News From Around New York State
The future looks bright for New York State parks, trails and public lands based on Governor Hochul’s FY2023 Executive State Budget, which proposes the most ambitious investment in parks, trails, and the environment in decades. Budget highlights include increasing the Environmental Protection Fund to a record $400 million, the Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Bond Act to $4 billion, and capital investment in state parks to $200 million. The Executive Budget also includes a 15% increase in the State Parks operating budget, ensuring that all visitors continue to have access to safe and welcoming outdoor places for recreation and respite. You can read PTNY’s full statement on Gov. Hochul’s budget here.
Olana State Historic Site has secured $11.1million toward its $15 million capital campaign on February 8. Grants from the NYS Energy Research and Development Authority’s Carbon Neutral Economic Development grant program and the Empire State Development Corporation’s Market NY Regional Tourism Capital grant program will fund the construction of a solar array and new visitors center that will help reduce the site’s environmental impact.
On January 12, Gov. Hochul announced a 130-acre expansion to Sterling Forest State Park in Orange County. The new property has a unique history as part of the former Greenwood Forest Farms, an early 1900s resort for prominent Black families from Harlem and Brooklyn, and as a vantage point of Greenwood Lake immortalized in a painting by Hudson River School artist Jasper Cropsey. This acquisition will add new trails and public access to the 22,000-acre park.
On November 24, 2021, Gov. Hochul announced an 860-acre expansion of Moreau Lake State Park in Saratoga County. The new lands include spectacular natural habitat along an undeveloped stretch of the Hudson River that will be known as Big Bend Point. New York State Parks partnered with the Open Space Institute (OSI) to protect the former logging site at Big Bend Point in the town of Moreau. Bounded by two miles of the Hudson River, Big Bend Point includes wide, established logging roads that can be converted into an accessible trail network for year-round walking, bicycling, birding and wildlife viewing, equestrian riding, and non-motorized winter sports such as cross-country skiing or snowshoeing. State Parks plans to install car-top boat/kayak launches, and permit hunting in-season.