The annual New York State Budget process gives us a singular opportunity to increase protection for the spectacular Catskill Park and Forest Preserves. Sign our Petition to Governor Cuomo and we’ll deliver your signature to Albany. It’s so important that thousands sign and leave no doubt in Albany that there is broad citizen support for ensuring Catskill Park continues to thrive as a haven for wildlife and as a treasured refuge for people to experience nature.
The 2016 New York State budget process and it is now upon us. Can I count on you to stand up for the Catskills?
There are two ways you can help:
1) Join the delegation from Catskill Mountainkeeper – and other groups from Catskill Park Coalition -- as we visit Albany on Tuesday, February 9th to make our case to the Governor, legislators and the Department of Environmental Conservation. These face-to-face meetings are our very best chance to win urgently needed funding for our beloved Catskill Park. If you’re able to join us, please sign up here.
2) Sign our Petition to Governor Cuomo and we’ll deliver your signature to Albany on February 9th. It’s so important that we gather thousands of signatures and leave no doubt in Albany that there is broad citizen support for the Catskills Park.
I know you share Mountainkeeper’s commitment to ensuring that the Catskill Park continues to thrive as a haven for wildlife and as a treasured refuge for people to experience nature. Its 700,000 acres embody everything we love about the Catskills: forested mountains, winding valleys and rushing streams and rivers.
That’s why we’ll be asking legislators to vote for a 2016 State Budget that includes $4 million for protecting the Park’s environment and an increase of last year’s historic Catskill Park budget line item to $1 million.
We’re also asking for land acquisition funding to knit public lands together … more forest rangers to maintain trails and campgrounds and educate visitors … more funds to grow the Conservation Corps and make improvements to the Park Interpretive Center.
Our Catskill Park and Forest Preserve is one of the largest wildlands in the East -- on a par with the West's Yellowstone National Park. Please stand with Mountainkeeper in protecting it by signing our Petition and, if at all possible, joining us in Albany on February 9th.
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Catskill Park Coalition consists of local, state, and national groups with a Catskill focus spanning environment, tourism, economic development, the arts, and farming. Catskill Mountainkeeper, Natural Resources Defense Council, Catskill Center, Catskill Mountain Club, and Catskill Heritage Alliance make up the Coalition’s steering committee.
Photo: Mark Fickett [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)
