 • 10 am - 1 pm, A Day at the Farmers Market. Learn why you should buy local, and taste the bounty of our area with special samples set up just for this class. The class will have a picnic lunch with their purchases from the market. You will receive a printed set of recipes using fresh local ingredients. Kingston Farmers Market Continuing Education: 845-339-2025, www.sunyulster.edu, $29

Sat., Sep 26, 7:30 p.m. NIKOLA TESLA: THE ENIGMA, filmmaker Milan Cupurdija talks about Tesla, who invented wireless communication, robotics, and attempted to bring unlimited electric power to the entire world. Demonstrations of inventions. At Unitarian Congregation, 320 Sawkill Rd. Kingston. Presented by the HV Humanists, Ed Poll (845) 247-0098, $4 donation

Tues., Sept 29 & Weds., Sept. 30, 9:00-4:45. STATE OF THE HUDSON RIVER WATERSHED: A Conference on the Ecological Status of the Hudson and its Tributaries, presented by the HRES, HRWA, and many more organizations, in Hyde Park. For information and registration, see www.hres.org or www.hudsonwatershed.org . Cost: $95 before 9/18.

Tues., Sept .29, 5:30 - 8:30 pm, Hudson River Environmental Society’s 2009 Annual Meeting and Award Dinner, featuring Hudson River author, Robert Boyle, at the Terrapin, Dinsmore Golf Club, 5371 Albany Post Road (Rte 9), Staatsburg. For details and on-line registration: www.hres.org

Weds., Sept. 30, 6PM, LEAST-COST METHODS FOR SUSTAINABLE BUILDING, USGBC NY Upstate Hudson Valley Branch answers a question from Ulster YouthBuild Partnership, Sponsored by Cuddy & Feder LLP, Skytop Steakhouse, Kingston NY, Contact Michelle Garesché, 917-282-5248, mgaresche@ccooperassociates.com , www.greenupstateny.org , suggested donation $ see website.

Esopus Accepts Solar Power Bid

From the July 21 Freeman:

PORT EWEN — The Town Board has approved a $492,000 contract with Balston Spa-based contractor Alteris Renewables to install a solar energy system expected to meet 52 percent of electric needs for the Esopus Town Hall.

Read the rest of the story here.

Omega Institute opening

The Omega Institute in Rhinebeck NY is having a grand opening of its Omega Center for Sustainable Living on Thursday, July 16th at 3:30PM, 150 Lake Drive in Rhinebeck. Tours of the facility will be given. This building supplies all its energy needs and it filters its own wastewater in a 4,500 sq ft greenhouse using plants, bacteria, algae, snails and fungi...WOW. I plan to make the trip to see this remarkable place!

3 Esopus Sites Listed as Priorities for Conservation in 2009 NY Open Space Plan

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation recently released its 2009 Open Space Conservation Plan, which includes a list of high-priority areas for conservation. The areas listed as "regional priority conservation projects" are eligible for funding from the State's Environmental Protection Fund, and other state, federal and local funding sources.

"For most of the project areas identified, a combination of State and local acquisition, land use regulation, smart development decisions, land owner incentives and other conservation tools used in various combinations, will be needed to succeed in conserving these open space resources for the long term," the plan reads. "Many of the priority project areas are large and will require a balance between conservation and compatible, natural resource sensitive economic development."

As many as three or four of the 135 priority conservation projects in the state have land in the Town of Esopus. Three are listed here. A possible fourth is the Shawangunk Mountain region. Whether or not Esopus is a focus are of protection for the Wallkill Valley is unclear, as the focus seems to be upriver, possibly because Esopus has not participated in previous biodiversity mapping efforts. (The Northern Wallkill Biodiversity Plan, authored by Danielle T. LaBruna and Michael W. Klemens, prepared by the Metropolitan Conservation Alliance / Wildlife Conservation Society and funded by the DEC Hudson River Estuary Program, includes this note: "This project began as a four-municipality initiative which included the Town of Esopus. However, the Esopus Town Board was unable to commit to assist in requesting site access for biodiversity surveys. MCA was, therefore, not able to survey sufficient land area to warrant the inclusion of Esopus in this report. Due to Esopus’ rich biological resources, future cooperation with Esopus would enhance the Northern Wallkill Biodiversity Plan and should remain an option.")

The text below is lifted straight from the 2009 NYS Open Space Conservation Plan.

PLUTARCH / BLACK CREEK WETLANDS COMPLEX - This project encompasses a very large wetland complex in the Ulster County towns of Esopus, Lloyd and New Paltz, which is important because of its size and variety. It includes the Plutarch Swamp and other nearby wetlands associated with the Swarte Kill and Black Creek drainages as well as associated uplands for buffers, access and management. These wetlands provide habitat for numerous wetland-dependent wildlife species, including critical habitat for the threatened northern cricket frog. The area is important for breeding and migrating waterfowl and river otters. It includes significant and rare ecological communities, including one of the largest dwarf shrub bog occurrences in the Hudson River Valley. The area also could provide significant recreational opportunities including canoeing, hiking, wildlife observation, fishing, hunting and trapping.

KARST AQUIFER REGION - The Karst Aquifers are situated in a narrow band of carbonate rocks that extend throughout Ulster County, generally parallel with the Hudson River and trending southsouthwest, through portions of Saugerties, Kingston, Esopus, Marbletown, Rosendale, Rochester and Ellenville, continuously outcropping just northwest and along the flank of the Shawangunk Mountain Ridge. This region is characterized by such features as caves, sinkholes, mines, springs, lakes and sinking streams. The area is rich in biological, geological and historical resources, provides diverse outdoor recreational opportunities and critical water reserves.

WALLKILL VALLEY The Wallkill River begins in the mountains of northern New Jersey and enters New York via the Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge on the NY/NJ border. From there it flows through the fertile black dirt region of southern Orange County and then winds through a variety of landscapes, some amazingly rich in biodiversity, joining the Rondout just south of the City of Kingston, Ulster County, a short distance from its confluence with the Hudson. It provides excellent opportunities for recreational fishing and boating. A recently completed Southern Wallkill Biodiversity Plan (Wildlife Conservation Society/Metropolitan Conservation Alliance) identifies critical areas in need of protection. In addition, Counties and local municipalities are beginning to plan for its protection and restoration through a Wallkill River Watershed Planning program. Through these planning processes open space priorities will be identified for future protection measures.

The Shawangunk National Wildlife Refuge (Galeville Grasslands) and surrounding agricultural landscape in southern Ulster and northern Orange County provide an area of rare grassland habitat large enough to support a suite of grassland-dependent birds including short-eared owls, northern harriers, upland sandpipers, vesper sparrows, grasshopper sparrows and many others. This area also provides significant recreational opportunities including hiking, bird watching and hunting. Opportunities to conserve additional lands in this area should be pursued.

No Cost 90-day trial of solar street lighting

Wanted: Cities to Try Solar Street Lighting
June 11, 2009
Eco Alternative Solutions, LLC is looking for 25 U.S. cities to participate in a no-cost 90 day trial of the recently announced Integrated Solar Series (ISS).

http://www.eponline.com/articles/72412

I wonder if our town might be eligible.

Esopus Meadows Lighthouse Seeks Volunteers for Weekly Work Parties

The Friends of Esopus Meadows Lighthouse could use help on the project to restore the "Maid of the Meadows." Built in 1871 and put on the National Register of Historic Places about 100 years later, the Esopus Meadows Lighthouse is the Hudson's only remaining wooden lighthouse. (I had the good fortune to cover the story for the Poughkeepsie Journal in 2003 when the lighthouse was re-lit after 38 years of darkness.)

Work parties leave at 9 a.m. Sundays and Mondays through the warm season from Norrie Point Marina (Staatsburg, Dutchess County - enter via Norrie Point State Park from Rt. 9).

Here are additional details from The Esopus Meadows Lighthouse Website:

The normal schedule is Sundays and Mondays. The barge departs Norrie Point marina at 9 a.m. and returns at 5 p.m. Wear old clothes, bring your lunch, favorite tools and join the crew! Last minute confirmation of work schedule will be available on 845-331-4083 or 845-848-3669. The weekend plans will be recorded each Thur evening and updated should there be a last minute change due to weather or what ever. Check before departing for Norrie. Leave a message if you have questions.

Upstream, Dealing With Flooding on the Wallkill

The TH Record today has a report about steps taken (or, mostly, not taken) to address flooding on the Wallkill River, as well as the Esopus and Minisink. The Wallkill forms the western boundary of the Town of Esopus. The article focuses on efforts in the Black Dirt area of Orange County, once the nation's premiere onion-growing region and still a major agricultural center. The Black Dirt region is essentially a prehistoric swamp that's been mostly drained to create amazingly rich and productive soils ... that are also highly erodable.

One interesting point in the article:

"Since 2005, the Black Dirt has suffered three floods that models predict should happen only once every 50 years."

Note that climate scientists have predicted that global warming will result in more intense short bursts of precipitation. The NYS Department of Environmental Conservation predicts that "Rising sea levels and strong storms will cause localized floods and threaten shoreline infrastructure and development," as one local consequence of global warming (from Fact Sheet: Climate Change in the Hudson Valley, also available as a printable pdf.

In other words, this upstream problem is likely to continue to affect the Town of Esopus in the coming years, so we should keep an eye on developments with this flood-control project.