West Branch Delaware River, looking down river from a window on the Hamden Covered Bridge.
From the Walton Reporter (no website), December 16, 2009.
The Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) reported yesterday that its review of the 2004, 2005, and 2006 storm events, utilizing the new Delaware River Basin Flood Analysis Model, demonstrate that widespread river flooding would have occurred regardless of the pre-event storage conditions in the upper basin reservoirs. The findings were announced by DRBC staff at a public meeting of the Delaware River Basin Interstate Flood Mitigation Task Force …

West Branch Delaware River, looking upriver from a window on the Hamden Covered Bridge.
From the Walton Reporter (no website), January 27, 2010.

New York State Senator John Bonacic said, last week, that New York City should purchase natural gas drilling rights in the watershed, rather than try to have the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) prohibit the drilling through regulation. Bonacic said the attempt to have gas drilling prevented in the watershed is an attempt to expand New York City Watershed Rules and Regulations without any compensation.
Bonacic said the city …

Coyote – Eastern Point, Gloucester, MA – 16 Feb 2009, originally uploaded by jrtrimble.

If you have any interest at all in the Eastern Coyote, their habits, habitat, what they are eating, their impact on other species, num, movements and human/coyote interactions in the urban/suburban/rural environments you must attend this exciting and interesting lecture.
Featured speakers:

Dr. Jacqueline L. Frair, Assistant Professor Wildlife Ecology, SUNT ESF

Dr. Frair is the principal investigator in a five-year $670,000 study funded by the NYS DEC that aims at getting a better idea of how many coyotes live …

From the Walton Reporter, abbreviated, January 20, 2010
(The article expressed the disapproval of a New York Attorney General settlement with five healthcare facilities within the NYC watershed to cease flushing unused pharmaceuticals down sinks and toilets, and to pay a fine of less than $18,000 for the five institutions combined. The board felt the institutions were not doing anything wrong. The end of the article (which follows) concerns James Eisel, Chairman of the Delaware County Board of Supervisors and the NYC land acquisition program.)
Eisel also claims the attorney general’s enforcement …

Delaware County, Hamden Bridge over a flooding West Branch Delaware River.
From the Walton Reporter (no website), December 23, 2009.
DELHI – The Delaware County Board of Supervisors has gone on record as supporting the process used by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to create an environmental impact statement as part of the process of creating regulations for drilling of natural gas wells in the Marcellus Shale, which lies beneath much of New York, including Delaware County.
At last week’s board meeting, supervisors adopted a resolution in support of …

Colchester: Cole Clove Brook emptying into the Pepacton Reservoir.
From the Walton Reporter (no website), December 23, 2009.

DOWNSVILLE – The Colchester Town Council has passed a resolution in support of natural gas development in the town, and the town supervisor says he believes drilling fo natural gas in the Marcellus shale formation that extends through Delaware County will be critical to the economic well being of the county, as well as to that of the town.
Colchester Supervisor Robert Homovich, who has succeeded the late John Meredith as county budget director, said …

From the Walton Reporter (no website), December 30, 2009.
(The following letter was sent to Colchester Supervisor Robert Homovich, the letter writer has informed The Walton Reporter and asked that it be printed here.)
Dear Mr. Homovich,
I am due to inherit land in Colchester, not far from Shinhopple, and I am deeply upset that you would permit the dangerous practice of hydrofracking in this valley. Horizontal drilling will introduce a mixture of toxic chemicals into billions of gallons of clean water, which must be sucked out of the Delaware River. It is …

From the Walton Reporter (no website), December 30, 2009.
Local opponents to the development of gas drilling in the region have asked the Delaware County Board of Supervisors to hold another meeting on gas drilling. In a letter written by Carole Marner of Franklin, the group says a previous meeting of the board only included information that was “the supportive point of view of the gas industry,” and that it is now time for the board to hear the concerns of residents who oppose gas drilling.
Marner’s letter responds to a letter …

Fall Clove Brook with Barnes Hill in the Background
From the Walton Reporter (no website), December 30, 2009.

According to a report commissioned by the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), natural gas drilling and exploration are incompatible with the operation of New York City’s unfiltered water supply system and pose unacceptable risks for more than nine million New Yorkers in the city and state. Drilling in the watershed requires invasive industrialization and creates a substantial risk of chemical contamination and infrastructure damage, according to the Final Impact Assessment Report …

Gas Drilling Rigs Coming Soon?
From the Walton Reporter (no website), January 6, 2010.

Last week, the union that represents DEC employees sent a letter to Governor David Paterson, asking the governor to extend the comment period on the dGEIS for at least another 30 days and to express the union’s judgment that the expansion of gas well hydrofracturing must not be allowed within the next calendar year, if not longer. The Public Employees Federation (PEF), which represents nearly 2,000 professional, technical and scientific staff of DEC, also sent its comments to …

Will Fall Clove Brook, feeder stream to the Pepacton Reservoir, be polluted by gas-drilling fracking chemicals?
From the Walton Reporter (no website), January 6, 2010, abbreviated.
On Dec 30, the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) submitted its comments on the draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (DSGEIS), which was prepared by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), for horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing to develop natural gas from the Marcellus Shale formation. The last date to comment on the DSGEIS was Dec 31.
In a cover letter to the comments …

Here are some items of note from the latest issue of New York Outdoor News, January 22, 2010. NY Outdoor News is 32-pages published every two weeks… an excellent newspaper.

Hamden covered bridge over the West Branch of the Delaware River.
From the Walton Reporter (no website), January 13, 2010.

HAMDEN – The Hamden Town Council met last Wednesday and joined other local municipalities in adopting a resolution in support of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and its process for developing regulations for natural gas drilling.
The resolution, which was earlier adopted by the Delaware County Board of Supervisors and has been presented to other towns for approval, says the town supports drilling for gas in the Marcellus Shale, …

Jack McShane, the letter writer, lives over this ridge.
From the Walton Reporter (no website), January 13, 2010.

(The following letter was sent to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The letter writer has asked The Walton Reporter to publish it as well.)
Dear Mr. Bloomberg, et al,
I am writing from a small town called Andes in the Catskill Mountains, a place I call home and you and your constituents call your watershed. My wife and I are landowners here, having purchased 370 acres, some of it 24 years ago, and are planning …

From the Walton Reporter (no website), January 13, 2010.
The Catskill Watershed Corporation Board of Directors recently adopted a measure allowing reimbursement for septic repairs done between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2009 that were not within priority areas for the regular Septic Repair and Rehabilitation Program. Adequate monies in the program fund has allowed the CWC to make this assistance available at year’s end.
Homeowners who can show proof that repairs were completed, were approved by the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and were paid for, may fill …