Community Assistance News

Merritt Parkway Trail

May 14, 2012 | Posted in Community Assistance, Trails | Keywords:

A shared-trail corridor along the scenic length of the Taconic State Parkway? This was just one of the suggestions raised at CLC’s Columbia County Trails Conference in April 2011, now documented on the Columbia County Draft Trail Vision Plan.

A recent New York Times article reported that Connecticut state transportation officials are in the early stages of exploring the creation of a hiking and cycling trail along the Merritt Parkway right-of-way. The proposed paved trail would run roughly in the center of a 150-foot wide buffer on the Parkway’s southern side, and pass through eight communities for a distance of just over 37 miles. The Taconic corridor through Columbia County is approximately the same length. CONTINUE READING

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New Trail at Ooms Conservation Area at Sutherland Pond

April 17, 2012 | Posted in CLC, Headline, Trails | Keywords: , , ,
Volunteer clears trash for new trailVolunteers pull down vine to clear trailView across Sutherland Pond from new trail

Volunteers work on the new trail at Ooms Conservation Area at Sutherland Pond.

More information and photos.

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CAC Brochure

February 16, 2012 | Posted in CLC, Community Assistance, Publication | Keywords:
CAC Brochure

CLC has produced a brochure about Conservation Advisory Councils.

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Trail funding in jeopardy

February 15, 2012 | Posted in Advocacy, Community Assistance, Headline, Trails | Keywords: ,
Harlem Valley Rail Trail
Harlem Valley Rail Trail

Act this week to support local trail projects such as the Harlem Valley Rail Trail. This week, Congress is having a critical debate about the future of trails, biking, and walking. You can shape the outcome.

Contact Representative Gibson (202.225.5614 or 518.610.8133) and ask him to vote against the transportation bill, H.R. 7. The proposed legislation eliminates funding for future trail projects, which could hinder the expansion of the Harlem Valley Rail Trail and the development of other county trail projects. The bill also cuts funding for the Transportation Enhancements and Safe Routes to School programs, rail and canal trails around the country, and state DOT bicycle pedestrian coordinators.

Contact Senators Schumer (518.431.4070) and Gillibrand (212.688.6262) and ask them to support the Cardin-Cochran and the Klobuchar amendments to MAP-21. These amendments restore dedicated funding for the Recreational Trails program and ensure local input to Transportation Enhancements and Safe Routes to School projects.

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Volunteers Build Trail

November 16, 2011 | Posted in CLC, Community Assistance, Headline, Trails | Keywords: , , , ,
Group of VolunteersMoving a logwoods

Volunteers work on a new trail that connects Harrier Hill Park with Greenport Conservation Area. The event was cosponsored with Scenic Hudson, Stockport Trails Committee, and CLC. Looks like fun? Sign up for the next one.

View the full photo gallery

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Conservation Advisory Council Roundtable

October 25, 2011 | Posted in CLC, Community Assistance, Headline | Keywords:

Conservation advocates from 10 Columbia County towns and the City of Hudson gathered at the Churchtown Firehouse on October 13, 2011 to hold the county’s first Conservation Advisory Council Roundtable (notes). As part of it’s Community Assistance Program, CLC convened the roundtable in response to interest from municipal volunteers and citizens who attended CLC’s land use training workshop, Conservation Advisory Councils: How They Can Help Your Town Balance Development and Conservation. CONTINUE READING

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Whole Community Planning

October 19, 2011 | Posted in CLC, Community Assistance, Land Matters, Publication | Keywords: , ,

by Peter Paden
Originally published on October 7, 2011 in the Register-Star

I often have the opportunity in this column to note that Columbia County is a place with truly exceptional natural assets: several hundred thousand acres of contiguous forests, more than a hundred thousand acres of excellent farmland, hundreds of streams and wetlands, a rich and varied array of plant and animal wildlife and, of course, breathtaking scenic beauty just about everywhere you look.

It is not, however, a remote wilderness. Some 60,000 people reside here. We need places to live, to shop and to do business, and we need infrastructure to provide energy, communications and transportation.

The big question is whether we can provide these essential features of community life and still preserve the qualities that make Columbia County such a special place, or whether, as has happened in so many other parts of the Hudson Valley, the inevitable march of “progress” will lead to the disappearance of the rich natural world and our universally cherished “rural character.” CONTINUE READING

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