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NEW YORK STATE CONSERVATION FUNDING AT RISK!
The
Governor’s proposed budget includes a 35% cut in the Environmental
Protection Fund (EPF), fundamentally altering New York's only
environmental trust fund.
Proposed
cuts of most concern are a total elimination of open
space funding and a 50% reduction in funding for
Farmland Protection. These cuts are a direct threat to the vital
work that land trusts do in communities across New York.
In addition
to land conservation the EPF has funded local projects like water
quality improvements in Hempstead Harbor, Oyster Bay and Cold
Spring Harbor, Roslyn Pond, Mill Pond and Bar Beach and,
specifically, Mill Pond Overlook, Jacobsen Shipyard, Waterfront
Center, Glenwood Landing, Old Westbury Gardens, Nassau County
Museum, Planting Fields Arboretum, Garvies Point and North Shore
Historical Museum. Recycling programs, wastewater management and
clean energy programs are funded through the EPF too.
This is very serious and very short-sighted. We can and
must work together in the weeks to come to compel the State
Legislature to restore critical funding for the health of our
community. We will be in touch with our members and friends in the
next few days with suggestions of steps you can take to protect our
local environment.
To
learn more about the EPF and its important function, please
click here.
Introducing the NSLA
The North Shore
Land Alliance, Inc. ("NSLA")
is a land trust formed to protect and preserve,
in perpetuity, the green spaces, farmlands, wetlands groundwater and
historical sites of Long Island's North Shore
for the enjoyment and benefit
of future generations and the protection and enhancement of quality
of life. Important scenic, ecological and
historical elements of the North Shore of Long Island are rapidly being
lost, due to the pace of real estate development. With the need for open
space protection so pressing, concerned North Shore citizens have formed
the North Shore Land Alliance to promote conservation along Long
Island's entire North Shore.
The NSLA's designated area reaches from
the southern boundary of the Northern State Parkway to the shore of Long
Island Sound and from the western boundary of Nassau County to the
eastern boundary of Brookhaven Township.

The North Shore Land Alliance is a tax-exempt
organization designed to promote local land conservation by working with
individual landowners, local communities, village-based land trusts and other
conservation organizations, as well as local and county governments. Services
include:
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Educating landowners and other interested
parties about ways to protect their land including tax advantages donors receive
for conservation.
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Assisting individuals in determining and
carrying out the best conservation solution for their land including holding
conservation easements or title to donated land.
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Providing services to increase the
effectiveness of village-based conservation organizations and concerned
communities of the North Shore by providing a step by step guide for
conservation.
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Organizing and launching new efforts to
preserve open space in North Shore Communities. Matching funding sources with
potential recipients and advocating creation of additional tax incentives and
public funding for conservation.
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Building awareness among North Shore residents
of the need for and benefits of open space conservation through community
meetings, newspaper articles, and "The NSLA Conservation News."
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Providing stewardship services for
conservation easements and preserves. Including monitoring easements and
preserves to ensure conformance to the provisions of the easement or the deed.
The NSLA is a membership-based organization
seeking support from individuals, organizations, and village-based conservation
organizations for its work. Its board of trustees is drawn from residents of
villages along the North Shore. The Nature Conservancy of Long Island provides
supporting services to the NSLA. The NSLA is a member of the Land Trust Alliance
(a national organization of land trusts).
For information about the North Shore Land
Alliance and its services, please contact, Lisa Ott,
President, at (516) 626-0908, Fax (516) 484-4419 or e-mail us at
info@northshorelandalliance.org, or write us at the North Shore Land
Alliance, 151 Post Road, Old Westbury, New York 11568.
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