Land Use Education and Events
CLC sponsors education and training programs on land use topics for municipal officials, volunteer boards, and community groups. These sessions are designed to equip communities with the information and skills needed to review, revise, and apply land use regulations and practices. Past topics have ranged from how to incorporate biodiversity in land use planning decisions to presentations on groundwater, stormwater management, and the role of conservation advisory councils. For more information, contact Ellen Jouret-Epstein at 518.392.5252, ext. 208 or ellen@clctrust.org.
- May 18, 2013
11:00am – 1:00pm optional field visit
A workshop for municipal board members and interested residents, focused on the value of woodland pools and the tools you can use to protect them in your community. Due to their size, woodland pools are usually not protected by state and federal wetland regulations, and they are often missed during land-use planning reviews. The surrounding forest provides critical upland habitat to pool-breeding amphibians, and is similarly vulnerable to incompatible land use. Through a variety of pro-active approaches, local municipalities can play an essential role to ensure the protection of these habitats and their benefits.
- April 9, 2013
Resources:
- March 5, 2013
CLC’s Land Use Series presented two trainings on the new NYSDEC Environmental Assessment Forms (EAF) for the State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) on March 5 and 30, 2013 . The trainings focused on the Short Environmental Assessment Form and the online “Workbook” that has been developed to help municipalities work through the SEQR process. The workbook for the Full EAF is available for public comment through May 20, 2013. The forms will become mandatory for use on October 7, 2013.
- February 27, 2013
Nine Columbia County towns were represented at the Conservation Advisory Council (CAC) Roundtable. The highlight of the evening was a presentation by Claudia Knab-Vispo from the Hawthorne Valley Farmscape Ecology Program (FEP) on work they’ve done on floodplain forests in the County. You can view the presentation and complete reports and newspaper articles about the Floodplains. (Note, those of you who took the GIS Map-Reading Training have a data layer with FEP’s floodplain forest mapping.) We also heard about FEP’s Living Land Project, a collaboration with Hudsonia as well as CLC.
- September 25, 2012
The 3rd Roundtable featured guests from the Town of Hyde Park, Emily Svenson, a Town Board member and former CAC member, and Michael Dupree, Planning Board Chair, who spoke about the evolution of their CAC and its relationship with the planning board, particularly how it helps them when working with applicants. The CAC has been very active with community education and helped the town to establish Critical Environmental Areas (CEA’s C. Critical Environmental Areas (CEAs) – NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation ) that assist the SEQR review process.
- September 15, 2012
Green infrastructure practices use natural processes to filter pollutants from stormwater runoff and promote groundwater recharge. Learn about the benefits of green infrastructure and tour the library’s green practices.
- March 29, 2012
The roundtable is open to anyone with an interest in Columbia County trails. It will follow up on the first Columbia County Trails Conference held in April 2011 as well as the tremendous planning and design work on county trails since the Conference. Come let us know what you and your group are up to, pool ideas on how to advance trail projects, or just listen in if you need help to get started on trail planning. Staff from the Hudson River Valley Greenway, National Park Service, and others will also join us.
- March 24, 2012
Copake Town Hall
230 Mountain View Road
An update of current efforts to extend the Harlem Valley Rail Trail from Copake Falls to Hillsdale.
For more information, contact Tom Carty of Copake Hillsdale Rail Trail Alliance at 518.610.3008 or Ellen Jouret-Epstein at ellen@clctrustorg or 518.392.5252, ext. 208.
- March 17, 2012
A workshop for municipal boards and interested residents on the importance of wetlands and woodlands for healthy water resources, the role local communities can play in protecting these resources, and the planning tools that can be used.. Featured speakers included Marilyn Wyman, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Greene County; Laura Heady and Karen Strong, Biodiversity Outreach Coordinators, Hudson River Estuary Program. The workshop included an exercise led by Gretchen Stevens, Director, Biodiversity Resources Center, Hudsonia Ltd.
- March 7, 2012
Conservation Advisory Council (CAC) members and interested citizens are invited. The Roundtable is a forum for CAC members to share information about their conservation activities. It’s also a way for interested citizens to learn more about what a CAC can do for their town, including issues related to groundwater, wildlife habitat, open space recreation, and scenic views.
- November 12, 2011
A workshop to help municipalities create ”agriculture-friendly” communities, based upon the American Farmland Trust (AFT) resource publication, Planning for Agriculture: A Toolkit for Towns and Counties.
- October 13, 2011
The roundtable is a way to bring together both existing municipal Conservation Advisory Councils (CAC), as well as residents who may want to form a CAC in their town or have a general interest in conservation as it relates to local land use planning. We look forward to hearing what all of you are doing and discussing ways in which a format like this can help your work.
Highlights as well as notes from the meeting have been posted.
More on our Conservation Advisory Council Program
- August 23, 2011
We are holding a public forum to discuss policies around dogs at our public conservation areas. All are invited – people who love to walk their dogs at our public conservation areas and those who use the areas without their pet.
- April 2, 2011
Did you know that there are 19 miles of trails on CLC’s Public Conservation Areas alone? That’s in addition to the other community trails and major trail networks that are underway in the county, including the northern extension of the Harlem Valley Rail Trail and Kinderhook-Stuyvesant-Stockport Intermunicipal Trail. Our county has an abundance of abandoned railroad corridors, utility rights-of-way, equestrian trails, and other linkages that could add up to a world-class countywide trail network. Trails are important not only for recreation, education, and personal health, they are also increasingly recognized as an important component in community economic development. On April 2nd, 2011 we convened the first Columbia County Trails Conference on planning for community traills, and we’re enthusiastic about continuing to collaborate to improve trails in the County.
- January 31, 2011
How to form and work with a conservation advisory council (CAC) to protect important natural areas in your town.
- November 30, 2010
What planning and zoning boards need to know about stormwater management, green infrastructure practices and the revised 2010 New York State Stormwater Management Design Manual.
- May 2, 2010
Tools and procedures that can be used to conserve natural resources through local planning reviews.
- April 28, 2010
Information on groundwater quality and quantity that should be considered during development project reviews.
