Environmental Justice Newsletter

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
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Environmental Justice Newsletter

DEC Releases 2018-2020 Report on Restoration and Protection of New York's Great Lakes

Cover of the Great Lakes Program ReportDEC recently released the 2018-2020 progress report on the restoration and protection of New York’s Great Lakes resources. Prepared every two years, the report highlights partnerships and achievements completed towards achieving shared goals of New York’s Great Lakes Action Agenda. This progress is achieved by applying adaptive, ecosystem-based management approaches that balance the needs of communities, nature, and the economy, and prioritize science-based decision making.

The 2018-2020 Great Lakes Program Report (PDF) highlights significant achievements, including:

  • Restoring habitats and recreational uses for Environmental Justice communities within the Rochester Embayment and Buffalo River Areas of Concern;
  • Adapting to storms and flooding by building back smarter and enhancing the resilience of Great Lakes coastal communities through Governor Andrew M. Cuomo’s $300 million Lake Ontario Resiliency and Economic Development Initiative, Resilient NY, and other initiatives;
  • Improving and protecting critical water resources in waterways that drain to Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, and the St. Lawrence River to ensure waters are swimmable, drinkable, and fishable; and
  • Securing $19 million in federal Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) funding for 117 projects, complementing the State’s initiatives and commitment to restoring the shorelines of New York’s Great Lakes.

In the coming year, DEC’s Great Lakes Program will update the Great Lakes Action Agenda for the next 10 years. The updates will ensure the Action Agenda reflects emerging challenges, new science, and innovative approaches in order to address the most pressing issues within our Great Lakes communities and ecosystems. DEC encourages interested individuals and organizations to get involved in regional work groups and share your ideas and priorities for protecting, restoring, and enhancing our Great Lakes lands and waters. To learn more and sign up for email updates, visit DEC's website or email us at greatlakes@dec.ny.gov.


Free Curriculum on the Underground Railroad, Great Lakes and Science

The Freedom Seekers curriculum project is a collaborative effort between several organizations and schools throughout the Great Lakes. It is part of a professional development effort for educators to increase their knowledge of the Great Lakes and environmental issues while incorporating Environmental Justice Education (EJE) approaches to K-12 teaching. These EJE approaches leverage cross-curricular connections that focus on increasing the awareness of local issues and history in the Great Lakes region.

Connected to the Center for Great Lakes Literacy and its Great Lakes Literacy Principles, these lessons were designed and assembled as a collaborative effort to share the interconnections humans have with the land. These lessons introduce an innovative way students can engage in place-based learning, by discovering their local history with the Underground Railroad and its connection to the Great Lakes.

This free curriculum, Freedom Seekers: The Underground Railroad, Great Lakes, and Science Literacy Activities, acknowledges the enslaved Africans who had to rely on environmental science principles in their quest for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. These lessons introduce an innovative way students can engage in place-based learning, by discovering their local history with the Underground Railroad and its connection to the Great Lakes.


#BlackBirdersWeek

On Wednesday, February 24th 6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m., Natural Lands' Outdoors Online will host Tykee James, one of the organizers of Black Birders Week and government affairs coordinator for National Audubon society. James will share how and why this now-viral movement came about, lessons learned in 2020, and what he sees for the future.

Natural Lands is a non-profit organization that saves open space, cares for nature, and connects people to the outdoors in eastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey. It has been around since the early 1950s and, today, nearly five million people live within five miles of lands under its permanent protection.

If you are interested in this discussion on the intersectionality between conservation issues and racial progress, register now.  


Environmental Justice and the Environmental-Crisis Talk

On Thursday, February 18th from 5:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m., the Hudson Valley Environmental Justice Coalition is hosting a free moderated conversation with Sachem Hawkstorm, hereditary sachem (chief) of the Schaghticoke People, and Rev. Dr. Gregory Simpson. 

If you are interested in this discussion, register for this event now.