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What is the Environmental Conservation Commission?
The Town of Rochester Environmental Commission is a group of citizens who volunteer their time, are sworn in by the town and meet once a month to discuss and help implement ways to enhance and protect the natural resources of the Town of Rochester and to find ways of helping to educate and protect its citizens from hazards to the environment. It can conduct research at the request of the Town Board or a citizen on topics pertaining to the safety or enhancement of the environment and can react to environmental issues that face the town, county, state and world.
The Commission is in place to alert and educate the community at large on as many issues affecting the environment as are made known to the Commission via newsletters, the Town of Rochester website, the media and certain events. All meetings are open to the public and occur once a month at the Town of Rochester Town Hall.
NEWS & NOTES
Environmental Conservation Commission News
June 12 Rondout Creek Cleanup-sponsored by the Town of Rochester ECC
Cleanup will start in Kerhonkson at 9 am at the public access to the Rondout behind the Kerhonkson Post Office. There is a DEC sign marking this access point. People participating may walk the banks or use kayaks and canoes. (bring your own!) The "flotilla" will pick up trash along the banks and proceed to the first drop-off point, ECC member Lillian Green's farm, which is next to Kelder's Farm. Trash bags may be left there.
People may also join at the farm and pick up new bags there. Creek cleanup will end at the entry point across from A&M hardware. The event is expected to take approx. 2 hours. It will end with a picnic at Town Hall. The picnic will go from 11 am to 2 pm.
The Rochester ECC will host a wildflower walk and a “Trees for Tribs” stream buffer tree planting this Saturday, May 22nd.
The wildflower walk will begin at 10:30am at the Rondout Creek Rail Trail access off Berme Rd. Participants will be heading north on the rail trail and will end near the stream buffer planting site. Participants are encouraged to bring lunch and water, as well as, help with the tree planting immediately afterwards.
The stream buffer planting will begin at 1pm; physical address of the site is 1985 Berme Rd., Kerhonkson. The actual planting site will be behind this property, west of the rail trail along the Rondout Creek. Please contact property owner Mike Praete for parking/access questions at 845-626-5202. The property will be marked with signs directing volunteers to the actual planting site. Over 200 native trees and shrubs will be planted to help slow erosion, improve water quality, and provide more wildlife habitat along the Rondout Creek.
"Riparian (streamside) buffers are an important aspect of maintaining healthy streams and protecting water quality," says DEC Trees for Tribs coordinator Kevin Grieser. "These buffers, composed of trees, shrubs, and grasses help to reduce pollution entering waterways by slowing down and filtering stormwater runoff. Buffers also help to reduce flooding and
erosion by stabilizing streambanks and absorbing high velocity flows. In addition, they serve an important role for wildlife as a shoreline transition zone and travel corridor, not to mention increasing overall biodiversity and improving in-stream health."
The "Trees for Tribs" Initiative is in its 3rd year and is conducted through the State Department of Environmental Conservation's (DEC) Hudson River Estuary Program through a partnership with the New York State Water Resources Institute at Cornell University. In just three years, it has been responsible for planting more than 49,000 feet of stream buffers along the estuary's tributaries with 18,000 native trees, shrubs, and grasses. Over 1300 projects have been completed to date with the help of some 1,500 \volunteers.
Praete wants his neighbors to know they can access the "Trees for Tribs: program, just as he has: contact Kevin Grieser, Riparian Buffer Coordinator, NYSDEC - Hudson River Estuary Program (845) 256-3145, kagriese@gw.dec.state..ny.us. The DEC related website is: "ttp://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/43668.html
Saturday April 17 and 24 are Earth Days, and the Town of Rochester looks forward to beautifying its roads with the annual Earth Day Cleanup. Last year, many Rochester residents, town officials and organizations volunteered their time. Orange bags filled with the trash and debris left behind after the winter dotted the town's roads, and then they vanished into the Town Transfer Station, leaving the area pristine. The day was a huge success and testified to the effort and care Rochester residents put into keeping the town beautiful. This year, once again, in celebration of Earth Day, the Rochester Youth Commission and Environmental Conservation Committee (ECC) ask Rochester residents to get together with friends and neighbors to "Adopt a Road."
The town will provide bright orange trash bags and pick them up at the end of the day. To get the bags, call the Youth Commission at 626-2115 and leave your name, road or area, date of the cleanup, and start and finish time. Volunteers will get back to you with arrangements for you to pick up the Orange Bags at the Community Center prior to each Earth Day Cleanup. Volunteers will also pick them up when they've been filled, and deliver them to the Rochester Transfer Station, although residents can also take them there. The Transfer Station needs to receive all the bags by 2 pm, so that they be processed by closing time at 4 pm -- so think about starting and finishing the Great Cleanup early! The ECC will be cleaning up two areas, the Project 32 Road and the Berme Road Town Access area, starting at 9 am on April 17th. Volunteers who wish to join can specify that they're joining the ECC when they call to the Youth Commission. People are also needed to pick up and deliver the collected trash to the Transfer Station throughout the day. Call the Youth Commission (626-2115) to volunteer. On the last Cleanup Day, Saturday, April 24th, there will be free pizza, soda and dessert for participants at the
Rochester Community Center, 15 GFL Road in Accord, at 2 pm. To get to the Community Center, go down Main Street in Accord and turn left at the Post Office. The Community Center is behind the old train station. "It's exciting that this yearly event has picked up momentum," says Mike Callan, chair of the ECC. "We had a great turnout last year," Carol Dennin, Director of the Youth Department, observed. "It really made a difference. We expect this year to be even better." |
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