Once again, I’m writing to ask for your help. As you may know, there has been unauthorized trail building activity taking place on the Hammond Hill State Forest. For example, a section of narrow trail has been built between Cannan Rd. and Y7, along with a small bridge and log ramp east of Y7. The trail and structures have not been approved by the DEC. Unauthorized trail building is of concern because: 1) improperly built trails and structures may create a personal safety hazard, 2) unauthorized trails are not officially mapped or marked, and may confuse and/or frustrate first time visitors or and/or novice recreationists, and 3) improperly located trails may result in chronic erosion and/or maintenance problems and further stretch already thin volunteer and DEC stewardship capabilities.

Please help me get the word out on this. People should not be building new trails or structures of any kind without written authorization from the DEC. I’d like to solve this problem through communication and education if at all possible. People advocating for new trails are invited to contact me and/or participate in the unit management planning (UMP) process. A draft UMP for the Hammond Hill and Yellow Barn State Forests, called Twin Sheds, is currently being prepared. Additional information on the Twin Sheds unit is available at: http://www.dec.ny.gov/press/62269.html

Please help. If you witness people constructing new trail structures or trails, please immediately report the activity to DEC Forest Ranger Joan Oldroyd (jtoldroy@gw.dec.state.ny.us or 607.798.1797) and provide as much information as you can (i.e., license plate, vehicle color, etc.).

Thanks for listening. I personally appreciate all of your work on - and advocacy for - the Hammond Hill State Forest trail network.

Sincerely,

- John

Attachment: Hammond Hill State Forest map and brochure

***************************
John M. Clancy
Senior Forester, Region 7
NYS DEC Division of Lands and Forests
Bureau of State Land Management
1285 Fisher Ave.
Cortland, New York 13045
(607) 753-3095 or 800-388-8244 ext. 258
FAX: (607) 753-8532
Email: jmclancy@gw.dec.state.ny.us

- Visit the DEC Web Site at:
http://www.dec.ny.gov/
- DEC Division of Lands and Forests Web Site at: http://www.dec.ny.gov/about/650.html
- DEC Region 7 Web Site at: http://www.dec.ny.gov/about/615.html#Region

- Strategic Plan for State Forest Management
http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/64567.html

- New York State Conservationist Magazine
http://www.dec.ny.gov/pubs/conservationist.html

Member, Society of American Foresters
Serving Since 1991

Laws change; people die; the land remains.

- Abraham Lincoln

Anyone who sees a white-tailed deer acting abnormally or who finds a dead deer that was not struck by a vehicle is asked to report the animal to the nearest DEC regional office or to an Environmental Conservation Officer or Forest Ranger.

“One of the ways that DEC monitors the health of New York’s deer herd is by performing post-mortem examinations to determine the cause of the illness or death,” said Assistant Commissioner for Natural Resources Kathleen Moser.  “We depend on information provided by people who are outdoors to tell us when they see something that does not look right to them.”

Recently, DEC indentified an uncommon bacterial disease in a deer from Warren County.  This bacterial disease does not affect humans. However, DEC is seeking additional information to determine the prevalence of this disease in the deer herd and is responding to reports of deer that are acting abnormally. Deer with this bacterial disease may have a swollen head, neck or brisket. They also may exhibit excessive drooling, nasal discharge or respiratory distress.  To aid in this investigation, DEC would also like to examine any deer that are found dead from unknown causes.

People should not handle or eat any deer that appears sick or acts abnormally. Sightings of sick, dying or dead deer should be reported to the nearest DEC regional office or an Environmental Conservation Officer or Forest Ranger.

To locate your nearest DEC office, see: www.dec.ny.gov/about/50230.html 607 753-3095 Cortland office.

==

Thursday, December 1, 2011 from 7:00 - 11:00 p.m. at The State Theatre, 107 West State Street Ithaca, NY 14850

Facebook event https://www.facebook.com/events/307558602595965/

ITHACA - The Tompkins County Council of Governments, TCCOG, announces that it is sponsoring a public hearing on Thursday, December 1st to provide citizens an opportunity to comment on the draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (dSGEIS) on the Oil, Gas and Solution Mining and regulations that will govern high-volume hydraulic fracturing.

The hearing will be held from 7-11 p.m. in ITHACA’s State Theatre, adjacent to the downtown Ithaca Commons. The proceedings will be transcribed by a professional court stenographer. At the hearing, TCCOG will accept both written and oral testimony and present the comments to the DEC prior to the December 12th comment deadline.

TCCOG Co-Chair Don Barber said ,“TCCOG’s mission for this public hearing is to provide a local venue for citizens to voice their opinions about the Department of Environmental Conservation’s 2011 revised Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (SGEIS) as it pertains to high volume hydraulic fracturing for natural gas in the Marcellus and Utica shales”.

According to Martha Robertson, Chair of Tompkins County Legislature, the Tompkins County Council of Governments supports open and transparent government processes and so is proud to sponsor this hearing. While the DEC has scheduled public hearings in other parts of the State, there are none within the Finger Lakes Region. To facilitate participation in the comment process, the TCCOG hearing is for citizens within Tompkins County, the Finger Lakes Region and beyond, to make comments on the dSGEIS.

Caroline Town Councilman Dominic Frongillo will moderate the hearing. Doors will open at 6:30 pm. Anyone wishing to make oral comments must register on a sign-in sheet that will be available at the hearing. Forms will be provided for written comments. People are welcome to come with comments already prepared. This hearing will follow the same format as others held by the DEC, with oral presentations limited to three minutes and speakers presenting in the order registered, as time permits. Those wishing to make comments will be asked to focus their comments specifically on the contents of the draft SGEIS, rather than general statements for or against gas drilling.

The dSGEIS can be viewed at http://www.dec.ny.gov/energy/75370.html and the proposed regulations at http://www.dec.ny.gov/regulations/77353.html. A paper copy is available for review at the Tompkins County Public Library.

For questions, please contact: Michelle Pottorff at (607) 274-5434
###

MESSAGE FROM SUSAN CHRISTOPHERSON

Attached you will find a Summary Report on The Economic Consequences of Marcellus Shale Gas Extraction, outlining some of the key issues explored by a team of researchers centered at Cornell University during the period of New York’s moratorium on high volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF) for natural gas.  Our research focused on Pennsylvania, where Marcellus HVHF drilling has already begun, and on New York, which is still considering how to regulate HVHF, but we also made use of the experience of other states that have shale gas plays where HVHF has been in use far longer than in Pennsylvania. [ attachment stashed here http://canaaninstitute.org/docs/CaRDI%20Report.pdf ]

At 17 pages, this report is a series of snapshots about what we found.  For a more fulsome account of our analysis and findings on most of these issues, we encourage you to read the complete working papers and policy briefs we have made available for download at: http://www.greenchoices.cornell.edu/development/marcellus/policy.cfm.

We launched this research project because it had become evident that the public and policy discussion over the consequences of Marcellus shale gas extraction had devolved to a polarized debate contrasting potential effects on water supplies with potential economic benefits.  The consequences for water resources were (and are) receiving a great deal of attention; the economic consequences were not.  We did not begin with a disposition for or against shale gas extraction, but we wanted to develop a realistic picture about what to expect, and about the economic consequences both in the short term and in the longer term.

As you will see in the accompanying report, the consequences that should concern us all go well beyond environmental concerns, and their economic implications include costs as well as benefits.  On balance, is shale gas extraction likely to be an economic winner? Not necessarily.  We conclude that while there are real economic benefits for some parties, if shale gas extraction is to be at all a positive force for economic development broadly and long term, it will require intensive planning and a new structure of regulation, monitoring and enforcement – along with the means to pay for it – that are not currently in place.

That is why it is important that the issues identified here become a part of the discussions and actions demanded of government at the state and local level now, before it is too late.  To that end, we urge your help, and we encourage your dissemination of this report to whomever it might prove useful.

Susan Christopherson
Professor, Department of City and Regional Planning, Cornell University
Principal Investigator

###

The Cayuga Nature Photographers is a photography club dedicated to recording the beauties of nature in the Finger Lakes region, an area in Central New York State very popular with tourists because it boasts that hosts 11 gorgeous lakes, more than 1,000 waterfalls and more than 100 wineries. We meet monthly to share our work and to learn from each other. New members are always welcome. Website: http://cayugana.dot5hosting.com/index.html

The following club members will have work displayed: Adam Baker, Kathleen M. Rasmussen, George Cannon, Rick Lightbody, Chris Wien, Nancy Ridenour, Diane Sullivan, Nigel Dyson-Hudson, Megan Ludgate, John Henry Harris.

Please note: This nature photography club has no affiliation with a nearby nature center which is also named after the local Iriquois tribe “Cayuga” and [probably] no affiliation with any of the dozens of other organizations using the word Cayuga as part of their group’s title either :-)

As many know by now, the extremely aggressive invasive aquatic weed called hydrilla was found this summer in Cayuga Inlet and the mouth of Cascadilla Creek in Ithaca, NY at the south end of Cayuga Lake. Cayuga is the longest of the eleven Finger Lakes in central New York, and it is connected to other waterways through the canal system.

If not suppressed immediately

and allowed to spread, this rapid-growing pest will ruin Ithaca’s waterfront and all shallow areas of Cayuga Lake, and it could spread to a much larger area beyond.

We have produced a 15-minute video about this alarming problem and what is being done about it, featuring Holly Menninger, Coordinator of the New York Invasive Species Research Institute at Cornell Unniversity. You can see the video from a link on our blog post at http://ithacafingerlakes.com/2011/09/24/environmental-emergency-in-cayuga-inlet/ which includes other information including a map and a link about hydrilla.

Or, you can go directly to the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUV5QBD0XwA .

Please share

this information with others.

Thank you,

We want participants to ride through beautiful environments where the land is already leased to drilling companies so that they can see what might be impacted. However, we also want participants to think about the financial hardships faced by people not very far outside Ithaca and realize that some of the people living there see gas drilling as an opportunity to rise above their current economic hardships. In addition, we all need to come to grips with the reality that the coal Ithaca currently relies on to provide much of its electricity is mined, often by mountaintop removal, in West Virginia and Pennsylvania. These practices are much more environmentally destructive than the gas drilling with hydrofracking already going on in Pennsylvania and proposed for New York.

The choices we face are complicated. Just saying no to hydrofracking may help protect our local environment, but it does so by passing on the environmental problems to somebody else. It is essential to engage an informed public in finding more holistic, fossil-fuel-free solutions to our energy and environmental problems from local to global scales. The Tour de Frac is intended to help promote such public engagement.

When: Saturday, September 24, 9 am – 2 pm

Where: Cornell Business and Technology Park, Thornwood Drive

Description: The “Tour de Frac” will be a cycling event in Ithaca, NY to be held on September 24 associated with the Moving Planet activities being organized by 350.org. The event will consist of two rides, a longer ride out to Genoa and back and a shorter ride remaining within a 10-mile radius of Tompkins County Airport. For insurance purposes, all registered riders in the Tour de Frac must be members of the Fingers Lakes Cycling Club (FLCC). To become a member visit the following website: http://flcycling.org/?page_id=51. Individual membership is $10, and family membership is $12. Donations to support 350.org will be greatly appreciated. Donations over $100 will qualify riders to receive beautiful FLCC/Tour de Frac jerseys based on the Earth graphics of local artist Jay Hart. To see the jersey design and order one, contact Chuck Greene at chg2@cornell.edu.

The combination, it occurred to Finger Lakes Land Trust Executive Director Andy Zepp, shows the appeal and potential of trails in the region.

Zepp will talk more about trails’ attraction and potential at the Finger Lakes Trails and Greenways Conference Sept. 23 and 24 at Cornell University. The Land Trust and the advocacy group Parks & Trails New York scheduled the conference to share success stories and ideas on creating, improving and linking trails for hiking and multiple users, both for the recreational benefit of local residents but also as an amenity for tourists and immigrants.

“We not only want to offer tools and strategies for effective trail advocacy, promotion and development, but also strengthen and broaden the increasingly diverse trails constituency to foster greater understanding and new working relationships among the trails, planning, business, tourism and health care communities,” Parks & Trails Executive Director Robin Dropkin said in the announcement.

Ithaca was chosen in part because the Finger Lakes Land Trust was involved but also because it’s at the center of growing interest in trail development, said Frances Gotcsik, director of programs and policy for Parks & Trails. It also offered chances for field visits on Sept. 23 to the Lick Brook Gorge Trail, the Cayuga Waterfront Trail, Cascadilla Gorge Trail inside the gorge and the Catharine Valley Trail in Montour Falls.

Another point of emphasis will be trails as attractions. A scheduled speaker on the second day is Craig Della Penna, who runs a bed and breakfast along a trail built from a former rail line in Northampton, Mass., and a real estate company that specializes in trail-side property.

Other speakers will talk about how trails helped revitalize their communities, including Pittsford along the Erie Canalway Trail, and the Harlem Valley Rail Trail Association in Dutchess County. Finally, discussions are planned on water trails in rivers, canals and even lakes, such as a network of landings with services envisioned along Cayuga Lake for canoeists and kayakers.

Organizers hope for 150 to 200 attendees, Gotcsik said. More information is at www.ptny.org or Parks & Trails New York at (518) 434-1583.

Article by David Hill - Star Gazette - http://www.stargazette.com/article/20110821/NEWS01/108210349/Ithaca-conference-push-trails-attractions-amenities

Registration for Conference http://www.ptny.org/greenways/conference/registration.shtml

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 5:30-7:30PM - Networking reception. Explore the new award winning Nevin Welcome Center at Cornell Plantations while joining in lively conversations with friends old and new.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24 - Experience a dynamic mix of keynotes, workshops, and panel discussions at Robert Purcell Community Center on Cornell University’s North campus featuring timely issues, implementation tools and strategies, and interesting case studies designed to develop the skills to build, maintain, and advocate for trails that support healthy active living, tourism, economic development, sustainability, and alternative transportation. Includes continental breakfast, lunch, and morning and afternoon breaks.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23 - An opportunity to get out in the field and see first-hand what others are doing to design terrific trails, raise funds, overcome challenges, and motivate volunteers.

Catharine Valley Trail, Montour Falls, 1-5PM, $20
Walk along a 1.5-mile section of this 9-mile stone dust trail in the area of Montour Falls and learn how this former rail and canal corridor, owned by the NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (OPRHP), is being developed and managed as a multi-use trail by OPRHP in partnership with the non-profit Friends of the Catharine Valley Trail. The Friends will offer tips on trail programming based on their experiences with history and birding walks, senior wellness programs, and a newly launched OnCell initiative that allows trail users to access interpretive information and trail directions on their MP3 player or cell phone. Includes bus transport from Ithaca. Meet at the parking lot for Ithaca Children’s Garden on Route 89, Taughannock Blvd., at the southern end of Cass Park.

Cascadilla Gorge Trail, Ithaca, 2-5PM, $8
See why people say that Ithaca is Gorges. The lower section of Cascadilla Gorge is truly a “gorges” display of rock, water and trees. Cascadilla Creek drops 400 feet from Cornell’s campus to downtown Ithaca, carving through 400 million year old bedrock. Cornell Plantations Natural Areas Director Todd Bittner will discuss the major renovation of the Cascadilla Gorge Trail, and cover topics related to maintaining trails in urban and riparian settings. Meet at Cornell Plantations Nevin Welcome Center parking lot.

Lick Brook Gorge, Ithaca, 2-5PM, $8
Join Land Trust executive director Andy Zepp for a tour of Lick Brook Gorge and a popular segment of the Finger Lakes Trail. Located just outside of Ithaca, Lick Brook features several waterfalls, nesting ravens, and mature forests of hemlock and hardwoods. Andy will provide an overview of the site’s ecological features, its history of conservation, and both the current and future management challenges associated with public access to the site. This trip will involve hiking up steep trails so participants should be in good physical condition. Meet at the trailhead. Directions to the trailhead.

Cayuga Waterfront Trail, Ithaca, 2-5PM, $8
Walk a 2-mile loop of the first phase of the 6-mile Cayuga Waterfront Trail with trail designer and coordinator Rick Manning, ASLA. The focus of the presentation will be on the development of trail amenities, including the trailhead, overlooks and special gardens, interpretive signage, brochures and furnishings. Site history and the City of Ithaca and Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce partnership will also be discussed. Rick will also provide an overview of the Ithaca Children’s Garden, for which he prepared a master plan and designs for the Growing Gardens and Gaia the Turtle Sculpture. Meet at the trailhead at Cass Park Rink and Pool parking area. Directions to the trailhead.

However, two other speakers, Bill Kappel of USGS in Ithaca, and James Northrup of Cooperstown, did complete the wet trip to Dryden and arrived on time for the meeting ready to make their presentations. A half hour before the scheduled start of the meeting, with about 45 people already in the hall, Henry Kramer of DSEC announced that he was cancelling the event.

All of the people present, including the speakers, made the request that the meeting go on. After some negotiating, and with the hall filling up with people who drove through flooded streets to hear the message Kappel and Northrup brought, it was agreed to allow the meeting to go forward although the sponsorship of DSEC was withdrawn.

Bill Kappel gave the standing room only audience an excellent understanding of the geology that lies under our feet. He talked not only about the Marcellus shale layer, but also of limestones and sandstones, the Utica and other shales. He gave good clear explanations of the fracturing process and how far the fractures may extend outside of the well bore.

James Northup talked about the very real problems that have occurred in other areas of the US where gas well development is happening, stressing that most of the problems are associated with surface spills and accidents. According to Northup, 80% of the dollar value that comes out of the ground under NY in the form of methane (natural) gas will leave the state as corporate profits and worker pay checks. Without a severance tax in NY, the state gains nothing but the income tax on royalties paid to lease signers. He told of better laws regulating the industry in TX, CO, and NM, among other states. With a Texas-sized sense of humor he brought laughter to an otherwise dark subject.

Stressing that public comments are vital to NYS Department of Environmental Conservation on the just released revised draft of the Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (rdSGEIS)** that will guide the permitting of hydrofracked gas wells, Northup also focused on home rule ordinances, saying that local road use and land use ordinances are in place out West where gas extraction by use of hydrofracking is common, and that towns in NY should adopt local land use ordinances and support Home Rule.

** Northup and Bill Huston have a guide for responding to the proposed rdSGEIS: http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=2011_SGEIS_Flaws(NY)#Strategies

William Kappel’s background and qualifications:

William (Bill) Kappel has been a hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, New York Water Science Center at Ithaca, NY since 1979. Previous to that time he served as a hydrologist for the U.S. Forest Service for 5 years in the National Forests of Missouri, and the Chequamegon National Forest in northern Wisconsin. His Survey career started with two projects, the National Urban Runoff Program (NURP) in Rochester, NY and the West Valley Nuclear Waste Facility Characterization project at West Valley, NY. These studies were followed by a series of groundwater studies in the Niagara Falls region in the 1990s. At the same time the study of ‘unique’ hydrogeologic phenomena known as mudboils or mud volcanoes began south of Syracuse, NY in the Onondaga Creek Valley. This long-term study also lead to a series of several unusual hydrogeologic studies including landslides in glacial lake clays, land-surface subsidence due to various anthropogenic activities, and the use of ‘forensic’ hydrogeologic techniques to further understand the hydrogeology of these study areas - Carbon-14 age dating, dendrogeomorphology, dendrochronology. Bill has also served as Study Section Chief of the Ithaca office over this time.

James Northup’s background and qualifications:

· General partner in a 1000 acre suburban real estate development. General partner in a 40-acre development in downtown Dallas TX.

· Partner and investor in the acquisition and sale of offshore oil rigs, including the Teledyne fleet and WR Grace fleets, and an investor in oil and gas projects.

· Co-owner of Northrup Energy, which was sold to ARCO Solar, which subsequently became BP Solar, the largest solar energy company in the world.

· Served on the Governor of Texas’s Energy Advisory Council.

· Co-author of one US patent.

· Co-founder of the White Rock Boathouse, Inc., the largest rowing boathouse in the world, the Ursuline (Dallas) Crew and the Jesuit (Dallas) crew.

· Brown University, BA, Southern Methodist University 1973, MBA, Wharton School of Finance, University of Pennsylvania, 1976.

Contact: Marie McRae mmmcrae@juno.com

Dryden Resource Awareness Coalition http://draconline.wordpress.com

More on this topic on the FORUM http://canaaninstitute.org/bikeski/viewforum.php?f=11

####

Send BIG tree locations to me and I will post them here on this forum thread http://canaaninstitute.org/bikeski/viewtopic.php?p=1756#1756 in anticipation of the upcoming fall trail session … so we have kind of a list.

We (”Friends of Hammond Hill”) will be posting a date and time soon (here on this BLOG) for our annual fall trail cleanup. This is in anticipation of the winter recreation season and is traditionally a combined effort of many different trail users: equestrians, mountain bikers, hikers, xc-skiers and so forth.

UPDATE: Date set for trail work session at Hammond Hill: Trail Work Session Sat Oct 15th 2011 at 10:00 am starting at Ann & Charlie Leonard’s house. Their driveway is on the left just before the HH parking lot.