Every
website has its links page and this is ours. Here you will find
links to local community organizations who have long led the
battle for the preservation of our quality of life as well as
articles
and reports of interest.
Concerned
Residents of Carmel/Mahopac Providing residents of the Town of Carmel a means to share information,
ideas and opinions affecting individuals and our community.
Concerned Residents of Southeast CRSE is a community based not-for-profit
organization incorporated to preserve, protect and enhance the
environment
and quality of life of the residents of
The Town of Southeast and Village of Brewster, Putnam County, New York.
Friends of the Great Swamp Friends of the Great Swamp is a community group comprised of
concerned citizens, public agencies, and local businesses and
organizations. Since 1990, it has been an active voice for protection
of the functions, values and integrity of the Great Swamp. FrOGS
is organized into three committees -- scenic and research, education
and tourism, and steering -- all of which work together to collect
and share information, promote education programs, encourage
wise land-use decisions, and assist in watershed protection planning.
PlanPutnam PlanPutnam was created to serve
the people of the region with up-to-date information regarding
over development and suburban
sprawl. With the ever increasing traffic and congestion, light,
noise, water and air pollution that threatens us each day as
the megalopolis south of us creeps ever northward, the people
of Putnam County need a place they can go to learn how to push
back - to stop the sprawl. If Putnam County is "where the
country begins" maybe we ought to preserve some of that
country.
Putnam Valley Residents Coalition We live in one of the fastest growing communities in New York
State. The high density development that has occurred and continues
to be proposed by land developers is a serious threat to our
quality of life. The aim of the Putnam Valley Residents'
Coalition is to protect our natural resources and preserve the
rural character of Putnam
Valley.
Putnam County Land Trust To preserve, for the residents of Putnam County, State of New York, and its environs
and for posterity generally natural resources, including water resources, marsh
land, swamps, woodland, and open spaces, and the plant and animal life therein,
and to preserve sites of historical significance; to further the dedication,
holding, and use of said lands in the County of Putnam, State of New York,
as open spaces and as conservation and recreation areas; and to further the
use for educational purposes and other public purposes of its land; to acquire,
by gift, purchase, or otherwise, open space lands in the County of Putnam,
State of New York, and to maintain and supervise the use of such lands; to
promote the enjoyment of open space by maintaining, enlarging and establishing
nature trails and bridle paths open to the public.
Action for Tomorrow's Environment Action for Tomorrow’s Environment
(AFTE), was created to foster sustainability with a focus on
the environment. AFTE works
to assure that we behave today in a way that preserves our natural
resources for future generations. Since it is the collective
behavior of people in local communities that is critical in this
endeavor, AFTE concentrates on fostering local sustainability
initiatives by governmental bodies, individuals, businesses and
institutions through education and the initiation of local projects
and programs. AFTE works in cooperation with the many other organizations
interested in the same goals.
Saving
the Highlands (Gifting Old Growth Forests to our Children) The NYS Department of Environmental
Conservation (DEC) has long had a plan to extensively log their
lands in Putnam County
once our forests reached maturity, as they now have. The first
step in that plan was a plan exposed only
by chance last spring: a "Model Forest" on Mount
Nimham, one of the most heavily used recreational areas in
our county and the very heart of Putnam County. When this plan
was crafted Putman County was a very different place...
Sustainable Hudson Valley We are a network of individuals
and organizations, from the New York City border to the headwaters
of the Hudson, working creatively
to build more sustainable cities, towns, neighborhoods and rural
communities.Calendar
A
Guide to Outdoor Recreation in Putnam County(Hosted by
PlanPutnam) Welcome to the Heart of the Highlands! Putnam County is a very
beautiful place. With more than 20,000 acres reserved as permenantly
preserved open spaces by a wide
cross section of land owners our lives are made better by the
very fact that we have room to breathe. But will these lands
be allowed to grow old?
Sustainable
Living
BedZed BedZED, the Beddington
Zero Energy Development, is an environmentally-friendly,
energy-efficient mix of housing and work space in Beddington,
Sutton. Unique is an over-used word, but BedZED
deserves it. There are a number of small, one-off projects
based on
sound environmental principles. However, to our knowledge,
BedZED is the first to incorporate up-to-the-minute thinking
on sustainable development into every aspect of the scheme,
from the energy-efficient design to the way the houses
are heated.
GreenBiz The nonprofit, nonpartisan GreenBiz.com
works to harness the power of technology to bring environmental
information, resources,
and tools to the mainstream business community. Its principal
mission is: "To provide clear, concise, accurate, and balanced
information, resources, and learning opportunities to help companies
of
all sizes and sectors integrate environmental responsibility
into their operations in a manner that combines ecological
sustainability with profitable business practices."
Resources
10,000
Birds There are approximately 10,000
bird species on this beautiful planet. Welcome to the 10,000
Birds blog, wherein we chronicle the Core Team's ongoing effort
to see every one of them. We are new to birding and have a
great deal to learn. Join us on our (near) daily exploration
of this fascinating activity. We'll do our best to make the
journey interesting for experts and novices alike!
East/West
Rail Project The East/West Rail Project, under
an affiliate of the Business Council of Westchester, is building
a coalition in support of a full-length east/west connecting
rail, running from Suffern in Rockland County to Port Chester.
Such a plan could connect five existing and heavily-used rail
lines and three states, creating a regional rail network, essential
for the future of the Lower Hudson Valley.
A
Field Guide to Sprawl - Book Review When it comes to defining
sprawl, most people fall back on a version of Supreme Court
Justice
Potter
Stewart's
famous
definition of pornography: They know it when they see it.
That
wasn't good enough for Dolores Hayden. While researching her
2003 book "Building Suburbia," Hayden, a professor
of architecture and American studies at Yale, became frustrated
by her own lack of a ready vocabulary to describe the strange
new man-made forms emerging on the American landscape. Planners
had come up with various definitions of sprawl, but they
were mainly statistical and hard for the average person to
grasp. And so Hayden began combing through reference books,
professional literature, and news accounts for the kind of
lively slang definitions that could cut through the often
foggy jargon of planners and bureaucrats.
Smarter, Cleaner, Stronger We're already convinced that
clean energy sources must be the way of the future, but this
new evidence just reinforces
the point: A Redefining Progress report found that, in addition
to reducing dependence on foreign oil, clean energy would create
1.4 million new American jobs and save every household an average
of $1,275 per year on energy bills . We know how high the returns
would be—now it's time for the initial investment, which
means dedicating time, expertise and funding to developing
clean energy. In addition to the national numbers, the report
includes a state-by-state breakdown to show how clean energy
could affect your hometown. SEE THE REPORT
Squeezing The Suburbs Twenty years ago, three-quarters
of the people living in suburbs were solidly middle-class families.
But today,
that number
has dropped to around 60 percent. According to a new report
conducted by the Brookings Institute, the number of poor
people living in suburbs is now almost identical to the number
of
poor people living in inner cities. There are many reasons
for the influx of poor people to the suburbs—from immigration
to razing of low-income housing and gentrification in the cities.
They're all indicators of increasing income inequality—except
that struggling suburbs don't have the social services and
PR spotlight that inner cities get, meaning life is all the
more difficult for residents. SEE
THE REPORT
To preserve, for the residents of Putnam County, State of New York, and its environs
and for posterity generally natural resources, including water resources, marsh
land, swamps, woodland, and open spaces, and the plant and animal life therein,
and to preserve sites of historical significance; to further the dedication,
holding, and use of said lands in the County of Putnam, State of New York,
as open spaces and as conservation and recreation areas; and to further the
use for educational purposes and other public purposes of its land; to acquire,
by gift, purchase, or otherwise, open space lands in the County of Putnam,
State of New York, and to maintain and supervise the use of such lands; to
promote the enjoyment of open space by maintaining, enlarging and establishing
nature trails and bridle paths open to the public.
A
Guide to Outdoor Recreation in Putnam County
The East/West Rail Project, under
an affiliate of the Business Council of Westchester, is building
a coalition in support of a full-length east/west connecting
rail, running from Suffern in Rockland County to Port Chester.
Such a plan could connect five existing and heavily-used rail
lines and three states, creating a regional rail network, essential
for the future of the Lower Hudson Valley.