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Natural Areas:
State Land Sales
Our Position: support
Bill Number: A7083
Sponsor: Assembly Member Lupardo (MS)
Legislative Session: 2006
This bill ensures that state-owned natural areas used for recreation or environmental preservation are not sold for development.
Status
04/03/06 – passed Assembly, referred to Senate Environmental Conservation Committee
Action Needed
Please call or write your State Senator in support of this bill. To identify your Senator and find his/her contact information, click here.
More information
Contact our legislative office.
Contact
Legislative Office, 518-426-9144. Or, contact John Stouffer, Legislative Director, john.stouffer@sierraclub.org
Background
April 11, 2005 Memorandum of Support In Assembly 7083 by Assemblywoman Lupardo Title: An Act to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to sale of state lands. Provisions: A.7083 proposes to establish a process for review of state lands prior to sale to prevent the loss of lands that are valuable for recreational purposes or that contain important environmental resources. Under the provisions of the bill, the state land advisory council would evaluate lands proposed for sale using criteria in the state open space plan. If the state lands in question meet the minimum criteria to be eligible for acquisition by the state, then the state lands would not be sold, but transferred to the appropriate state agency for management. Statement in Support: It is somewhat ironic that at the same time that the state is spending millions of dollars annually in pursuit of Governor Pataki’s goal of acquiring a million new acres of open space, the state is also pursuing the sale of lands with important recreational and ecological values. For example, currently the Sierra Club, the Orange County Federation of Sportsmen and the Stewart Park and Reserve Coalition are engaged in legal action aimed at preventing the state from selling up to 1,200 acres of land current owned by the Department of Transportation in Orange County. These lands are widely used by hikers, bikers, bird watchers, hunters and fishers. The lands are representative of an increasingly rare type of natural area known as Hudson Valley lowland habitat that is rapidly disappearing under the rampant development in the region. In spite of these features, the state is pursuing the sale of these lands for development. In order to ensure that the land the state acquires today does not become a land bank for future development, the state must adopt into law measures such as those proposed in A.7083.
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