Project Updates - June 2010 Black River-St. Lawrence RC&D Project Updates: June 2010 Council Meeting: The next Council meeting will be on Wed, July 14th at 10:30 at the Amboy 4-H Center in Oswego County- a beautiful, unique facility owned by Oswego County CCE. All are welcome to attend. Please call Becca at 315-782-7289 x5 if you plan to attend. Algae Biofuels Project: The project committee met with Paul Smith’s to discuss potential use of their new Watershed Institute Facility and toured the state of the art facility. The committee is currently working on developing a research proposal. Recycling Ag Plastics: Rigid plastics were collected in Jefferson, St. Lawrence and Franklin Counties this spring. Funding for the balers has finally been approved at the state level and is now at the Cornell level. There are two balers waiting to come to NY as soon as the payment voucher is approved. The first two will go to Tompkins County and St. Lawrence County. There are four more slated to come to NY after production- one of these will come to Jefferson County. Discussions continue on how to make this process sustainable and locally controlled. The local Ag Plastics Recycling proposal is still in the running for the Pepsi Challenge grant. RBEG Cape Vincent Community Wind Project: The contractor, SED, finalized their assessment of transmission capabilities and energy usage patterns in the Cape Vincent area. They held a public forum to discuss siting the meterological tower to collect wind data. A steering group was formed to review potential locations based on the maps created by the contractor. Ultimately, the Chase Farm was willing to site a met tower on their land and the process is moving forward. The tower will be up for one year, during which time the contractor will move forward with additional public meetings to discuss the formation of a community ownership model. Grass Pelleting Project: www.slcgrassenergy.org The local demonstration project is moving forward and is hoping to be on-line this fall/winter. The group has had an educational presence at several local events this summer and is planning a few more. They have developed posters and an educational postcard to hand out. The Grass Pelleting group is working with the Regional Biomass group to offer one Biomass Boot Camp in Canton and potentially one in Jefferson County this fall. The RC&D Council submitted a proposal to NYPA for funding to help support this. Planned Grazing Grant: We learned that the NYFVI grant for this project has no funding available (NYFVI lost their funding from the state budget). However, since Trish had started working with 4 farms already, she will continue to work with them on a more limited basis. She will maintain a monthly monitoring schedule throughout the growing season and will continue to provide the farms with reports and information. Chanda is working with Martha Pickard from ANCA to transition the facilitation of the Northern NY Farmer’s Partnership discussion group to RC&D. This group is a very successful farmer to farmer discussion and sharing group modeled on the Heifer International concept of pass-on’s of animals and knowledge. The RC&D Council submitted a joint proposal with Hudson Mohawk RC&D for potential Ben and Jerry’s Foundation funding to support the farmer to farmer discussion groups. Woodsmens Field Days: Due to the difficulty in scheduling volunteers as well as the need to move around the event space to talk to potential partners, the Forestry Committee and Council decided not to have educational booths at the Tupper Lake and Boonville Woodsmens Field Days. Instead, the Council sponsored both events and will have their business card in event publications and receive passes to the events. Volunteers from the Council and Forestry Committee will receive passes to attend these events and network for the Council. Chainsaw Safety: The Forestry Committee is working with Dan Tilton and the Ranger School to schedule BOCES chainsaw safety workshops for September. The Forestry Committee is working with Wayne Allen to potentially instruct chainsaw safety courses for the general public, trail crews and municipal workers in the future. Rails to Trails: The Lewis County trail section proposal is currently on hold. A private group in Jefferson County is looking at a potential project in the Cape Vincent area with assistance from Pat Crast, Jeff Co. Trails Coordinator. Herkimer County mentioned a possible, local Rails to Trails project on a privately owned 19 mile section of track. Dry Hydrants and ISO Workshops: The Council is still looking for a project leader to move these forward in 2010 or 2011. All Counties have expressed interest in participating. Project leader would be the lead voice in organizing funding as well as coordinating with ISO for workshops. Raquette River Blueway Group: This is a community based group promoting river stewardship, education and access. Raquette River Awareness Week will be July 31- Aug 8. Council members will assist with the event and maintain contact with the Blueway group. Watershed Groups: St. Lawrence River Watershed Partnership- The RC&D Council is working with partners to form a recognized group for watershed management planning and implementation activities. Franklin, St. Lawrence, Jefferson, Lewis and Herkimer Counties are involved from this area. Black River Watershed Management Plan- The Lewis Co. SWCD and the Tug Hill Commission took the lead in organizing the development of the Black River Watershed Management Plan. This is now completed and these organizations are working with local communities on developing implementation strategies. BR-SL RC&D is available as a partner to these communities as they move forward. Mohawk River Watershed- Oneida and Herkimer Co. SWCD’s are active in this group. July Meetings (C.L.): 7/9- Forestry Conf Call 7/9- Algae Biofuel Mtg- Malone 7/13- Executive Conf Call 7/13- Herkimer Co. SWCD/RC&D County Committee Mtg 7/4- Council Meeting- Amboy 4-H Center, Oswego Co. 7/15- Franklin County- Grazing Mtg. 7/15- St. Lawrence Co. SWCD/RC&D County Committee Mtg 7/20- St. Lawrence Co. Grass Pelleting 7/28- Lewis County CPIC/RC&D County Committee Mtg Respectfully Submitted, Chanda Lindsay, NRCS Coordinator, Assisting Black River- St. Lawrence RC&D Council

Chanda Lindsay Receives Merit Award Chanda Lindsay, RC&D Coordinator, recently attended the NYS Association of Conservation Districts Annual Meeting where she received a Merit Award for the promotion of SWCD programs in RC&D.

USDA-NRCS Employees Who Assist The Black River-St. Lawrence RC&D Council CHANDA LINDSAY - RC&D Coordinator Chanda has been with the USDA NRCS, working with the Black River-St. Lawrence RC&D Council, since February 2008. She has found her niche working with the diverse array of projects and programs that the RC&D Council is involved in. Chanda says: “It’s all about being a jack-of-all-trades- at least that’s the way it works for me! From a Bachelors in Animal Science to a Masters in Outdoor and Environmental Education and from a zookeeping job to a RC&D Coordinator career- diversity has been the name of the game in my career path. What better place to be than right here in Northern New York? This area suits my personal preferences as an outdoor enthusiast as well as my professional preferences for diverse opportunities. As the coordinator for the Black River- St. Lawrence Resource Conservation and Development Council, Inc. (RC&D), I work with a council consisting of representatives from seven counties in the North Country to coordinate a wide array of resource conservation and rural development activities- from forestry to agriculture to recreation. The Council is made up of volunteer members from Soil and Water Conservation Districts, County Legislatures and At-Large members from the community. The Council members are the movers and shakers- who develop and implement project ideas which are as diverse as the council membership. The Council does everything from organizing Chainsaw Safety and Lumber Grading Workshops to assisting with Watershed Plans to working on local renewable energy projects. My job is to facilitate this process by making connections with local partners, assisting with grant writing and helping with follow up. I look forward to continuing to work with this fantastic team and all of our partners to offer some great opportunities to benefit residents and tourists alike in the North Country. I am grateful every day to be able to live and work here!”

BECCA HARE - RC&D Secretary Becca is an Adams Center, N.Y. native, who has found a perfect fit working part-time for the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). Prior to working for NRCS, she worked fulltime for a very busy local agricultural dealership. Becca works part-time performing the day-to-day operations in the RC&D business office. Becca manages to squeeze work or extracurricular activities into nearly every minute of every day. She coaches seventh grade girl’s softball in the spring and eighth grade girl’s volleyball in the winter at her alma mater, South Jefferson Central School, in Adams. Becca received a Bachelor’s of Arts Degree from SUNY Potsdam in 1990 for Writing and Editing. Her husband is a Civilian employee as one of the managers for the Defense Commissary Agency at Fort Drum. Mark and Becca have two children, Benjamin (9) and Jillian (7). Becca has worked for NRCS since October of 2004.

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