Catskill Mountainkeeper is fighting a proposed steel & concrete plant near Onteora Lake and adjacent to the Bluestone Wild Forest, and we need your help. 

Earlier this year, the Town of Kingston Planning Board received an application to permit a very large steel and concrete fabrication plant on Route 28 in the Town of Kingston, adjacent to Onteora Lake, Pickerel Pond, and the Bluestone Wild Forest. At the same time, the Open Space Institute was just completing a purchase of over 200 acres contiguous to the proposed concrete plant, with the goal of constructing new hiking and mountain biking paths on gorgeous nearby forest lands and eventually adding this parcel to the Catskill Park and Forest Preserve.

Unfortunately, the company, 850 Route 28 LLC's permit application didn't even acknowledge the nearby protected lands or how important the lands are to the public. As the result of omission, Catskill Mountainkeeper believes this application is inadequate and incomplete.

Based on the incomplete permit application, the Town of Kingston Planning Board issued a Negative Declaration under the State Environmental Quality Review Act, essentially stating the plant would have no environmental impacts and thus short-circuiting the environmental review process. 

Since that decision, Catskill Mountainkeeper, the Woodstock Land Conservancy, and local grassroots advocates have been requesting that the town reverse the "Neg Dec" and conduct a full and rigorous environmental review of the proposal.

To fight this plant and make our voices heard, we're asking you to sign and share an online petition "Town of Kingston Planning Board -- Keep Onteora Lake and the Bluestone Wild Forest Pristine." You can read more and sign the petition here.

This is an issue of protecting the Catskill Park, and the goal is to let all who love Onteora Lake, Pickerel Pond, and the Bluestone Wild Forest defend these irreplaceable treasures!

Thank you for acting to protect the Catskills!

Sincerely,

Ramsay Adams, Executive Director

TravelStorys App provides free GPS guided tours that share the stories of the Catskills

LIVINGSTON MANOR and ARKVILLE, NY – The stories of the citizens and settlers of the Catskills illustrate the uniqueness of the region, and today Catskill Mountainkeeper and the Catskill Center release new TravelStorys audio tours that allow listeners to hear the stories of the Catskills as they travel at the pace of their own curiosity.

The Gateway to the Catskills: Livingston Manor, Roscoe and more! and Catskill Mountains Scenic Byway audio tours are both available through the free TravelStorys app (available for download on smartphones). TravelStorys bringsthe little-known stories about the land to life, and by using GPS technology, stories on the tours automatically play as listeners pass through each site.

Catskill Mountainkeeper is proud to connect New Yorkers to clean, accessible, solar power through community shared solar! Our developer partners, vetted through our Solar Outreach Initiative, offer two different forms of community shared solar--subscription and purchase. In both cases, the panels are side by side with other community members on nearby sunny land instead of on your property. Participants receive a portion of the solar energy produced by the solar farm, which is credited seamlessly to your utility bill each month. You can easily cover 100% of your electricity usage this way, much like traditional solar. Read on for information about community shared solar, and scroll down for links to our developer partners' sites.

When Governor Cuomo banned high volume hydraulic fracturing—i.e. fracking—it seemed that NY State would be protected from the toxic gas extraction practice that has poisoned air, water, and communities worldwide. But that’s not how it’s playing out: a gas company is now trying to get around our ban by proposing to frack using liquid propane gas (LPG) as a fracking agent, instead of water. 

The gas industry argues that because this extraction technique uses LPG rather than water, it is not high volume hydraulic fracking and therefore does not fall under NY State’sfracking ban.

Summer in the Catskills is fantastic, filled with terrific concerts, farmers markets, hikes, events for learning, and endless opportunities to get outside and play in nature. Read on for info about great upcoming events on Catskill Mountainkeeper’s calendar, and invite you to join us in celebrating everything that makes the Catskills so special and worth protecting.

Please mark your calendar, and share these events on social media to spread the word. Also, head over to our Facebook page, tag us on Twitter, or DM us on Instagram to share the events you’re excited about. We love sharing all the great Catskills happenings!

See you out there!

Ramsay Adams, Executive Director

What do you enjoy most at a picnic? Salad? Pie? Chips and salsa or guacamole? Sandwiches? What if I told you that all of those foods could become a thing of the past because the creatures that make them possible—pollinators—are in crisis? The good news is that you can help.

I Want to Save Pollinators!

SAUGERTIES, NY – On July 1 and July 2, 2019 the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) issued two Notices of Violation ordering the owners of three illegal dump sites in Saugerties, NY to shut down operations and begin removing all the waste on the sites. According to the notice, the dumping sites violated state clean water and solid waste laws and regulations 39 times, putting neighbors and waterways at risk.

In response, Catskill Mountainkeeper issued the following statement:

According to the Notices of Violation, Joseph and Rachel Karolys must shut down their illegal dumping sites and safely dispose of the waste they’ve been accepting for years. This is a huge victory for the neighbors who have been fighting to protect their community and local waterways from the dumps and we look forward to seeing the waste moved to a location where it can be properly managed.

Catskill Mountainkeeper is grateful for the Department of Environmental Conservation’s strong response, sending a clear message that New York will not stand for this type of criminal activity. We also applaud the Town of Saugerties for their swift and steady action throughout this effort and all the elected officials who spoke up on neighbors’ behalf. Mountainkeeper calls on the State Supreme Court to expedite its pending review of this situation.

This is a huge victory and proof that by working together we can protect our Catskills communities.

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New York made global history this week when we moved a monumental piece of legislation that will make us leaders in the response to the climate crisis. Under this law, the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, by 2050 all of our electricity will be fossil-fuel free, we’ll have drastically cut harmful air pollution, and we’ll be investing in natural climate solutions while moving towards climate justice. Email key legislators today and thank them for supporting the bill.

Late last night, Governor Cuomo, Assembly Speaker Heastie, and Senator Stewart Cousins came to a historic agreement to fight the climate crisis. The Climate and Community Protection Act:

✅Sets the highest standards in the US for cutting emissions
✅ Invests 35%-40% of climate $ in frontline communities
✅ Supports workers in transition