Catskill Mountainkeeper is dedicated to preserving and protecting the long term health of the Catskill Region.  As a representative face of the six counties of the Catskills, we look at issues, listen to concerns and speak on behalf of people who live, work, and recreate here.  Recognizing strength in numbers, we organize concerned citizens to protect existing jobs and industry and to take care of abundant but exceedingly vulnerable natural resources.

OUR MISSION

By promoting economic revitalization, environmental protection and education, the Catskill Mountainkeeper serves as a strong advocate for the protection and enhancement of the Catskill Mountains.  Through a network of concerned citizens, we work to promote sustainable economic growth and the protection of natural resources essential to healthy communities.

Marcellus Shale: The Threat of Gas Drilling in the Catskills

Click here for a detailed look at natural gas drilling

UPDATE: New York State DEC Delays Release of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement

July 27, 2009:  Those expecting an environmental overhaul of gas drilling regulations necessary to develop the Marcellus Shale -- once expected this summer -- are in for an indefinite wait.

While a draft of the highly anticipated regulations is expected to be finished by late September, officials have not yet developed a timeframe for working through public comments and finalizing the document, said Maureen Wren, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Environmental Conservation. Ultimately, the timing "depends on factors not yet in place -- the length of the comment period and the extent of comments," she said. She added the agency is working with all parties to ensure the process is "complete and inclusive."

A lot is riding on the document. Environmentalists, including Catskill Mountainkeeper -- point to problems accompanying intensive drilling in Dimock Township, Pa. and elsewhere -- hope to stall or prevent natural gas development in region.

Permits cannot be issued until regulations are in place. Regardless, there are concerns, by both industry representatives and environmentalists, the DEC lacks manpower to process permits and oversee issues once the regulations are complete. The state faces a severe financial crisis and hiring freeze, with no answers yet about how the DEC's relatively small Division of Mineral Resources would gear up for a large influx of drilling expected with Marcellus development.
Click here to read the full article in the Ithaca Journal

Getting Your Voice Heard in the Natural Gas Debate
June 23 Mountainkeeper Event Featured MacArthur Genius
Award Recipient Wilma Subra
Drilling in N.Y. needs scrutiny, water contamination feared

The woman who has helped the EPA review and monitor state oil and gas drilling policies warned that New York is seriously lacking oversight and is long overdue an assessment.  Speaking Tuesday a the the Museum of the Earth, with the skeleton of a giant prehistoric creature looming above her head, Wilma Subra said now is the time for the state to take a hard look at its current and future drilling policies, with the specter of large-scale hydrofracking of natural gas reserves in the Marcellus Shale looming over its head.

Subra, a chemistry expert and recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship Genius Award for her work as a community organizer, has gone into several states to assess oil and gas exploration policies as a member of the EPA National Environmental Justice Advisory Council. New York was last assessed in 1994, she said.

Around 60 people crowded into the museum, most of them furiously scribbling in notebooks as they were bombarded with information.

Read the entire June 24, 2009 Ithaca Journal article here

Sullivan County saves Beaverkill Campground

With New York State's budget woes, the 52-site campground, which the DEC operates at a loss, was cut from the state budget.

It was only the efforts of the Sullivan County Legislature that allowed it to open, says Janeway. Legislators voted to put aside about $20,000 in this year's budget for the camp to remain open.

On Wednesday County Legislator Elwin Wood, Janeway, Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther and Catskill Mountainkeeper representative Ramsay Adams gathered to celebrate the camp's re-opening.

News of the closing had created a hubbub. The Catskill Mountainkeeper, a nonprofit environmental group, began circulating a petition on the Internet to keep the camp open. And there was a joint meeting of the chambers of commerce for Roscoe and Livingston Manor to address the economic losses small business would suffer without the campers. That got the county's attention.

"The county said (to DEC), 'What can we do to make this work?' And that has made all the difference," Janeway said.  Read the complete Times Herald Record article here

Please write to DEC Commissioner Pete Grannis and Region 3 Director William Janeway to thank them for their efforts in this matter.  click here

625 people signed the petition
View the signatures here

(April 15, 2009) Mountainkeeper featured in Earth Island Journal story:

The Battle Over New York's Marcellus Shale

Mountainkeeper Teams Up With Renowned Photographer J. Henry Fair To Document The Impacts Of Gas Drilling

Watch the MSNBC feature on the project and stay tuned for our online gallery of these provocative photos

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Click HERE to make a safe and secure tax deductible contribution online.

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Or send a check to:
Catskill Mountainkeeper/OSI
PO Box 381
Youngsville, NY 12791

**Catskill Mountainkeeper is a not for profit organization and all donations are tax deductible**

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CATSKILLS CASINOS SCHEMES

The Federal Push
BREAKING NEWS (April 19, 2009) The Seneca Nation of Indians gave $330,000 in political contribution to Democrats last fall in a gamble that President Obama’s administration will reverse national policy and allow them to build a massive Atlantic City sized  $1 billion gambling casino in the Catskills. Following the revelation about the Senecas’ lobbying efforts  the Mohawks announced that they, too, will again seek a Catskills casino.
Read the Buffalo News story here
(February 25, 2009) Senator Charles Schumer (NY) is lobbying for a Wisconsin-based tribe's scheme to build a Las Vegas sized off reservation casino in the Catskills.  Schumer said he called Secretary Ken Salazar a few days ago and asked him to “to take a fresh look” at the Stockbridge Munsees’ application to put land into trust for a massive casino on the banks of the Neversink River. The plan was rejected by the former Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne in January of 2008 saying such plans would have an adverse impact on reservation Indians.
Read the story here

The State Push
(February 25, 2009) A new bill would allow the development of three privately owned Las Vegas sized casinos in Sullivan County. The measure is unlike any other piece of legislation ever produced in the long history of attempts to get casinos up and running in Sullivan County by calling for a change to the state constitution to allow the casinos. (Read the Albany Times Union article here)  (March 9, 2009) Seneca Nation negotiators met with state legislators in Albany in their bid to develop a massive $1.3 billion Atlantic City type casino at a 63-acre site off Route 17 in Sullivan County with a Michigan-based partner. (Read the Buffalo News story here)

The Local Push
  (April 08, 2009) Seneca Nation casino proposal wins conceptual approval in Town of Thompson, Sullivan County (read the Mid-Hudson News story here), and "Sullivan County Rebooting for Casinos, Empire meets with Mohawks (read the Times Herald Record article here)

Casinos are a bad bet for the Catskills and will have a negative impact on the quality of life, the environment and the economy of the region.

Help Mountainkeeper Stop The Casinos!  Click here to support our efforts

The NYRI proposal generated massive opposition along the entire proposed route

ALBANY – New York Regional Interconnect Friday announced it is suspending its efforts to site a power line in New York. It was seeking the okay to run the line from Oneida County to Orange County, but met with much opposition on the local government and community level, including a federal lawsuit by Catskill Mountainkeeper.

The March 31 decision by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission denying NYRI’s request to review the recently approved rules of the New York State Independent System Operator for transmission tariffs “has created an unacceptable financial risk for NYRI’s investors,” the company said. “Even if the NYRI project were to be sited by the PSC, NYRI would face the prospect of being unable to recover transmission costs from the ratepayers who would benefit from the project,” according to a prepared statement from NYRI.  Read the Mid-Hudson News article here

The fight may not be over however.
Read the April 7, 2009 Utica Observer Dispatch article "Is NYRI Project Really Dead? Opponents concerned over possibility project will return" here

WE NEED YOUR HELP TODAY.

Click Here for an Overview of the NYRI Proposal in the Catskills

Please join Mountainkeeper to keep updated on this issue.

The River Reporter, July 10-16, 2008: There are two phrases that I hear a lot these days. The first is "it's coming, so get used to it." The second is "and there is nothing you can do about it." To the first point I ask, what exactly is it that is coming that you need to get used to? To the second point: there is actually something you can do about it.

Catskill Mountainkeeper recently co-sponsored with the Sullivan County Planning Department a forum on natural gas drilling that included experts and community organizers from Wyoming and Colorado who shared the experience their communities had in dealing with natural gas development in their region. Jill Morrison, from the Powder River Basin in Wyoming, said, "Our community is a poster child for how not to do it." The message was loud and clear. If the gas companies are coming, your communities need to join together and get out in front of the issue from the beginning. The entire impact of the gas development needs to be considered including its impacts on water, county roads, crime emergency services and taxes.... continued

To protect the ecological integrity of the Catskill Mountain Region and the quality of life of those who live here.  Through a network of concerned citizens, we work to promote sustainable economic growth and the protection of natural resources essential to healthy communities.

As strong advocates for the Catskills we are working hard everyday and we need your support.

Click Here to Donate

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MOUNTAINKEEPER GETS NATIONAL ATTENTION

Watch Catskill Mountainkeeper on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams here

Read Peter Applebome's two part series about Mountainkeeper's gas drilling forums
Part 1: June 29, 2008, "Gas Drillers in Race for Hearts and Land."

Part 2: July 3, 2008, "A Land Rush is Likely, so a Lawyer Gets Ready."

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Didymo Alert: Nuisance & Invasive Species Found in Catskills Streams and Rivers Didymo (Didymosphenia geminata), also known as "rock snot," is a non-native invasive microscopic algae (diatom) that can produce large amounts of stalk material to form thick brown mats on stream bottoms.  click here for more information

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MEET MOUNTAINKEEPER IN CYBERSPACE

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Watch our videos on the Ecountdown.org environmental video portal

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FUN FACTS ABOUT THE CATSKILLS

Did you know that there are nearly 2,000 black bears in the Catskills? Or that there are 35 mountains that reach over 3,500 feet?  That the Catskills are considered America's first wilderness?  Or that the best selling book "My Side of the Mountain" takes place outside of the town of Delhi in Delaware County?

Click here for more fun facts about the Catskills