News Update October, 2014
ISC-Audubon NY Capital Region Chapter
Click here to enter text. Mission: To improve the quality of life and the environment in economically viable ways, while fostering sustainability leaders, through demonstration and education. Goals: Goal 1: Economic Prosperity Foster economic prosperity by cooperating with others, so that the economy grows sufficiently to create meaningful jobs, reduce poverty, and provide opportunities for a high quality of life for all. Goal 2: Good Health and Environment Ensure that every person enjoys the benefits of clean air, clean water, and a healthy environment at home, at work and at play and foster individual commitment to personal, sustainable health and lifestyle choices. Goal 3: Equity for Everyone Ensure that everyone is afforded justice and have opportunities to achieve economic, environmental and social well‐being. Goal 4: Conservation of Nature Use, conserve, protect and restore natural resources – land, air, water, and biodiversity – in ways that help ensure long‐term social, economic and environmental benefits for this and future generations. Goal 5: Stewardship Embrace and foster a widely held ethic of stewardship that strongly encourages individuals, institutions and corporations to take full responsibility for the environmental, economic and social consequences of their actions.
Goal 6: Sustainable Communities Work cooperatively with everyone to create healthy communities where natural and historic resources are conserved, jobs are available, sprawl is contained, neighborhoods are secure, education is lifelong, transportation and health care are accessible, and all citizens have opportunities to improve the quality of their lives and personal health. Goal 7: Civic Engagement Create full opportunity for citizens, businesses, and communities to participate in and influence the natural resource, environmental, social, and economic decisions that affect them. Goal 8: Resource Efficiency Foster movement toward maximum efficiency in the use of all resources in ways that demonstrates economic, environmental and social benefits to area businesses and citizens. Goal 9: Responsibility Foster, and showcase leaders who are engaged the development and implementation of sustainable resource management and development policies, standards of conduct, trade and policies that further the achievement of sustainability and that demonstrates economic, social and environmental benefits for all. Goal 10: Education Ensure that all citizens have equal access to education and lifelong learning opportunities that will prepare them for meaningful work, a healthy, high quality of life and an understanding of the need for a personal commitment to sustainable living and lifestyles.
Colonial Acres Update ISC-Audubon has been working with Dale Ezyk Golf, LLC to create a unique project located at Colonial Acres Golf Club in Glenmont, New York. This season has been hectic, but very good. Aside from the regular golf club members and those that pay green fees to play golf, the course has hosted a number of PGA Sports Academy Youth Camps this summer. All sessions were nearly full and the participants seemed to really enjoy themselves. Several campers enjoyed the sessions so much that they attended more than one camp session! In addition to the Youth Camps, numerous Adult Learning Sessions were held via the Get Golf Ready program. These sessions, along with several organized golf events and tournaments resulted in a great year for golf at Colonial Acres. And…the season is not over yet! There will still be many warm days this fall for a round of golf at Colonial Acres. In addition to the traditional golf, a Disc Golf Course has been added and plans are made for adding a “Foot Golf” course next season. Thanks to the help of the Glenmont Job Corp., nearly ¾ of the Nature Fit Trail around the property perimeter is completed and plans are for the entire Trail to be open for use by next spring. Additional activities at the facility this season included programs on Beginning Birding, Astronomy, Conservation Landscape Management and the Capital District Fly Fishers put together a fly fishing and fly tying demonstration, despite the rain that kept participants to a minimum. We are already talking with the Fly Fishing Club about trying again in the spring! Colonial Acres Neighborhood Once upon a time Colonial Acres Golf Course was owned by the adjoining neighborhood development, but the course is now owned by the not-for-profit Open Space Institute. However, the Home Owners Association of the neighborhood is very interested and supportive of the efforts being made at the golf course. In addition, the HOA decided that they should also become involved in conservation right in their neighborhood. So…the Colonial Acres HOA is now an ISC-Audubon Platinum Member and they are working toward becoming an Audubon Certified Neighborhood! Much progress in that regard has been made this summer. Look forward to further updates in upcoming issues of this newsletter.
The ultimate goals associated with the golf course and the neighborhood projects are to start walking the walk of conservation and sustainability right where people live, work and play and then hopefully spread the message and the movement beyond those particular places, just like tossing a stone in a pond causes ripples in the water beyond where the stone landed. In the coming weeks, look for some very special announcements about our plans for the coming months and years ahead. We are quickly growing a list of members, sponsors, contributors and partners. Our intention is to create model projects right here in the Capital Region that can be replicated across the country. Thank you for your interest and support. If you or your neighborhood or business has interest in becoming involved in similar projects as we have underway in the Town of Bethlehem, NY, send us a note or give us a call and let us know. We will be more than happy to chat with you about how we might work together to improve the quality of life and the environment in the Capital Region.
All the best till next time,
Ronald G. Dodson Chairman ISC-Audubon 1380 Indian Fields Road, Mail Box 339 Feura Bush, New York 12067 rdodson@isc-audubon.org 518-859-5370