OVERLOOKED ASSETS

Managing our investment in nature

link to original article is here:
https://www.iht.com/articles/2008/12/07/opinion/edlefevre.php

While economists are developing solutions to the economic crisis, they are not considering investment, at least so far, in the values of nature. Nature's provision of clean water, pollination, food and fiber are discounted as free services. Even in the best of times, investments in nature conservation and restoration get low priority.

Nature, of course, is not like a bank looking for a bailout, but when we accept the impoverishment of biological diversity, we compromise future options and risk losing the ecological services we take for granted. Nature can be restored, however, and it can yield incredible benefits, but actions have to be real, massive and must start now.

In the coming days, two major global gatherings will debate key issues of our time: climate change, global development and poverty reduction. The conferences will provide a definitive look at our relationship with nature and how and what we produce and consume. It is vital that these two conferences integrate the issues of nature and development - not consider them in isolation - and that global economic solutions recognize the values of nature.

In Poznan, Poland, experts are meeting to continue discussions toward a post-Kyoto agreement that is complicated by factors such as the rapidly growing economies in China, India, Russia and Brazil, and the increasing awareness that combating climate change will require concessions and significant lifestyle changes.

Meanwhile, in Doha, Qatar, the United Nations will host a conference on Financing for Development. At the Monterrey conference in 2002, governments confirmed their target for development funding of 0.7 percent of gross national product. Sadly, many rich countries have not met this target. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development also just released an updated report, "Aid targets slipping out of reach," whose pessimistic title suggests that the future for development finance is not bright.

Governments are looking for ways to stimulate the economy. The objective of any economic jolt must diminish greenhouse gas emissions and should consider the protection and restoration of ecosystems as well as provide for effectively managed protected areas for species.

Similarly, decisions on investment for development and poverty reduction should not play second fiddle to considerations of nature. Achieving sustainable development is vital to long-term economic global stability, but it can only succeed if it is built upon well-managed environmental infrastructure.

Rather than looking to traditional ways to boost consumption, let us use stimulant investments for more efficient energy use, to improve the quality of the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat. Working with nature assures the safest, most efficient and cheapest solutions.

This would not be the first time decision-makers have turned to the environment to solve a problem. Uganda, for example, uses wetlands to treat wastewater for Kampala. And a decision by New York City officials to conserve a watershed in the Catskills at a cost of $1.5 billion was a bargain compared to the estimated cost of as much as $8 billion to construct new filtration plants.

The value of nature's services has been catalogued many times and includes a value of $270 billion per year for global forest products or more than $60 billion in the growing carbon market.

We already have centuries of experience in managing the environment to produce the services we need. But the 2005 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment warned us that more than half of nature's services are "endangered." If we want them to continue to support us, now is the time to invest in our environment and restore the benefits we often take for granted. We are about to witness a wave of public spending on an unprecedented scale. Let's make sure that the planned benefit to economies will have an equally positive impact on nature, its ecosystems and species. In so doing we will protect nature's capacity to mitigate climate change and provide for holistically our children and their children for years to come.

Julia Marton-Lefèvre is director general of the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Nikita Lopoukhine is chairman of the union's World Commission on Protected Areas.

link to original article is here:

http://www.catskillsnews.com/News/December08/05/SundownWF_prot-05Dec08.html

NEW YORK - The Open Space Institute announced today the acquisition of a 136-acre inholding located near the town of Denning within Sundown Wild Forest of the Catskill Park. Protection of the property opens up additional access for the many hunters and campers who utilize this very isolated and pristine area for recreation and enjoyment.

The parcel was purchased by OSI’s land acquisition affiliate, the Open Space Conservancy, with funding from the Lila Acheson and DeWitt Wallace Endowment, a permanent fund that was transferred to the Open Space Conservancy in 2001.

Because the property is surrounded by state land on all sides, its conservation eliminates the threat of any incompatible use that would compromise the integrity of the adjoining state forestlands. As such, it had already been identified as a priority conservation acquisition by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), and after acquisition will ultimately be conveyed to DEC as an addition to the Sundown Wild Forest.

“For decades, this parcel located within the Catskill Forest Preserve has been maintained by prudent land stewards, a group of friends and hunters who respected and preserved its natural resources,” said Jennifer Grossman, OSI’s vice president of land acquisition. “Today, through OSI’s purchase, this legacy of wise management will continue, ensuring that this land is forever wild and making it available to all those who visit the majestic Catskill Mountains.”

The previous landowners, a group of six longtime friends, had used the land for years for hunting, fishing and recreation. They were happy to see the property preserved as they had known it, said Frank Malloy, one of the owners.

“We didn’t want to sell it and close it off,” Malloy said. “Our preference was to keep it as it is and available for recreation. That will benefit everybody.”

Conservation of the forestland is also significant because the previous landowners harvested timber on the land in such a way that allowed for a variety of new growth, creating a diverse and unique wildlife habitat. Today, deer, bears, coyotes, foxes and turkeys roam its 136 mountainous acres of hills, streams and ledges.

For hikers in the region, the conserved property is not far from the 60-foot-high Red Hill Fire Tower, the last fire tower to be staffed in the Catskills. For those who climb its nine flights of stairs, the tower rewards them with incredible views of the Catskill High Peaks to the west and north, and the Rondout Reservoir to the southeast.

link to original blog post at the Dwell Blog here:
http://www.dwell.com/daily/blog/35022124.html

The Good News About New York City's Water

 

With all the furor over the economy, congestion pricing and the philandering ways of New York’s governors, we forget sometimes that we are actually capable of acting like a real community and building for the future. I say sometimes, because, while this city has a magnificent system for delivering fresh water to its people, it has one of the worst solid waste management systems imaginable. Today let’s focus on the good news, New York City’s water supply system. I’ll get to the garbage soon enough.

New York gets its water from two upstate reservoir systems that it owns and operates. To keep the sources of water clean, the city works upstate to purchase land and ensure best-management practices by local farmers and other residents. According to the New York City Department of Environmental Protection’s 2006 water supply report, “the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has developed a $19.5 billion Capital Investment Strategy for the next decade, the majority of which will be used to upgrade and add to existing infrastructure and guarantee that we can fulfill our mandate of delivering quality drinking water to New York for years to come.”

New York’s water system provides more than 1.1 billion gallons of water daily to around eight million New York City residents and one million residents in Westchester, Putman, Ulster and Orange counties.

The two tunnels that carry our water to us represent one of the most impressive public works projects in the world. Water Tunnel No. 1 was completed 1917, Water Tunnel No. 2 was completed 1936 and Water Tunnel No. 3 began 1970, and with luck will be completed in 2020. According to the water industry’s Web site:

New York's City Tunnel No. 3 is one of the most complex and intricate engineering projects in the world. Constructed by the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, the tunnel will eventually span 60 miles and is expected to be complete by 2020.

One reason we are building a new water tunnel is the hope that over the next century we can repair the other two tunnels. Some experts estimate that about a third of the water that we draw from our upstate system leaks before it gets to our faucets. In fact, since the late 1980’s, the Delaware Aqueduct, a piece of vital infrastructure that carries half of the city’s water, has been leaking between 10 and 36 million tons of water each day. The city is not waiting for the third water tunnel to be completed to plug this leak—a new project was just started to fix this problem.

While we may lose a lot of our supply, the quality of our water is quite good. As Elizabeth Royte wrote last year in her wonderful New York Times piece, “On the Water Front”:

The upstate water is of such good quality, in fact, that the city is not even required to filter it, a distinction shared with only four other major American cities: Boston, San Francisco, Seattle and Portland, Ore. New Yorkers drink their water from Esopus Creek, from Schoharie Creek, from the Neversink River, straight from the city’s many reservoirs, with only a rough screening and, for most of the year, just a shot of chlorine and chasers of fluoride, orthophosphate and sodium hydroxide.”

 

Story continues below map.

The city’s filtration exemption from the E.P.A. saves it from the cost of building a $6 billion to 8 billion water filtration plant for the water that comes from the Catstkill and Delaware watersheds located west of the Hudson River. It would cost about $1 billion a year to pay the debt service and operating costs of that plant. A majority of our water comes from west of the Hudson. The rest of our water comes from the Croton Watershed up in Westchester and Putnam counties. Currently the city is spending over $1 billion to build a water filtration plant under the Moshulu Golf Course in the Bronx to protect our water supplies that come from east of the Hudson.

The city is working hard to protect the waters it doesn’t need to filter. According to the commissioner of New York's Department of Environmental Protection, Emily Lloyd:

In order to preserve this remarkable asset, and prevent the need for an expensive filtration plant for the Catskill and Delaware water systems, the city enforces an array of environmental regulations designed to protect water quality while encouraging reasonable and responsible development in the watershed communities. It also invests in infrastructure—such as wastewater treatment facilities and septic systems—that shield the water supply, while working with its upstate partners to develop comprehensive land-use practices that curb pollution at the water’s source.

The city has spent over $1 billion during the past decade in the communities near the water supply to keep development from ruining the water. This is of course cheaper then the billion dollars per year that a filtration plant would cost.

Most of New York City’s water supply is protected and filtered by the natural processes of upstate ecosystems. To environmental economists, nature’s work that protects our water is an “environmental service.” Because the price of a filtration plant is known, we can estimate the monetary value of the services provided to filter our water. This comes to $1 billion per year minus the $100 million or so we spend each year to protect the upstate ecosystems. This is $900 million a year of found money that we will lose if we don’t protect these fragile ecosystems. It’s a graphic illustration of the point that what is good for the environment will often be good for our bank account. Sustainable development is more than a slogan—it is a principle of good government and sound fiscal management. New York’s water is a good news story that will only stay good if we pay attention and protect it from harm.

I am grateful for the research assistance of Sara Schonhardt, Master of International Affairs student, Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs.

Catskill Aqueduct and Earlier Water Supplies of the City of New York With elementary Chapters on the Source and Uses of Water and the Building of Aqueducts, and an Outline for an Allegorical Pageant

link to original source here:
http://www.archive.org/stream/catskillaqueduct00newyrich/catskillaqueduct00newyrich_djvu.txt

The Mayor's Catskill Aqueduct Celebration Committee New York 1917 GIFT OF The Catskill Aqueduct and Earlier Water Supplies of the City of New York With elementary Chapters on the Source and Uses of Water and the Building of Aqueducts, and an Outline for an Allegorical Pageant By Edward Hagaman Hall, L. H. D. The Mayor's Catskill Aqueduct Celebration Committee New York 1917 "1 will lift up mine eyes unto the hills from whence cometh^my help." Psalms, CXXI, 1. Contents FAGE INTRODUCTION 5 CHAPTER I. THE USES AND SOURCE OF WATER 9 Necessary for life Food and drink Health Sanitation Fire protection Industry Commerce Source of water Religious ceremonies. CHAPTER II. AQUEDUCTS AND WHY THEY ARE BUILT 17 Definition Reasons for building aqueducts Early aque- ducts Roman aqueducts Comparisons with Catskill Aqueduct. CHAPTER III. MANHATTAN'S PRIMITIVE WATER SUPPLY 26 Era of pumps and wells Tea Water Pump Primitive fire department Great fires and epidemics. CHAPTER IV. EARLY PIPE LINE PROJECTS 42 Colics' water-works Projects of Ogden, Livingston, Rumsey and others Manhattan Co.'s water-works First municipal water-works of 1829 Croton aqueduct decided upon. CHAPTER V. THE CROTON AQUEDUCT 58 Old Croton dam High Bridge Yorkville reservoir Murray Hill reservoir Lake Manahatta New Croton aqueduct New Croton dam Extent of Croton system. CHAPTER VI. OTHER BOROUGH WATER SUPPLIES 70 Borough of Brooklyn Borough of Queens Borough of the Bronx Borough of Richmond. CHAPTER VII. THE CATSKILL AQUEDUCT . .77 Evolution of the project Catskill Mountains Prelim- inary exploration Ashokan reservoir Humanitarian work Types of aqueduct construction From Ashokan to the Hudson Hudson river crossing From the Hudson to Kensico Kensico reservoir From Kensico to Hill View Hill View reservoir New York City tunnel Crossing the Narrows Silver Lake reservoir Measur- ing water Cost of aqueduct Distribution of water. CHAPTER VIII. A PAGEANT OF WATER 115 An allegorical pageant for celebrating the completion of the Catskill Aqueduct. CHAPTER IX. THE MAYOR'S CATSKILL AQUEDUCT CELEBRATION COMMITTEE 125 Names of members, officers and chairmen of sub-com- mittees of the Citizens Committee appointed by Mayor Mitchel. ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE Map of the Catskill aqueduct 8 Ruins of ancient Roman aqueducts on the Campagna at Rome ... 15 Ancient water-courses of Manhattan still flowing in Central Park . . 21 View of Broad street and Federal Hall in Wall street in 1797, by George Holland, showing street pumps 27 Engineer Stoutenburgh's sketch of one of the first two fire "Ingens", 1732 , 33 Hand pump fire-engine of period of 1732 39 " Double-decker " fire engine, period of 1840 39 Horse-drawn steam fire-engine, period of 1865 45 Self-propelled steam fire engine, period of 1917 45 The Manhattan Company's reservoir in Chambers street in 1825. . 51 Laying the large Croton aqueduct main on High bridge in 1861 . . 57 High bridge to-day 57 New Croton dam 63 Ashokan reservoir: Looking westward across the reservoir 69 Ashokan reservoir: View westward from middle dike 75 Ashokan reservoir: Ashokan bridge, dividing weir and gate chambers 81 Ashokan reservoir : Dividing weir bridge 87 Bonticou grade tunnel, typical of other grade tunnel work 93 Rondout pressure tunnel, typical of other pressure tunnel work . . 99 Crossing under Hudson river between Storm King and Breakneck mountains 105 Kensico dam at Valhalla in Westchester county in Laying 3o-inch flexible pipe line across the Narrows of New York Harbor 117 Mount Prospect laboratory in Brooklyn 123 South street high pressure fire station in Manhattan 123 Introduction The Catskill aqueduct, the construction of which was begun ten years ago, is now in full operation, delivering to the City of Xew York water brought from the Catskill mountains, one hun- dred and twenty miles away. Acting upon the request of representatives of some of the leading commercial bodies of the city, the Hon. John Purroy Mitchel, Mayor, has appointed a committee of citizens to ar- range a public observance of the completion of the aqueduct, and plans are being formulated for a suitable celebration beginning on October 12, 1917. The completion of this great engineering feat is deemed worthy of commemoration for several reasons. In the first place, when it is remembered that only three or four years ago, in a season of drouth, the city counted by days how long its reserve supply of water would last, it is a cause of inexpressible relief to the municipal authorities, and should also be to the citizens at large, that this increased supply, upon which the very life of the people depends, is now at their doors and that the necessity of "rationing" water has been averted. This is the first reason for popular congratulation ; and it has been brought about so quietly that unless there is some public demon- stration, few people comparatively will realize what a great bless- ing has come to them and the important lessons involved. It is an occasion also for unreserved pride in American genius which has achieved a stupendous engineering triumph. Starting at an elevation of 610 feet above tide level in the Catskill moun- tains, and creating four large lakes on its way, the aqueduct bur- rows under valleys, tunnels through mountains, dives under rivers to a depth of 1,114 feet below sea-level, bores through the solid rock of Manhattan Island, and delivers pure mountain water to every borough of the city. It is 120 miles long and is capable of delivering 500,000,000 gallons of water a day. The greatest of the famous Roman aqueducts was only half as long as this one, and in technical difficulty was, in comparison, like building houses with children's "blocks." The Catskill aqueduct is three times as long as the Panama canal,* and involved problems and * The Panama canal is 41 1 /2 miles long from shore to shore. Extension by dredging to deep water makes the nominal length of the canal about 50 miles. 6 Introduction difficulties unheard of in the canal's construction. Ex-Mayor McClellan, in an article published March 7, 1917, said: "The great Catskill waterway . . . is in itself certainly the great- est piece of water supply engineering, if not the greatest engi- neering achievement of any kind, in the world. I think that Gen. Goethals will agree with me that the Panama canal, while more spectacular in character, did not offer the engineering problems which had to be met and overcome in bringing an underground river all the way from the Catskills to ... New York City." Back of these physical achievements there were important moral and civic forces at work which the Mayor's Committee deems it highly profitable, from the standpoint of the public wel- fare, to emphasize in the celebration. The construction of the Catskill aqueduct, covering a period of ten years, affords a model of honest, clean and efficient municipal government in which every citizen should take pride. It is being finished within the original estimate of expense and is a commendable example of municipal economy.* It has been completed within contract time without a labor strike, and is a tribute alike to the Commission which directed the work, the contractors who carried it out, and the workmen who labored faithfully to build it. In its inception it was fostered by citizen bodies having the public interests at heart, and in its execution it had their invaluable support. It is a testi- mony of what distinterested civic spirit in co-operation with faith- ful public officials can accomplish. The celebration, therefore, while giving an opportunity for a merited tribute to the builders of the aqueduct, is also and chiefly an opportunity for teaching important civic lessons. It is hoped that the celebration as a whole will cause the people of New York to realize more fully than heretofore the value of their wonderful water supply. There are other and smaller cities which have as good water, and as much in propor- tion to their needs, as New York ; but the problem of supplying with water a city of nearly 6,000,000 inhabitants situated like New York is unique. There is nothing to be compared with it. If, by some evil magic, New Yorkers were compelled for a day to dig in the sand and wait for a few pints of water to ooze up, or to bring their water in jars from distant springs, or laboriously to pump it out of wells, they would appreciate the yalue of what Mayor McClellan broke ground for the aqueduct on June 20, 1907. * The aqueduct has cost to date about $140,000,000. Introduction 7 they have when the spell was over.* But human nature is prone to take as a matter of course blessings which come regularly and without individual effort ; and it is to be feared that too few Xew Yorkers appreciate the great foresight and constant watchful- exercised by the guardians of their welfare, the infinite pains and labor bestowed, the vast amount of money expended, and the wonderful scientific skill displayed, in bringing into their homes that priceless fluid upon which their very lives depend, and which they draw from a faucet by a mere turn of the hand. If the celebration shall cause the citizens of New York to pause for a moment in their ordinary affairs, and, from the con- templation of the great work just completed, derive an adequate conception of this one of their many blessings, it will have served its not least useful purpose. In furtherance of the various objects of the celebration, this pamphlet has been prepared. With a view to educational use, the first two chapters have been devoted to the elements of natural physics, hygiene, and sanitation, and the reasons for building aqueducts, addressed more particularly to the youthful under- standing; and the seventh chapter contains an outline for an allegorical pageant appropriate to the general subject. Washington's Birthday, in 1913, when President Taft broke ground in Fort Wadsworth, Staten Island, for a National Indian Monument, to be erected under the auspices of the National American Indian Memorial Association, many Indians took part in the ceremony. After the Indians had been shown the sights of the city, one of them, who came from an arid section of the West, was asked what he considered to be the most wonderful thing in New York ; and he pointed to a faucet, from which water could be drawn at any time. *^ ASHOKAN RESERVOIR"* JjjV'Lafr' CTN G ISLAND n f i: .1 Map of Catskill Aqueduct The Aqueduct is 120 miles long from Ashokan Reservoir to Staten Island and supplies all five Boroughs of the City of New York Chapter I. The Uses and Source of Water Necessary for Life Nothing can live without water. Where there is no water there can be no life of any kind, vegetable or animal. There is no water on the moon, therefore no living thing can exist there. If there were no water on the earth, there would be no trees, plants, or vegetables of any sort ; no food to eat ; nothing to drink, and therefore no human beings or lower animals. Everything would be a vast desert of rocks or sand.* Necessary for Food and Drink One reason why rain makes the crops grow and why we "water" plants is that they cannot take up from the earth and absorb in solid and dry form the food on which they live. The particles of earth which form their food must be dissolved in water so that the nourishing fluid can be sucked up by the little tubes in the roots and other parts of the plants. In the same way bodies of human beings and other animals cannot live and grow on solid dry food. Food must be mixed with water so that the little particles, carried by the fluid, will pass through the organs, arteries and veins and reach every part of the body to nourish it. Water not only serves the mechanical purpose of carrying food in plants and animals but it also helps the chemical changes in the food which make it nourishing. About two-thirds of the weight of the human body is water. When there is not water enough in the body for its functions, one feels thirsty : and when one feels thirsty there is nothing so wholesome and satisfying to drink as water which Nature has provided for this purpose. The use of intoxicating liquor instead of water is not only bad morally, but it is bad for the health and should be avoided. Probably without the water of crystallization, the surface rocks would turn to dust. io The Uses and Source of Water Necessary for Health As water is necessary for life, so it is necessary for health. And this is so in many ways. When a person eats and drinks, the food is digested and changed in the body; the useful part goes to nourish the body and the useless part is carried off. The useless and unhealthy particles are carried away by the aid of water just as the good particles are distributed in the body by the aid of water. Sweat, or perspiration, is one means by which the body gets rid of this unhealthy matter.* There are about 2,000,000 pores in the skin of an average person, and sweat is always coming out through them, whether it can be seen or not. Evaporation of sweat cools the body ; that is one reason why fanning, or a breeze, makes one feel cool. When sweat evap- orates, it leaves on the skin and in the clothing the solid particles which the body has rejected. Unless the body is washed, this accumulated matter not only makes a disagreeable odor, but it clogs the pores, interferes with their operation, and injures the health. Keeping the body clean also reduces the danger of com- municating disease to, or catching disease from others. For similar reasons it is as necessary to wash the clothing as the body. Necessary for Sanitation Water is necessary for health in another way. Just as it serves to carry useless and unhealthy matter out of the body, so it serves to carry the dirt and filth out of the house and city through the sewers. There could be no sewer system without an adequate water supply. Without sewers and a water supply there could be no sinks or water-closets in our houses ; the streets could not be washed ; filth would accumulate ; and disease and death would be the result. Great epidemics, causing the death of thousands of people, have been caused by lack of proper water supply and >cv

New York wilderness: Catskill Park celebrates 100 years

		Overlook Mountain is surrounded by low hanging clouds seen from a fire tower near Woodstock, N.Y. The trailhead is the busiest in the Catskill Park.
		Jim McKnight, AP

A heavy haze blankets the valleys. Neighboring Catskill peaks poke through, looking green and gauzy. Nothing but trees are visible all around. Yet a spry hiker with a car at the trailhead could be ordering a cup of coffee within 90 minutes.

A century after its creation, the Catskill Park offers a wilderness experience at arm's length from civilization. Hiking paths wind by the ruins of mountain hotels. Crystalline creeks that run like Yoo-hoo after heavy rains flow by old bluestone quarries. Trailheads are just down the road from a decent sandwich.

A lot of it has to do with New York City, which is a few hours south. The Catskills have been a traditional respite for city residents, from 19th century couples taking in the mountain air to snowboarders today.

Harry Jameson of Town Tinker Tube Rental says the attraction has remained constant throughout — the Catskills are a unique patch of wilderness close by the urban hubbub.

If you go ... Getting there: From the New York State Thruway, take Exit 19, Kingston, to Route 28, which runs diagonally through Catskill Park like a Main Street. For sightseeing information, follow the signs for Washington Avenue and look to the right for the tourist kiosk, housed in a red caboose. Catskill Park centennial: Information listed at www.catskillpark100.org/. Events include: Catskill Centennial Concert, July 3, 8 p.m., Phyllis Litoff Pavilion, Belleayre Mountain, Route 28, Highmount. Tickets: $12, lawn; $20 to $46, tent; under 12, free. For more information, call (845) 254-5600 or visit www.belleayremusic.org. Hikes in the footsteps of Hudson River School painters Thomas Cole, Frederick Church and others, July 10 and July 31, Kaaterskill Falls and Haines Falls areas. Depart from Cedar Grove at 9 a.m., return at 3 p.m. $25 per person per hike; information at (518) 943-7465. Catskill Centennial celebration, Aug. 28, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., at Mountain Top Historical Society, Route 23A, Haines Falls. Free admission. Festivities include art exhibit, book premiere for "Kaaterskill Clove" by Raymond Beecher, and an "appearance" by Rip Van Winkle; information at (518) 734-6357. Catskill Hikes: Popular hiking areas in the Catskills include Mount Tremper, Overlook Mountain and Slide Mountain. Details at www.catskillguide.com/hiking.htm or consult "Catskill Day Hikes for All Seasons" by Carol and David White (Adirondack Mountain Club, $12.95). Flyfishing: Trout streams include Beaverkill River and Willowemoc Creek. Information at www.catskillflyfishing.com. Catskill Flyfishing Center is at 1031 Old Route 17 in Livingston Manor; (845) 439-4810 or www.cffcm.org. Tube Rides: Esopus Creek from Phoenicia. Town Tinker Tube Rental, on Bridge Street, (845) 688-5553 or www.towntinker.com; FS Tube & Raft Rental, on Church Street, (845) 688-7633 or www.catskillpark.com/fs.html. Tube rentals begin at $10; more for tubes with seats, life jackets, helmets, wetsuits, and transportation to the creek.

"There is an interesting magnetism to the area — one of those things you really can't explain, like dowsing or metaphysical things that we know work but we can't put a finger on it," Jameson said.

The Catskill Park was established by state officials in 1904. About 40% of the park's 1,100 square miles is forest preserve; the rest is privately owned.

In some respects, the Catskills might seem like a little brother to the Adirondacks, which are a few hours north. The Adirondacks are bigger, higher, more rugged and more remote. But the Catskills are arguably more fixed in lore and social history.

Every schoolchild knows the Catskills are the mystical mountains where Rip Van Winkle took his 20-year snooze. Washington Irving's tale of Rip and other Hudson Valley characters made him a sort of early publicist for the area. Hudson River School painters provided the same service later in the 19th century, portraying the mountains majestically in the background of their pictures.

A guided hike tracing the footsteps of the great Hudson Valley painters is one of the centennial events planned this summer. Also scheduled is a performance of "Ashokan Farewell" (made famous in the soundtrack for Ken Burns' "Civil War" series) at Belleayre Mountain, and a visit by Rip Van Winkle to Haines Falls.

But any sunny day will do for a visit to the Catskills.

As daunting as the mountains look in old paintings, most Catskill climbs are doable for fit adults. Hikes can be strenuous, but they are not extreme. Even the highest peak in the Catskills — Slide Mountain at 4,180 feet — has a trail that is less than three miles to the peak.

Mount Tremper can be conquered and descended in a morning and offers a bonus at the top: an 87-year-old fire tower refurbished for climbers. The stairs are always accessible and the closed-in cab atop is open when volunteers are on duty.

Overlook Mountain is another Catskill mountain with a fire tower, this one offering a picturesque view of the Hudson Valley. From the trailhead in Woodstock, the top of Overlook is about 2 1/2 miles up a dirt road that winds past old hotel ruins. Since Woodstock is, literally, down the road from the trailhead, hikers can reward themselves with a nosh — name it: pizza, tofu chili, Cuban sandwiches — after the hike.

There are other ways to see the Catskills wilderness this summer. One popular alternative to hiking is sitting in an oversized inner tube and riding the Esopus Creek. Phoenicia is a good place to begin, as it is home to Jameson's business, The Town Tinker, and FS Tube & Raft Rental.

Want something slower? Flyfishing is another popular pastime in the Catskills. The woods are laced with trout streams, including the Beaverkill River and the Willowemoc Creek, which runs right by the Catskill Flyfishing Center in Livingston Manor.

For those who don't want to sweat or get wet, visitors barely need to get out of the car to take in the view. Take a trip up, and then down, Ohayo Mountain Road from Woodstock for a scenic drive. The shore of the Ashokan Reservoir off of Route 28A is worthy of a Hudson River School painting.

URL: http://www.dailyfreeman.com/articles/2008/12/02/news/doc4935bad843194049921571.prt

© 2008 DailyFreeman.com, a Journal Register

The Daily Mail

By Jim Planck

link to full Article

http://www.thedailymail.net/articles/2008/12/01/news/news5.txt

HUNTER — The holiday season’s gift-giving offers a prime opportunity to share some of the Catskill region’s finest heritage craft foods.

In Hunter on Saturday the first Winter Festival Celebrating Catskill Food & Farms is a chance to learn about the diversity of the intriguing, healthy, and flavorful local products available.

The all-day event is sponsored by the Catskill Mountain Foundation and Pure Catskills, and will run from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at CMF’s Hunter Village Square facility, at the west end of the municipality, on Main Street, Route 23A.

The Catskill Mountain Foundation — now in its 10th year — is a Hunter-based not-for-profit promoting arts, education, and sustainable living in Greene County’s Mountaintop region, and Pure Catskills is a buy local campaign for the agricultural economy of the greater Catskill Mountains area.

Participating heritage farms and agri-producers in Saturday’s Winter Fest will feature a wide assortment of heirloom and specialty products at prices that can’t be beat in today’s economic times, and will include not only distinctive traditionals such as local cheeses, jams, honeys, and maple products, but also baked goods, teas, Angus beef, fudge sauces, yoghourts, and chocolates, as well as skincare products, wool mittens, heirloom seeds and more.

There will also be a day-long series of presentations and demonstrations by both area farmers and cookbook authors, starting with Sally Fairbairn at 11 a.m.

Fairbairn is author of “A Catskill Kitchen: Seasonal Recipes from the Dry Brook Valley,” one of the Catskill’s more secluded and rustic valleys, located in Ulster County’s Town of Hardenburgh and Delaware County’s Town of Middletown.

Next up at noon is cook Beverly Ellen Schoonmaker Alfeld, author of the “Jamlady Cookbook” and “Pickles to Relish.” A native of Accord, on the southern side of the Ulster County Catskills, Alfeld is now based in the Chicago area and the chance to sit in on her talk should not be missed.

Denise Warren of East Meredith’s Stone & Thistle Farm, in the heart of Delaware County’s Catskill Mountain farm country, is one of the founders of the Catskills Convivium of Slow Food, a farming visibility and benefits group, and will talk on the importance of local food customs and heritage foods at 1 p.m.

Then, at 3 p.m., Delhi, Delaware County-based shepherd Sylvia Jorrin, author of “Sylvia’s Farm: The Journey of an Improbable Shepherd,” will speak. Jorrin’s writing is featured with an excerpt in the book “Farm Aid: A Song for America,” by Willie Nelson.

Lastly, John Verhoeven, of JJF Black Angus, in Greene County’s East Jewett Valley, will discuss the benefits of hormone-free, grass-and-grain fed livestock.

Also, by sharing your favorite recipe during a 2 p.m. “Holiday Recipe Show ‘n Tell,” the day will include a chance to win a gift certificate for a one-day cooking class at the prestigious Culinary Institute of America, in nearby Dutchess County’s Hyde Park.

The discussions and presentations will take place in the facility’s Village Square Bookstore & Literary Arts Center, with the Fresh Harvest Cafe & Market, offering freshly made daily cafe selections using local ingredients, and Kaaterskill Fine Arts, also on site.

The list of vendors and participants is an impressive cross-section of the best and healthiest that Catskill Mountain farming has to offer in regional heritage foods and agri-products.

They include Burt’s Mountain Honey, Harpersfield Cheese, Heirloom Botanicals, Hudson Valley Seed Library, JJF Black Angus, Lucky Chocolates, Middlefield Orchard, Organic Nectars, Painted Goat Cheese, Promised Land Farm, RSK Farms, Shandaken Bake, Slickepott Fudge, Slow Food Catskills, Stone & Thistle Farm, Sugar Moon Maple, Summers End Orchard, and Tay Tea.

Because much of the Catskills, including the Greene County Mountaintop region, is in the New York City Watershed, the City works actively with farmers in the region to ensure water quality protection.

Accordingly, the Watershed Agricultural Council — a separate non-profit agency funded by the City, the USDA, and the US Forest Service — has helped support the day’s events, as well as the City itself, directly through its Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

For more information on this culinary Winter Fest, visit www.catskillmtn.org or call 518-263-2001.

To reach reporter Jim Planck, call 518-943-2100, ext. 3324, or e-mail [email protected].

DEC will hold final hearing on gas drilling

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LOCH SHELDRAKE — If you live in the Catskills and want better regulation before gas drilling comes to your neighborhood, this week might be your last chance to have your voice heard.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation will hold a final public hearing Thursday at Sullivan County Community College on its study to expand drilling rules. The study will create new regulations for gas companies seeking drilling permits.

But even before the public hearing, community groups around Sullivan County will prepare residents to make educated comments. Monday night, in Narrowsburg, residents can learn more about gas drilling, the state's study, and how best to present their arguments at Thursday's hearing.

"It's a chance for people who want to comment on the (study) to come in and find out the basics so that they feel comfortable either testifying or submitting written comments," said Denise Frangipane of Sullivan Renaissance, one of the groups sponsoring the information session.

Those who have been carefully monitoring the approach of gas drilling have already prepared their critiques. They want the DEC to study gas drilling's potential boom-and-bust effect on communities, how it would affect the second-home market and whether the state should pass strict clean air and water standards.

They also want the state to add to its bullpen of 19 drilling inspectors and to prove that drilling is safe by studying the hydraulic fracturing process.

"We're saying, 'show us the science,'" said Bruce Ferguson, of Catskill Citizens for Safe Energy. "Do the peer-review studies that have never been done to prove it's safe."

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