Envirosphere

On September 3, 2010, DEC Commissioner Pete Grannis announced the release of a draft “Strategic Plan for State Forest Management.” The plan will guide management of the 786,000-acre state forest holdings. Key goals of the draft plan focus on eco-system health and diversity, economic benefits, forest conservation, recreation and sustainable management.

According to DEC, this is the first time the agency has produced a strategic plan for all the state’s forest holdings. In addition to outlining a vision for sustainable management, the plan provides a template for state foresters to develop individual unit management plans for dozens of forest units over the next decade.

There are 442 state forests in New York. This does not include Adirondack and Catskill parks, home to the constitutionally protected Forest Preserve. The first state forest, Hewitt State Forest in Cortland County, was purchased by the state in 1929. The most recent acquisition is the Hemlock/Canadice State Forest, purchased in June 2010.

Managed by professional foresters, state forests play a major role in New York’s landscape by: (1) allowing for the sustainable use of natural resources; (2) providing watershed protection; (3) serving as a valuable source for the state’s forest products industry; and (4) providing hundreds of thousands of annual visitors with access to lands for hunting, fishing, hiking, camping, boating, snowmobiling and other activities.

On August 30, 2010, New York Governor David A. Paterson signed the State Smart Growth Public Infrastructure Policy Act, which requires state agencies involved in infrastructure projects meet 10 statutory criteria for “smart growth.”

The law prohibits the state’s seven infrastructure agencies (the Department of Transportation, Department of Education, the Housing Finance Agency, the Housing Trust Fund Corporation, the Environmental Facilities Corporation, the Dormitory Authority, and the Urban Development Corporation) from approving, financing, or undertaking a project unless it meets the smart growth criteria to the extent practicable. The state agencies also are required to submit smart growth impact statements with their projects and to appoint smart growth advisory committees.

Under the smart growth criteria, agencies are required to advance projects that use, maintain, or improve existing infrastructure; are located in municipal centers; are located in developed areas or areas designated for development in a municipally approved comprehensive land use plan, local waterfront revitalization plan, or brownfield plan; and protect, preserve, and enhance the state’s resources.”

Other statutory criteria include: (1) to foster mixed land uses and compact development; (2) to provide mobility through transportation choices and reduced automobile dependency; (3) to coordinate between state and local governments; (4) to participate in community-based planning and collaboration; (5) to ensure predictability in building and land use codes; and (6) to strengthen existing communities and create new communities which reduce greenhouse gas emissions and do not compromise the needs of future generations.

On September 10, 2010, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative ( RGGI ) announced that 34.4 million carbon dioxide allowances available for immediate use and 1.3 million allowances available for future use sold at its ninth auction for a clearing price of $1.86 per allowance. For the first time, all of the RGGI allowances available for current use did not sell at auction.

According to RGGI, about 25 percent of the allowances, or 11.1 million, will be rolled over into the next auction on Dec. 1, 2010. About 61 percent of the allowances available for future use were sold. The auction raised $66.4 million for the 10 states participating in the RGGI cap-and-trade program. The $1.86 clearing price is the same as the minimum reserve price for allowances. Each allowance allows the holder to emit one ton of carbon dioxide.

Under RGGI, emissions in 10 states—the New England states plus New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland—are capped at 188 million tons for each year from 2009 through 2014. Emissions will then be reduced by 2.5 percent per year over the next four years. On September 13, 2010, RGGI held a stakeholder meeting to discuss the modeling assumptions that will be used as the basis for any changes.