A meeting is scheduled for March 15 from 7 to 9 pm, at the Stephentown Fire Hall (35 Grange Hall Road, Stephentown) to discuss restoration of free-flowing tributaries to the Hudson River. Periodic grant assistance has been made to remove old dams and re-install culverts to allow fish passage.
[private]For instance, $625,000 was awarded in late 2015 and another $355,000 this January. The Chazen Companies and Stuart Findlay from the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies have been contracted by New York’s Estuary Program and partners to help “prequalify” volunteering owners of dams and culverts for future grants. The free service will include conceptual mitigation plans, budget estimates, and environmental permitting analysis. This is an opportunity to remove or safely breach older dams, and to upgrade perched culverts or box bridges with downstream waterfalls that block fish migration. The March 15 meeting will review ecological benefits of restored stream connectivity, share project information about grant funding, and introduce the ecologists and engineers working on this project. The meeting is co-sponsored by the Rensselaer Plateau Alliance. Please register by calling Chazen at 845-486-1551 or emailing Russell Urban-Mead at rum@chazencompanies.com. More project information is available at http://www.chazencompanies.com/sbmi/[/private]