SHERBURNE – The Friends of Rogers Environmental Education Center Inc., a volunteer group, is hoping to spearhead a campaign in the coming weeks to restore funding to the center.
The group’s vice president and spokeswoman Sharon Pelosi said the not-for-profit organization held its first board meeting Monday night since the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation announced the center’s closure a week ago.
Governor David Paterson said 898 state employees would be laid off by Dec. 31, including about 150 from the DEC – five of whom work at the local Rogers Center.
Pelosi said the Friends of Rogers hope to begin a write-in campaign to local state representatives and circulate a petition in the coming days. She said the group will work with any other organization sharing the similar goals.
“Our immediate task is to restore funding to the center so DEC personnel can continue to operate the site. When that’s no longer a possibility we will look at other options,” said Pelosi. “It seems to us that the state is hoping for us to come in and take things over, but we want to make sure the community is heard first.”
A number of local politicians have expressed support to keep the center open in the last week.
Assemblyman Gary Finch released a statement Monday reporting his office had been in contact with the Office of the Division of Budget regarding the issue and he’d be sending letters to both Gov. Paterson and acting DEC Commissioner Peter Iwanowicz, “to advocate for the center to remain open.”
Village of Sherburne Mayor William Acee is urging the public to address their own letters of support to the acting DEC commissioner and to the Chair of the Assembly’s Environmental Conservation Committee, Robert Sweeney.
Senator James L. Seward’s office reported receiving a number of phone calls and e-mails after the DEC announced the closure last week.
“The senator would support a local effort to replace the loss of state funding and has opposed the governor’s budget, including these cuts,” said Seward’s Chief of Staff, Duncan Davie.
City of Norwich Mayor Joseph Maiurano mailed a letter Monday to Sweeney and Iwanowicz, strongly opposing the closure.
“While we are all aware of the need for spending reductions to close the state’s budget deficit, closing the Rogers Environmental Education Center can hardly help. The center has a director and a staff of five. Its budget is minimal. Closing the center can hardly affect the state budget deficit. However the closing will have a huge impact on Chenango County and all of central New York,” wrote Maiurano.
Chenango County Chairman of the Board of Supervisors Richard Decker and Town of Sherburne Supervisor William Craine both said they had not been contacted by over the center’s closure by the state, even though DEC representatives told lawmakers in an hearing last week they were in the process of doing so.
Pelosi said the Friends board is in the process of contacting schools, local governments and others in hopes of rallying support to protest the closure.
She said the group expects to receive additional information sometime next week that would detail the specifics of the proposed closure. “We hope to be a pipeline of information for those supporting the center,” she said.
Pelosi said information so far provided to the group did not indicate if the center’s grounds or facilities would remain open to the public after the layoffs.
“At this time it is not clear whether the center will be accessible to the public following the proposed closure. The DEC maintains many of the buildings and grounds,” she said.
Still in the planning phase of their efforts, Pelosi said her organization would release additional information on a petition and other activities next week.
She said the Friends of Rogers still plans on holding its annual Winter Living Celebration at the center in January, despite the cancellation of all regular programming sponsored by the DEC.
“Many weekend events held at the center are sponsored by the Friends of Rogers and our fundraising efforts and were looking forward to having it again this January,” said Pelosi.
Pelosi admitted that the event hinges on the DEC’s decision to allow general access to the center after Dec. 31. “We’ll hopefully find out if that’s possible sometime next week,” she said.
Pelosi said one of the challenges the volunteer group faces in launching a public effort are its close ties with the local center and the DEC.
“In the past we’ve often told people to contact us through the center’s phone number and we shared a DEC web site with the center. I’m not sure how that’s going to work moving forward,” she said.
Friends of Rogers Environmental Education Center describes itself as “a not-for-profit corporation composed of dedicated supporters of Rogers Environmental Education Center. This group consists of four officers, and up to fifteen additional directors, all of whom serve without compensation. Directors provide valuable input, grass roots support, and help to promote Rogers Center programs.”
“Members of the Sherburne Rotary Club conceived of the idea for an environmental education center in 1964. New York State adopted a proposal by the National Audubon Society for the center in 1966. In 1968, a Citizens Advisory Committee was formed to assist John Weeks, the Center's first director, in evaluating programs, and establishing community relations. This committee later became the Mid-York Conservation Fund, Inc. and is now called Friends of Rogers Environmental Education Center, Inc.”
To visit the group’s web link log onto www.dec.ny.gov/education/59758.html.