Protecting Our Natural Heritage and Empowering Communities

We know we don’t need to tell you that these are tough times, or that COVID-19 is changing everything about the way we live, work, and play right now. But we want to share a few tips from all of us at Catskill Mountainkeeper about ways to stay happy and healthy as we navigate this crisis together:

• Care for yourself and for others as you enjoy the Catskills. Being outside and active in fresh air is a great way to reduce stress, boost your immune system, and restore your spirit. We all need the comfort of being out in the natural world right now. Our Catskills region is blessed with beautiful trails and plenty of open space to spread out in, so as long as you maintain the recommended social distance (six-feet, or about one couch-length apart from others), use local trails, and do not add to overcrowding at our most popular trails and trailheads, you can get out there and enjoy the land that sustains us while protecting yourself and others.
  
  
• Eat fresh, local food. Governor Cuomo named farmers markets an “essential service,” so our farmers are doing all they can to get their great food to market. In Sullivan County, the Callicoon Market moved outdoors to Callicoon Creek Park last Sunday (March 22) to give everyone plenty of space, and Mountainkeeper’s Food & Agriculture Advisor, Eugene Thalman of Sprouting Dreams Farm, reports that the relocated outdoor market is already a great success.

Click "Read More" below for resources to guide you to some of the best outdoor spots, rules for hiking and walking safely and responsibly, as well as what you can do to combat invasive species while you’re on the trail. Below that you’ll find additional information about where to find a farmers market near you and some best practices to keep us all healthy while we shop locally. 

Remember--whether you’re on the trail or at the market, keep your distance. Six feet is about the length of a typical, three cushion couch--so stay a couch-length away from the people around you, unless you live with them. And though you’ve heard it a million times already--wash your hands for a full 20 seconds before you go and after you return.

March 13, 2020--As a Catskill Mountainkeeper supporter, you’ve been at the forefront of the movement to protect New York from fracking. Now our state has the opportunity to codify the fracking ban, making it stronger and giving it the force of law. Act now: call on the Senate and Assembly to ban fracking in New York for good.

Thanks to your tireless efforts as well as the work of our State Assembly, Senate, and Governor Cuomo, in 2015 the Governor announced a historic regulatory ban on hydrofracking. This ban has safeguarded our communities from the grave public health and environmental risks associated with fracking that have been documented by more than 1,600 peer-reviewed studies. But now it’s time to protect New Yorkers over the long term by codifying the ban to give it the full force and weight of law, expand its prohibitions to include gelled propane fracking, and protect us from the whims of future governors.

February 24, 2020 - After eight long years of fighting, it looks like the Constitution Pipeline may finally be dead: "Williams — with support from its partners, Duke, Cabot and AltaGas — has halted investment in the proposed Constitution project. While Constitution did receive positive outcomes in recent court proceedings and permit applications, the underlying risk adjusted return for this greenfield pipeline project has diminished in such a way that further development is no longer supported," reported the Daily Star. 

Mountainkeeper's own Associate Director Wes Gillingham was quoted in the national outlet E&E News, "We need to move away from fossil fuels and move in a just transition into renewable energy," Gillingham said. "This is a huge victory, and one of the things that I am hopeful about — if this holds and they don't try to put in another proposal — [is] it will be the beginning of the end for natural gas production in this region."

We’re optimistic, and can’t thank our friends at Earthjustice enough for their fabulous legal work, as well as the tireless efforts of dozens of organizations and thousands of Mountainkeeper supporters who have fought long and hard to protect NY from being ravaged by another dirty gas project.