Congressman Maurice Hinchey (NY22) :: Press Release :: Hinchey Urges Rejection Of Proposed Sterling Forest Development

Tuxedo, NY - Calling a proposed luxury home development project in Sterling Forest "selfish, shortsighted, and irresponsible," Congressman Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) tonight passionately urged the Tuxedo Town Council to deny a request to rezone a parcel of forest that would clear the way for the development of the planned Sterling Forest Estates. In 1993, Hinchey initiated the effort to protect the more than 20,000 acres of the Sterling Forest, which runs along the southern New York and northern New Jersey border. The congressman also asked the town to find incomplete Sterling Forest LLC's Supplementary Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS) and require a full environmental impact statement on the current development proposal.

"The Sterling Forge Estates proposal jeopardizes and conflicts with the dedicated efforts to protect Sterling Forest over the past two decades," Hinchey said. "This project threatens to undermine and compromise the historic investment in protecting Sterling Forest's integrity as a water supply, wildlife habitat, recreational area and forestland. Allowing the development of 107 homes on a 575-acre tract that is completely surrounded by protected forest land would undoubtedly fragment the forest ecosystems and degrade the integrity of a resource which The People-- through our federal government, two state governments and countless private groups and foundations-- have committed to protecting."

Through the combined efforts of Hinchey and various other federal, state, and local officials as well as private sources, the total investment in the effort to safeguard the approximately 20,400 acres that comprise the Sterling Forest State Park now stands at more than $78.2 million. The congressman told the council that the protection of the Sterling Forest is one of the greatest examples of cooperation between various public and private entities in recent history. The bipartisan, two-state initiative to purchase the lands now constituting the Sterling Forest State Park was an enormously complex undertaking, involving many partners, including the federal government, the states of New York and New Jersey and a host of private foundations and organizations.

"As with the creation of our country's national park system or the preservation of our greatest cultural and historic resources, the preservation of Sterling Forest will stand as a testament to the foresight and vision of our generation," Hinchey said. "I find it absurd and ridiculous that this proposed project could jeopardize the legacy left to future generations and on behalf of millions of citizens in New York and New Jersey so that one hundred families can occupy luxury trophy homes."

Hinchey spoke this evening during a public comment session held by the Tuxedo Town Council regarding Sterling Forest LLC's SDEIS and its request to rezone parts of the forest for its proposed 575-acre luxury home project.

The full text of Hinchey's prepared comments for the Town of Tuxedo's public comment hearing on the proposed Sterling Forest development follows:

Hon. Kenneth R. Magar, Sr. and
Members of the Town of Tuxedo Council
One Temple Drive
Tuxedo, New York 20987

RE: Sterling Forge Estates
Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement

Dear Supervisor Magar and Members of the Town Council:

I appreciate the opportunity to submit comments regarding the proposal submitted by Sterling Forest LLC for the rezoning and development of Sterling Forest Estates. As someone who has been deeply involved in the Sterling Forest issue for more than a decade, I feel compelled to speak out on the current proposal, which I believe threatens to undermine many years of federal, state and private efforts to preserve and protect Sterling Forest.

The protection of more than 20,000 acres of Sterling Forest stands as one of the greatest examples of cooperation between various public and private entities in recent history. The bipartisan, two-state initiative to purchase the lands now constituting the Sterling Forest State Park was an enormously complex undertaking, involving many partners, including the federal government, the states of New York and New Jersey and a host of private foundations and organizations. The result of the long and laborious process to save Sterling Forest was the creation of the largest public park system in the NY Metropolitan region since World War II. This is a legacy that will benefit future generations through protection of drinking water supplies for millions of individuals, preservation of critical wildlife habitat, conservation of the region's biological diversity and enhancement of the recreational and scenic resources that serve one of the most densely populated regions in of our country.

I became involved in Sterling Forest towards the end of my tenure in the New York State Assembly, at which time I served as Chair of the Environmental Conservation Committee. Shortly thereafter, I joined the Congress in 1993 and became a member of the House Natural Resources Committee, which had oversight on parks, forests and public lands. Early in my first term in the 103rd Congress, the protection of Sterling Forest became one of my most pressing priorities, which led me to author and introduce a resolution to authorize federal funding for the acquisition of more than 15,000 acres of Sterling Forest. I was joined in the sponsorship of this bill by my former colleague and longtime friend, Congressman Benjamin Gilman, who represented this area for many years, and by Robert Torricelli of New Jersey. U.S. Senator Bill Bradley and Senator Lautenberg introduced and supported the companion bill in the Senate.

Over the following years, members of the New York and New Jersey Congressional Delegation, in cooperation with Republican and Democratic Governors on both sides of the state border, worked to achieve the protection of this invaluable resource. I personally testified to various Congressional committees in Washington in support of the efforts to accomplish this goal. We worked to obtain support from former Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt, who I personally lobbied on this matter, and from President Clinton, who after repeated requests from NY and NJ officials, declared the preservation of Sterling Forest to be a major environmental priority of his Administration on Earth Day in 1996.

That same year, after almost four years of negotiation and difficult work, we were successful in convincing the House of Representatives to authorize $17.5 million in federal funding for the acquisition of Sterling Forest lands. The House passed this authorization and provided $9 million in funding in 1996, to be followed by another $8.5 million the following year. A prolonged negotiation on this legislation held up the companion Senate bill until the final moments of the 104th Congress. The Omnibus Parks and Public Lands Management Act of 1996, which included this authorization and the first year's funding, was in fact the final bill passed by the Senate in 1996 and also the final bill sponsored and passed by Senator Bill Bradley in his distinguished career.

The bipartisan, two-state partnership that evolved recognized the national importance of the Sterling Forest lands and their tremendous value to millions of citizens and to environmental quality in the northeastern region of this country. At the time that we passed this legislation in 1996, we knew that this was only the first of numerous steps to ensure the full protection of all of the undeveloped lands comprising Sterling Forest. And over the years, as you know, that original investment has been substantially increased and the amount of land protected increased significantly. The total investment in this critical effort now stands at more than $78.2 million from federal, state and private sources, accounting for the conservation of approximately 20,400 acres.

The Sterling Forge Estates proposal jeopardizes and conflicts with the dedicated efforts to protect Sterling Forest over the past two decades. This project threatens to undermine and compromise the historic investment in protecting Sterling Forest's integrity as a water supply, wildlife habitat, recreational area and forestland. Allowing the development of 107 homes on a 575-acre tract that is completely surrounded by protected forest land would undoubtedly fragment the forest ecosystems and degrade the integrity of a resource which The People-- through our federal government, two state governments and countless private groups and foundations-- have committed to protecting. This development would imperil a forest preserve that the USDA Forest Service has recognized in the NY/NJ Highlands Regional Study as having "high resource value based on water resources, biodiversity and forestland." The Bergen Record aptly summed up in an editorial on July 25 the situation confronting us, noting that, " ...Punching a hole in the middle of the state forest would diminish the environmental value of the surrounding state land and would radically alter the landscape."

The Sterling Forge Estates proposal will have impacts well beyond the Town of Tuxedo or even the County of Orange. Considering the public and private investment to date, the value of this land as state forest and the legacy of a fully protected Sterling Forest that we can leave to future generations, this development seems selfish, shortsighted and irresponsible.

It is vital that we finish the task that we began more than a decade ago and take our responsibility in this matter very seriously. As with the creation of our country's national park system or the preservation of our greatest cultural and historic resources, the preservation of Sterling Forest will stand as a testament to the foresight and vision of our generation. I find it absurd and ridiculous that this proposed project could jeopardize the legacy left to future generations and on behalf of millions of citizens in New York and New Jersey so that one hundred families can occupy luxury trophy homes.

The property sited for this proposal is indeed a small fraction of the total forest lands, but it is nonetheless a vital and integral component in protecting the tremendous environmental, historical, cultural, scenic and recreational resources of this forest area. In itself, the property in question contains a significant system of wetlands, nationally significant historical and archaeological resources, and threatened or endangered plants and animals.

I know and understand that the Town is concerned about its tax base and that some view this development as critical to that tax base. While this is an important consideration, it is also worth considering that it is questionable that the revenue from this proposal would significantly outweigh the added costs to local schools and the municipality, particularly since the basic economic assumptions used in the SEIS may not be completely accurate.

Another consideration is that there are efforts currently underway to negotiate the sale of this parcel to the Palisades Interstate Park Commission, which will pay taxes on the property without any added demands for municipal services and increased demand on the local school system. The dubious economic benefits of this development are also far outweighed by the potential degradation to this incredible natural resource and to its practical value as a watershed and forest.

As someone who has spent a large portion of my public service career working hard to ensure that Sterling Forest remained protected for future generations, now I ask for your assistance in ensuring that the investment of our citizens in Sterling Forest not be jeopardized in any way. Specifically, I hope you will reject the rezoning proposal requested by Sterling Forest LLC, and I urge you to require a full environmental impact review for this revised proposal to allow full scrutiny of all the impacts. As I'm confident many other of tonight's speakers will highlight, the Supplementary Draft Environmental Impact Statement contains major omissions on the impacts of this project and should not be accepted due to its significant failure in addressing many of the concerns raised by this proposed development. Finally, I ask you to oppose the applicant's proposal based on the clear long-term importance of protecting the integrity of Sterling Forest and in recognition of the significant investment to date that has been made to accomplish this goal.