Mountainkeeper has been extremely busy and productive this year, scoring big wins and making important progress in protecting the Catskills while building a clean and sustainable future. I’m really proud of our team, and grateful for friends like you who help us stay strong.

It’s clear that 2019 is going to be a huge year for the Catskills. Lonely Planet named the Catskills as one of its 2019 Top Ten Regions to Visit in the world, and our beautiful area is experiencing a renaissance, with a lot of new interest, creative energy, and economic development coming our way.

But this kind of attention also brings added pressures and new threats, so Mountainkeeper’s unique expertise as a fierce watchdog and effective advocate for the Catskills is needed more than ever. Our team is resolved to keep fighting hard—and winning!—in protecting this amazing part of the world in 2019, and I hope you’ll help us stay strong.

Mountainkeeper knows how to get the job done. Our expert team hit the ground running when we opened our doors over a decade ago, and we haven’t stopped since. We keep scoring big victories—often against all odds—against dire threats to our region, and making progress in advancing our vision for a clean, sustainable future for our families and communities.

This week is the fourth anniversary of New York State’s fracking ban, and I’ve been thinking a lot about how far we’ve come, and how much there still is to do. Mountainkeeper played a leadership role in the tough uphill battle to win our state’s historic ban, and we’re just as determined to keep leading and keep winning in the coming year.

Your donation will help support Mountainkeeper’s work to:

• Keep fracking out of the Delaware River Basin—the source of drinking water for 17 million people;
• Fight dirty and dangerous fossil fuel projects—like pipelines, oil trains, and compressor stations—that are flooding into our region;
• Speed New York State’s transition to a clean and sustainable energy future;
• Protect wild lands—including the Catskill Park—forest ecosystems and streams;
• Support struggling farmers in the Catskills through our FarmHearts program; and
• Support smart development—like renewable energy and ecotourism—to grow our economy in a sustainable way.  

  

Mountainkeeper is bound and determined to succeed in all of this work, but we need all our friends to help us stay strong. Please lend your support by making a donation to Mountainkeeper today. No gift amount is too small, and any gift you make will go twice as far in powering our team ahead, thanks to a generous challenge grant from an anonymous Mountainkeeper friend that will match your year-end donation.

Thanks for thinking about a gift to Mountainkeeper this year-end, and warm holiday wishes,

Ramsay Adams
Executive Director

P.S. To see how Mountainkeeper has had an impact in 2018, please take a look at our new 2018 Program report, which highlights some of our top victories and most important progress.