TRR photo by Sandy Long Gene Yatsonsky addresses participants on the 2009 Pennsylvania Maple Tour in front of his family’s new 1,300-square-foot sugarhouse.

Gas lease funds maple farm expansion

Biodiesel and geothermal on the horizon

By SANDY LONG

UPPER DELAWARE REGION—As he waited for the roughly 60 participants on the 2009 Pennsylvania Maple Tour to arrive, Gene Yatsonsky reflected on his family’s recent efforts to transition to a more sustainable lifestyle. “We decided we’d rather try tapping them instead of cutting them down,” he said, referring to the maple trees on his 160-acre property in Honesdale, PA.

Yatsonsky currently operates an excavating business and, as such, has cleared his fair share of land. He’s also burned ample amounts of fossil fuel, so when his 23-year-old son, Jesse, began talking about running the heavy machinery on biodiesel, Gene and his wife, Joni, listened with interest. “We wanted to reduce our carbon footprint,” said Gene.

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Mixed reviews for DEC regs

Drilling proponents are pleased, critics are not

By FRITZ MAYER

NEW YORK STATE—Environmentalists and the drilling industry alike agree that the new regulations proposed for the industry will add safeguards for the environment, but for critics the question remains: do the safeguards go far enough and are there sufficient resources available to enforce them.

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New report illuminates success of outdoor lighting project

By SANDY LONG

BETHEL, NY—Paul Dibbell drove all the way from the Town of Hunter in Green County for a firsthand look at the attractive lamps that were the subject of a special event at the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts last week, and to hear presenters discuss the results of the associated photovoltaic light-emitting diodes (LED) outdoor lighting system field test.

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Other stories in this issue:

• Sacred cows watch out
• Delaware Township wants out
• ‘Split Estate’ in unconventional venues
• Mandations and low pay
• Millennium Pipeline’s wake
• UDC celebrates NPS superintendent’s tenure
• Robson drill site contaminated?

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S