New York's dairies are under attack. It's been an awful couple of years for the dairy industry--milk sales are down, output is up, and there's a huge glut of milk on the market creating the low milk prices that are driving farms out of business. With the recent announcement that Walmart's supplier is canceling contracts with local farms and processors in order to open its own mega-processing facility in Indiana to bottle 100 million gallons of milk per year, things have gotten dire.

Earlier this year, Catskill Mountainkeeper released Vision for the Catskills 2018, a report highlighting our top priorities for working toward our vision for the Catskills: A region of healthy, thriving, diverse, and sustainable communities where wild places are conserved for people and nature.

The report talks about changes at the local and state levels necessary to bring this vision to life, and describes some of the ways Mountainkeeper is working to get us there.

In particular, we see four key areas for opportunity and growth this year:

• The Catskill Park
• Food & Farms
• Regional Projects for Vibrant Communities, and
• Building Our Clean Energy Future.

As always, we are grateful for Mountainkeeper’s many and diverse partners—and for amazing friends and supporters like you, who do so much to help make all this essential work possible. Please continue to reach out with any questions or suggestions.

With appreciation and best wishes, 

Ramsay Adams, Executive Director

Today Rolling Stone Magazine covered a story you won't want to miss: a new report co-authored by Catskill Mountainkeeper's own Senior Research Director, Kathy Nolan, shines a light on the hazards posed by fracking to our families, communities, and the environment. As Rolling Stone said, it's "the most authoritative study of its kind."

Welcome to Watershed Wednesday! Each Wednesday from now until March 30, Mountainkeeper will send out reminders and sample comments to make it easy for you to urge the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) to say no to fracking and drilling activities in the Delaware River watershed. There's no limit to the number of comments you submit.

Since today is Valentine's Day, we're focusing on love; our love of clean, pure, uncontaminated water. Water that hasn't been poisoned by fracking wastewater. Please tell the DRBC to ban fracking wastewater in the watershed.

TODAY: Submit a comment to the DRBC. Tell the commissioners: fracking wastewater cannot be regulated in the watershed--it must be banned.

Hurricane Irma & National Call to Address Climate Change

Seeing the catastrophic devastation from Hurricane Harvey, and anticipating the devastation of Hurricane Irma, has given us a moment to reflect and look for ways that we can help our fellow Americans cope with this unprecedented flooding. Standing in solidarity, we in the Catskills, a region prone to flooding, know that outside support is not only important but critical at these times. If you would like to offer aid to those impacted by Hurricane Harvey, here are a couple ways to consider helping...

Today is the last scheduled day of New York's 2017 legislative session, and if the Senate doesn't act now they'll leave Albany without addressing climate change, enabling towns to protect themselves from gas pipelines, or protecting the Hudson River.  Make two calls right now--call Senator Flanagan and Klein and tell them to bring these bills to the floor today.  You can reach both through the Senate operator: call 518.455.2800 and ask for their offices.  

Please sign our petition to tell the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) to ban fracking in one of the most critical water resources in our country. 

The Delaware River runs through five states, including 42 counties and 838 municipalities. It provides drinking water to over 17 million people, including two of the nation's largest cities -- New York City and Philadelphia. 

President Trump is likely pulling America out of the Paris Climate Agreement.  This will put us in the company of Syria andNicaragua--the only other two countries not participating in the world-wide agreement, which aims to slow the worst impacts of a changing climate.

The United States is the second largest carbon emitter, and our actions have global implications.  Pulling out could destabilize international relations and sets a dangerous precedent for other countries.  It puts millions of Americans' lives and property in the crosshairs as we lose the federal government as a partner to prevent extreme sea-level rise, rising temperatures, and more severe storms.

Today, New York was met with exciting news! Arlington Storage Co., a subsidiary of Crestwood Midstream Partners, is abandoning controversial plans to expand natural gas storage in salt caverns along Seneca Lake.

“The announcement that Crestwood is backing off their proposal to expand natural gas storage, for now, is good news to thousands of New Yorkers. This speaks volumes to the dedication to our land and commitment to a better future that New Yorker's keep in our hearts and our actions,” said, Wes Gillingham.  “With the current Federal giveaway to the Oil and Gas industry, New York stands out as a place where people are making a difference locally against the fossil fuels gang that has national implications. The multiple victories over greedy pipeline proposals and now this is making room for us to invest in a renewable future. The future of New York looks much better today!”  

For a look back at our statement surrounding the protest at Seneca Lake on July 18, 2016 click here.

We need a couple minutes of your time today. As you know, we’re stronger together, and right now, we are helping to do a final push to get signatures on our People’s Commissioner petition – where numbers count! The signatures are being delivered to Governor Cuomo on Thursday, April 20th. Our goal is 1000, but we would love to go above and beyond that number.