Printer-friendlyEnvironment DEC
From the May 2008 issue
Revised Open Space Plan Proposed for Region 7
The Salmon River corridor is a key part of Oswego County's open space system
The Region 7 Open Space Advisory Committee of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (OPRHP) is reconvening to identify regional priority projects and issues that will help form the basis of the 2009 New York State Open Space Conservation Plan. The committee serves as the primary mechanism for the general public, local governments and other interested groups to advance potential projects for consideration. Region 7's committee encompasses Broome, Cayuga, Chenango, Cortland, Madison, Onondaga, Oswego, Tioga and Tompkins counties. The committee will identify regional project priorities and policy recommendations.
A draft open space conservation plan will be prepared for statewide public comments and hearings in the fall of 2008, and a final plan will be developed in 2009 for the Governor Patterson's signature. The updated plan will provide recommendations for priority projects, policies and programs. New to the update will be environmental justice issues, as well as other policy areas, including: state land stewardship, state tax payments on land it owns, enhancing local government capacity to develop and implement complementary local open-space protection programs, fully integrating the State Wildlife Grant Program into the Open Space Plan, enhancing private landowner conservation-incentives programs and addressing global-climate change.
All meetings of the advisory committee are open to the public. Meetings are tentatively scheduled for May 2, 14 and 20 at DEC's Cortland Office, but please call to confirm. For more information or to comment on open-space conservation in Region 7, please contact DEC at 1285 Fisher Avenue, Cortland, NY 13045, 607-753-3095.
