The Catskills' hemlock trees are a foundation species for the forests' unique ecosystem. The hemlocks are beautiful and strong, providing homes for animals and shade to keep our streams cool enough for trout and other fish native to our area. Without the hemlocks, New York State would be a different place entirely, and right now these these amazing trees are threatened by a voracious invasive insect called the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (HWA). Watch our new video to learn more.

New York's dairies are under attack. It's been an awful couple of years for the dairy industry--milk sales are down, output is up, and there's a huge glut of milk on the market creating the low milk prices that are driving farms out of business. With the recent announcement that Walmart's supplier is canceling contracts with local farms and processors in order to open its own mega-processing facility in Indiana to bottle 100 million gallons of milk per year, things have gotten dire.

April 24, 2018

Livingston Manor, NY – Today the New York State Assembly again passed the Climate and Community Protection Act, a bill that establishes and codifies necessary climate pollution reduction goals, ensures that environmental justice and low income communities long left behind are put front and center in the transition to renewable energy, and prioritizes solid, sustainable jobs.

The following response is attributable to Wes Gillingham, Associate Director.

“Yesterday more than 1,500 people from every corner of New York State marched in Albany asking legislators and the Governor to stop all natural gas infrastructure, move to 100% renewable energy sources, and make polluters pay for the health and environmental impacts their climate pollution has on New Yorkers each and every day. Today the Assembly again led the nation, passing the Climate and Community Protection Act (CCPA). Catskill Mountainkeeper thanks and applauds Assemblyman Englebright and Speaker Heastie for leading our government in the right direction. Now the New York State Senate and Governor Cuomo need to pass and enact the bill so NY can begin a just transition to a new energy paradigm.”

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Catskill Mountainkeeper was a key community partner in advocating for the restoration of the iconic Beaverkill Covered Bridge, which was showcased in this really great article from the April 2018 issue of New York State Conservationist Magazine.

Today Rolling Stone Magazine covered a story you won't want to miss: a new report co-authored by Catskill Mountainkeeper's own Senior Research Director, Kathy Nolan, shines a light on the hazards posed by fracking to our families, communities, and the environment. As Rolling Stone said, it's "the most authoritative study of its kind."

Welcome to Watershed Wednesday! Each Wednesday from now until March 30, Mountainkeeper will send out reminders and sample comments to make it easy for you to urge the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) to say no to fracking and drilling activities in the Delaware River watershed. There's no limit to the number of comments you submit.

Since today is Valentine's Day, we're focusing on love; our love of clean, pure, uncontaminated water. Water that hasn't been poisoned by fracking wastewater. Please tell the DRBC to ban fracking wastewater in the watershed.

TODAY: Submit a comment to the DRBC. Tell the commissioners: fracking wastewater cannot be regulated in the watershed--it must be banned.

Livingston Manor, NY – In response to Governor Cuomo and Comptroller DiNapoli’s announcement that New York will cease new investments in oil and gas companies and develop a plan to invest the Common Fund in clean energy technologies, Catskill Mountainkeeper issued the following statement, attributable to Ramsay Adams, Executive Director.

"Governor Cuomo's announcement that he and Comptroller DiNapoli will cease investing New York's pension in dirty, dangerous fossil fuels is exactly the type of leadership we need. It sends a strong message to the industry that we will not continue to support companies that are killing us and destroying our climate. Now New York needs to take the next bold move: funding the future by charging polluters for their emissions and investing revenues in our communities and renewable energy.

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From today's Times Herald Record

“There was a barrier to community solar in the past because you couldn’t get any sort of financial incentive for participating,” said Katherine Nadeau of the Livingston Manor nonprofit Catskill Mountainkeeper, which is helping locals sign up with solar farms. “If you produced more solar energy than you used, there was no way to sell the energy back to the grid.”

To learn more and sign up to go solar, visit renewableny.org

Media Statement

November 21, 2017

Livingston Manor, NY – Earlier today the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) and Assemblywoman Gunther announced that the state will invest up to $50,000 in an Army Corps of Engineers study examining flood control and community preparedness in Livingston Manor. In response, Catskill Mountainkeeper issued the following statement, attributable to Ramsay Adams, Executive Director.

“Livingston Manor has been waiting for years for the Army Corps of Engineers to step up and address our persistent flooding issue. As climate change begins to impact our own hometown, making storms more dangerous and severe, New York’s commitment to lead on this issue is incredibly welcome. We look forward to working with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC), Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther, and Supervisor Rob Eggleton to address the flooding in a way that makes our community more prepared while protecting our waterways and wildlife. We thank Governor Cuomo, DEC, and Assemblywoman Gunther for their quick response to the October 30, 2017 flood, and their commitment to funding and addressing this problem.”  

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