State budget supports Catskill Park

I am delighted to share some great news. Thanks to our combined efforts, this year’s New York State budget commits an impactful $6.5 million investment in people, programs and projects to protect and enhance the Catskills. 

We also won another historic $400 million allocation this year through the Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) that will address pressing environmental challenges across the state. 

The $6.5 million figure includes dollars for vital park and forest preserve infrastructure and protection projects, support for Cornell’s biocontrol lab work to fend off the invasive hemlock woolly adelgid, and investment in the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies Catskill Science Initiative. All of these projects will help protect and preserve the Catskill Park and make it a welcoming place for residents and visitors alike.

The state also is adding hundreds of staff members to the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). These environmental professionals will help implement management plans (like those addressing the impact of the soaring number of visitors to the Catskill Park each year), maintain wild areas statewide and support moving funds from the $4.2 billion State Bond Act into communities statewide. 

These important investments mark the end of a very successful state budget season, which would not have been possible without Mountainkeeper’s Albany advocacy with our allies, or your support—so thank you!

And I’d like to take a moment to give a shout-out to Mountainkeeper’s organizational partners in this work, including the Catskill Center and the Adirondack Mountain Club. Working collaboratively, our organizations are securing investments that make our park and region what it is, and allow us to preserve the Park’s splendor for generations to come.

Katherine Nadeau,
Deputy director, Catskill Mountainkeeper
Hurleyville, NY

Accountability for the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has run amok, and it’s time to get it under control.

For the last year, we have witnessed scandal after scandal come out of the Supreme Court. And in the last month alone we’ve seen multiple breaking news stories about Clarence Thomas’s unethical behavior. 

First, he was accepting luxury vacations and lavish gifts worth millions for 20 years, all undisclosed. 

Then, his mother’s home, bought and renovated. 

Now, it’s come to light that his grandnephew’s private school tuition was paid for years. 

All these payments came from megadonor Harlan Crow, who happens to be Republican. And there were no public disclosures.

Congress can and should act as a check on the Supreme Court.

Is the Supreme Court above accountability?

No judge should be unaccountable, and that includes our justices on the Supreme Court.

Mark Casner
Equinunk, PA