FCWC's 2005 Annual Report

FCWC President’s Message - 2005 Year End Report

A List of our supporters for 2005 can be found here

By Oreon Sandler, President

I recently described the FCWC board to my son, a landscape ecologist who is on a county conservation board upstate. He was surprised at the size of our board of 19 directors. I explained that our board members are each dedicated to some aspect of what FCWC does, and are deeply involved as volunteers in their particular environmental interests. Most are involved in more than one issue. I explained to him some of what we did during the past year, and will share these thoughts with you. When I think about all FCWC accomplished in advocacy and education, I am really proud of the achievements of the other 18 directors in representing our positions. Many of these issues are presented in more detail in other sections of the newspaper but here are some highlights of our 2005 achievements.

Advocacy

Last year one of our board members was appointed chair of the Healthy Air Task Force (HAT), which was formed by the Environmental Committee of the Westchester Board of Legislators. Our program director is also an active participant in HAT .The task force met all year on educating legislators, strategizing, and formulating and getting introduced, a legislative program for consideration by the County. Other members of the task force include the American Lung Association, the American Cancer Society (Eastern Division), Citizens Campaign for the Environment, and Environmental Defense. This pending legislative action requires use of cleaner diesel fuel, better filtration and other efforts to reduce diesel emissions. The legislation has not passed as of this writing. (See article on page one). The HAT is now launching a regional effort to encourage other counties to join in this effort to get cleaner air for our region.

Long Island Sound and Davids Island

We have two board members on the Long Island Sound Study Citizens Advisory Committee and have learned a great deal during the year at these meetings. Accordingly, with the Citizens Campaign for the Environment, we initiated an effort to educate the Sound Shore public and officials on four concerns: habitat restoration; open space preservation and parkland acquisition (Davids Island); nitrogen reduction plans; and protection of the Long Island Sound Watershed.

Several board members attended the meetings on Davids Island and field trips to visit the island.

Our directors began to monitor the Liquefied Natural Gas fueling station (known as Broadwater) proposed by commercial interests for the middle of LI Sound. The Broadwater study is currently looking at issues such as the industrialization of this body of water, the expected future costs to provide security and safety to all users of the Sound, and expected future LNG shipping issues.

WESC: Another Year of Action and Advocacy

During 2005, WESC students again participated in an array of stewardship and volunteer projects, educational events and advocacy initiatives. Activities included cleaning the beaches at Croton Point Park as part of the annual International Beach Clean Up Day sponsored by the American Littoral Society, clearing invasive species during “Free-A-Tree” day along the Saw Mill River Parkway, lobbying their state representatives in Albany during Earth Day Lobby Day, and exploring the biological diversity of the Hudson River by seining at the Beczak Environmental Education Center in Yonkers.

The students introduced their SNAP! (Students for No Air Pollution) initiative at a March press conference and during the 2005-06 school year they continued their advocacy efforts to improve air quality and student health on school grounds. We thank Heather Baker Sullivan, FCWC coordinator for the group from June 2004 and spring 2005, and Adiel Gavish, who has led the group since.

FCWC conducted three separate meetings at different locations with our member organizations aimed at revitalizing communication and getting member input and suggestions. Subjects discussed at the three separate meetings varied, but all the meetings concluded that more cooperation and contact between FCWC and our members was important; that restarting an electronic Listserve for information and events was a high priority and that bi-annual meetings of the “Federation” would be beneficial. The Listserve has been restarted and another meeting is in the planning stage.

Clean Water and Other Issues

With the Croton Watershed Clean Water Coalition (CWCWC) last year, six FCWC board members initiated a joint effort to increase our understanding of non-point source water pollution and the Municipal Storm Water Sewer Systems (MS4s) requirements, particularly in northern Westchester. (See CWCWC article on page 7)

One board member has been appointed to the steering committee of the Hudson River Valley Watershed Alliance (HVWA), which is working on a program called Sustainable Water Resources, which we will help present to the public and town officials in a half day seminar.

Another FCWC Board member active in HVWA has met with the staff at the new Rivers Estuary Institute seeking more student interest in Westchester clean water programs, while yet another has provided consultation to an Ossining high school student interested in a three year program the school is conducting for science students. With help from the County’s Environmental Facilities’ Deputy Commissioner, he has advised this student on waste water treatment concepts and sewage treatment plants.

A Wetlands Coalition formed by Riverkeeper, of which we are a member, has been actively striving to get the state to protect wetlands sized from 1.0 to 12.4 acres, in addition to those above 12.4 acres that are currently regulated. FCWC is represented by one board member on the Coalition that is comprised of many other environmental groups, including state-wide groups like Environmental Advocates and Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter.

Transportation issues actively involved three of our board members. One was appointed last summer to serve on the Westchester/Rockland Joint Tappan Zee Futures Task Force, and the other, a long-standing mass transportation advocate working to reduce traffic congestion across the bridge and in the Westchester/ Rockland Corridor, represents FCWC on the Regional Planning Corps of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council. The third presented a technical proposal to several county departments on options to reduce vehicular congestion on major roads throughout the County.

Our ongoing efforts to reduce the use of pesticides and other harmful products throughout the County are continued by another of our board members, who co-founded and serves on the County Pest Management Committee.

Open Space Preservation

Several of our board members have actively joined others in trying to preserve Granite Pointe, and supported efforts to preserve two major acquisitions in 2005: the 628 acre Angle Fly Preserve in Somers, formerly known as the Eagle River site, and the nearly 400 acre property in Lewisboro, which has become known as the Leon Levy Reserve. FCWC also strongly supported member organization Westchester Land Trust’s call to expand the Priority Areas for preservation in Westchester in the New York State Revised Comprehensive Open Space Plan. And several other board members are struggling with the Yonkers Ridge Hill development land use issues.

Education

Advocacy usually involves education too, and sometimes we do this through testimony. A board member testified for FCWC at the hearing in Sleepy Hollow on the proposed riverfront development, supporting several Pocantico River restoration and wetlands preservation plans in the development of the site that was formerly the GM plant. Other FCWC board member testimony was presented to the Board of Legislators in support of flight controls on larger air taxis at Westchester County Airport.

As part of our Federation revitalization efforts this year many on our Listserve are now receiving our electronic bulletin board, and we plan to expand its operation this year. We published four issues of our Westchester Environment newspaper in 2005, and plan to duplicate that frequency this year. We co-sponsored conferences, such as a very successful Deer Management Conference in November, as part of the “Conversations on Conservation” with County Parks. In 2005 we planned for a major Healthy Air Task Force Clean Air Conference to be held in March 2006 at Pace University Law School.

Many members and friends joined us at a wonderful Annual Meeting in June for our 40th birthday, enjoying the comments of a number of our past presidents talking FCWC shop and history. It was fun to see all these friends, and we enjoyed receiving congratulatory proclamations by the County Executive and the County BOL and the state Attorney General.

Finally, I have to include our successful Gala in October and the hospitality we enjoyed from Barbara Matthews Hancock on the shore of Long Island Sound. As good as it got will be hard to beat this year, but you can be assured we will try.

We have been fortunate to have three new wonderful board members appointed this past year, Herb Fox, Steve Levy, and Larry O’Connell, while we’ll miss long time Board member Bill Lawyer. I have run out of space or I could brag more about other board members.

The year 2005 was one of our finest. Collaboration with others was the best part – we met and worked with a lot of friends with similar goals. We all are looking forward to another productive year in 2006, and hope you will join us in these efforts. It has been a lot of fun.

The View of LI Sound from our 2005 Gala

FCWC Welcomes Three New Board Members

During 2005 FCWC welcomed three new members to our Board of Directors and bid one long term member farewell.

Laurence O’Connell of Pleasantville, a senior financial analyst for Metro North Railroad and economics professor, was appointed early this summer. Since joining the board he has assumed the duties of co-treasurer with Bob Tritsch.

Herb Fox, a professor of mechanical engineering at New York Institute of Technology, lives in New Rochelle. Herb is active in our transportation issues and his technical expertise is already benefiting the organization.

Steven Levy, who leads Sprague Energy’s clean fuels product division, is a member of the Healthy Air Task Force working on increasing the use of cleaner, ultra low sulfur diesel fuel in our region.

We are honored and delighted to have board members with such professional and environmental expertise working for FCWC.
Long time board member Bill Lawyer, executive director of the Greenburgh Nature Center, resigned this fall to give more time to other activities. Bill was a highly valued board member and former president, with many areas of expertise. He will be much missed, but he has promised to stay involved in FCWC through GNC, a charter member organization.

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WESC Students Save Trees, and Look Forward to Working with Sustainable Companies

By Adiel Gavish

In an effort to save trees from being strangled by invasive vines along the Saw Mill River Parkway, WESC students and parents rolled up their sleeves on a brisk Saturday afternoon in November to cut and remove these invasive species.This was the second “Free-A-Tree” day, a pilot program by the Saw Mill River Coalition and Westchester Department of Transportation.The students not only helped free trees, but also learned useful gardening techniques from the pros. They look forward to joining in another effort to free tangled trees scheduled for early May.

WESC is also picking up speed with their Students for No Air Pollution (SNAP!) initiative.In an effort to recruit more “SNAPers”, the students will host a SNAP! Training Summit at the White Plains High School in early February, where they will teach students, parents and teachers about their initiative, and how they can improve air quality and student health at their schools through this innovative program.The students will use their power point presentation, which is also available to the public.For a copy of the SNAP! presentation, or to start the program at your school, please contact Program Coordinator Adiel Gavish at (914) 422-4053, or e-mail Adiel@fcwc.org.

Our next event in late February is an advocacy training program for students, with outreach coordinator Victor Melendez of Scenic Hudson.This program may be followed by a salsa lesson, so bring your dancing shoes!April will be a very busy month for WESCers, as the students will again be traveling to Albany for Earth Day Lobby Day, to speak with assemblymen and senators on environmental issues of importance to them.WESC officers have also decided to focus their advocacy efforts on the SNAP! initiative while in Albany.

On April 27th-28th students will participate in the “Students for a Sustainable Future Expo”.The EXPO’s goal is to introduce the concept of sustainable development to students through a variety of interesting real-life examples from local and national companies.This expo will increase student awareness of the environmental impact of their decisions and expose them to sustainable practices as positive alternatives and innovative solutions to environmental issues.

Students will be partnered with companies to create a booth that will showcase the company’s sustainable business practices.This will teach students to look for the connections that link the economy, the environment and society, and show how by simply making conscious decisions that consider each of these sectors, we can prosper without sacrificing our future.

During 2005, WESC students participated in an array of new stewardship and volunteer projects, educational events and advocacy initiatives.Activities included cleaning the already pristine beaches of Croton Point Park as part of the annual International Beach Clean Up Day, sponsored by the American Littoral Society, clearing invasive species during “Free-A-Tree” day along the Saw Mill River Parkway, lobbying their state representatives in Albany on the 2005 Environmental Advocates’ Super Bills during Earth Day Lobby Day, and exploring the biological diversity of the Hudson River when seining at the Beczak Environmental Education Center.During the rest of the 2006 school year, WESC students look forward to continuing their advocacy effort to improve air quality and student health on school grounds with their SNAP! (Students for No Air Pollution) initiative, and participating in a new apprenticeship program with the naturalists at the Rockefeller State Park Preserve.

When asked about their experience with WESC, student officers offered these reflections:

“In creating WESC, FCWC does what many have not: they acknowledge and nurture
the youthful ambition that is part of the environmental movement and direct it to pathways
that will lead to change on local and state levels.”
Alex Gertner of Scarsdale HS, WESC President

“WESC connected me to the wider world of conservation and gave me an
opportunity to speak out when it seemed at first no one would listen.”
Lorenne Gavish of Horace Greeley HS, WESC Outreach Coordinator

“I think that as environmentalists, we should all be aware of how our lifestyles and our
seemingly mundane everyday decisions can have a profound affect on the environment.
WESC provides students with that knowledge, and encourages and guides the next
generation of environmental leaders.”
Katie Walter of John Jay HS, WESC Public Relations officer

“Through WESC, our small HS environmental club activities have expanded beyond
the previous range of what we ourselves were able to organize.”
Chiaki Kurihara, Mamaroneck HS, WESC Secretary

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Good News for Long Island Sound and Davids Island

Staff report

Congress has passed and the President has signed reauthorization of the Long Island Sound Restoration Act through 2010 at $40 million per year.

The act provides for funding of the Long Island Sound Study, the joint effort of EPA, New York, and Connecticut to reduce the nitrogen load of the Sound and thus reduce a major source of water pollution. Westchester’s Congressional Representatives Nita Lowey and Eliot Engel were among the co-sponsors of the legislation, and Ms. Lowey, in particular, was instrumental in getting it passed. The appropriations authorized by the legislation still need to be approved, but for a time there were serious doubts as to whether even reauthorization would be achieved.

Congress also approved an additional $5 million that Rep. Lowey had secured for cleaning up Davids Island in the defense spending bill. Noam Branson, the new mayor of New Rochelle called this allocation “a giant step closer” to protecting the island and opening it to the public. This allocation is in addition to the $4.1 million in Davids Island funds that Rep. Lowey had secured in past years. In other Sound-related action, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and Attorney General Eliot Spitzer announced that the State reached agreement with New York City to reduce nitrogen discharges from the East River wastewater treatment plants.

This agreement, the announcement said, “is the culmination of years of discussion.” It requires the City to reduce nitrogen discharges from its treatment plants by 58.5 percent by 2017, and was hailed by Audubon New York as “historic,” and by the Natural Resources Defense Council as “tremendously exciting.” Some, however, have pointed out that under the original agreement with EPA New York was required to achieve the 58.5 percent reduction by 2014, a slippage of three years. However, before this agreement was reached there was doubt whether New York City would ever take action to be in compliance.

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Rock swales protect drinking water and aquatic life by trapping silt that would flow into watercourses and reservoirs	The Edith Read Wildlife Sancturay benefitted from a dune restoration project which also removed invasive plants.	This streambank restoration project in Mamaroneck helps protec watercourses from siltation loaded stormwater runoff

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The Croton Watershed: A Vital Concern for 2006 and Beyond

By Marian H. Rose

The Croton Watershed Clean Water Coalition (CWCWC) is launching its 2006 endeavors with a full agenda of watershed protection issues that, we hope, will be successful in keeping our drinking water safe and our watershed beautiful.

At the top of the list is our determination, together with other environmental groups such as FCWC and Trout Unlimited, to insure that the enhanced DEC stormwater regulations become a reality in our Croton Watershed. Compliance by the watershed towns with these Phase II Stormwater Regulations, together with the more stringent rules governing the concentrations of phosphorus in the reservoirs (the Phase II Total maximum Daily Load or TMDL rules for phosphorus) could have a huge positive impact on our water quality.

Why the emphasis on phosphorus? It’s because phosphorus is the limiting factor responsible for the growth of algae in our reservoirs. As little as one pound of phosphorus can trigger the growth of close to 115 pounds of algae. As the algae die off and sink to the bottom layers, they are consumed by an increasing population of bacteria that also consume the dissolved oxygen in the water.

This can cause death for fish and other aquatic life as well as serious problems for drinking water since it will contain higher levels of bacteria that can cause taste and odor problems. In addition, the lack of oxygen can result in undesirable water color caused by the release of pure, unoxydized iron and magnesium from the bottom layers of the reservoirs. Another concern is that the algal growth stimulated by the phosphorus will result in a significant increase in organic carbon. This will necessitate higher levels of chlorine to adequately disinfect the drinking water supply and will result in higher levels of the by-products of such disinfection processes - trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids. Some of these by-products are deemed potentially carcinogenic.

The Watershed Towns have until 2008 to comply with the Phase II regulations that include, among other requirements, public education and outreach; control of stormwater runoff both pre-and post-construction; elimination of illicit hookups to the stormwater system; street cleaning and other methods of keeping pollutants out of the reservoirs. These, regulations can burden towns with requirements that may be beyond the technical skills of their personnel to fulfill.

There is obvious reluctance among watershed towns to spend the money needed to fulfill these requirements. In order to save money, we recommend that these towns share experts and whatever equipment is needed in order to fulfill these important requirements. We also urge the state DEC and NYC DEP to lend all possible help.

It seems reasonable for those that are polluting any given reservoir to consolidate their efforts and form Intermunicipal Agreements (IMA) to cut costs and be more effective. We strongly urge them to do so.

As the fortunate residents of this beautiful watershed, it should be our obligation to protect it for ourselves; for future generations to enjoy; and for the benefit of the nine million New Yorkers who depend on it for their drinking water. Visit www.newyorkwater.org

Marian Rose is president of Croton Watershed Clean Water Coalition. CWCWC is an FCWC member organization.

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A Meadow in a Window Box

By Sandy Morrissey

A fritillary floats by. The ruby-throated hummingbird helicopters in for a sip of salvia. The bees are busy on the rubebeckia. I enjoy this whirl of activity outside my kitchen window as I pour my own nectar – a glass of diet Coke.

Last summer I removed a bed of overgrown evergreens and replaced them with plants that I knew – after years of wildlife gardening - would attract birds and butterflies. My new kitchen garden has been such a delight. In a space that is only 15 feet by 6 feet, I created a meadow.

Listed below are the top ten best plants in my garden in Hartsdale for luring wildlife of the winged variety. All these plants do well in my “part-shade” property. Plan to add these plants to your garden in the spring. You, too, can enjoy this gorgeous fauna flitting amongst your beautiful flora.

1. Salvia guaranitica. My #1 hummingbird plant.
2. Monarda (beebalm). Top performing variety is ‘Raspberry Wine.’
3. Lonicera sempervirens, ‘magnifica.’ A native trumpet honeysuckle.
4. Buddleia davidii (butterfly bush). Best butterfly plant.
5. Verbena bonariensis. Great for both hummingbirds and butterflies.
6. Echinacea purpurea (coneflower). Goldfinches, love its seeds
7. Phlox paniculata (garden phlox). ‘Robert Poore’ and ‘Bright Eyes’.
8. Nepeta faassinii (catmint). Both butterflies and hummingbirds visit often.
9. Rudebeckia nitida ‘Herbstsonne.’ Attracts butterflies. Birds like its seeds.
10. Liatris (gay feather). A native attracts the many species of butterflies.

Honorable mention: Hummingbirds also nectar at Hosta, Heuchera, Lobelia cardinalis, Lantana, Zinnia, and Impatiens. Butterflies visit my Asclepias tuberosa (butterfly weed), asters, sedum ‘autumn joy’ and Eupatorium purpureum (Joe-Pye Weed) – all important late-summer and fall-blooming perennials.

For more information on plant culture or questions, feel free to email me

Sandy Morrissey is a Bronx River-Sound Shore Audubon board member and an avid birder, butterflyer and gardener.

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“This Land Is Zoned Amphibian”

Staff Report

That was the headline in a New York Times story in January about the proposed Eastern Westchester Biotic Corridor in the towns of Lewisboro, Pound Ridge, and North Salem, which featured two FCWC volunteers.

The concept was conceived by Dr. Michael Klemens head and founder of the Metropolitan Conservation Alliance, who is a member of our technical advisory board, and given political impetus by FCWC board member Jim Nordgren while he served as supervisor of Lewisboro.

“ We have a sweet spot here in Northern Westchester,” the paper quotes Nordgren as saying, so there still is biodiversity to preserve, while Klemens referred to the plan as “the missing link in land-use planning.” His point is that the preservation of isolated plots of land, while valuable, fails to protect animal habitats. Biotic corridors, on the other hand, are integral habitats not broken up by structures and fences. To be successful, the proposed preservation program requires adoption of zoning regulations by all three towns, and the support of Lewisboro, now that Nordgren – described by the Times as “a fervent conservationist” – is no longer in office, needs to be confirmed.

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