SHERBURNE – The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation told employees at the Rogers Environmental Education Center in Sherburne Tuesday that their jobs were being eliminated and the center will be closing its doors Dec. 31, citing budget cuts.
The center’s director, Marsha Guzewich, is also among those being eliminated. She confirmed four other full-time employees will be laid off by the end of the year and that all spring activities scheduled with local schools, scouting groups and other organizations will be canceled.
The center has been operating wildlife and nature educational programs for local and regional organizations since 1968.
Guzewich said another DEC position that was funded by a grant program would remain, but she did not know how other offices sharing the site, the Division of Lands and Forest, Forest Rangers and a Division of Operations sub-office, would be affected. She said the environmental education center was one of four others in the state.
Guzewich said she was surprised at the cuts. However, both she and Chenango County’s supervising forester Robert L. Slavicek deferred calls on the matter to the DEC. The state agency’s budget office did not return calls by press time.
Jeff Bishop, press secretary for Senator James L. Seward, indicated that the layoffs were part of job cuts made by Governor David Patterson’s office in order to close New York’s projected $315 million budget gap.
“The Senator was not pleased to see the cuts. The DEC has taken an inordinate hit when it comes to these layoffs,” said Bishop. 
Bob McNitt, an active conservationist and outdoor sports writer, said he was personally familiar with the Rogers Center’s predicament.
“I know a few of them up there and I think they felt they were insulated from the cuts because they were in environmental education,” said McNitt. “They have the various programs there for the scouts, and the school groups, and none of them are going to be able to continue. I’m sure people there are in shock and surprised.”
McNitt was critical of how the DEC has been handling it cuts, claiming much of the money collected from sportsmen for licensing and permits was supposed to be dedicated to support programs like the Rogers Center.
“The money isn’t out of the general fund from the state. These are dedicated funds. If they were part of the whole overall budget, you could understand the cuts. But the money is supposed to be spent only on conservation and environmental efforts,” he said. “They’re closing down facilitates paid for in advance from permit and tax collection.”
McNitt said he shared a growing concern over how the DEC could function as both an environmental protection and conservation agency while regulating a booming natural gas industry and making budget cuts, all at the same time.
Sherburne Town Councliman Edwin Meyer said he was shocked to hear the news this morning. “I never expected that, especially at this late date. I’ve used it myself plenty of times.”
Town of Sherburne Supervisor William Craine said he had just finished running through Rogers’ trail system this morning, a route he’s taken for more than 35 years. “I don’t know what it’ll mean as far as the trails go,” he said.
“I think what it means is that the state’s in such a deficit hole that they have to do something. They can’t print money,” said Roy Hopke, chairman of the New York State Forestry Practice Board.