Preserve River Ecology

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 3, 2010 Contact: Tina Posterli, 914-478-4501 x 239 New York’s Clean Water Advocate Teams with Religious Organizations Along the Hudson River in Successful Letter Writing Campaign Tarrytown, NY – March 3, 2010 – In a major victory for American Shad coast-wide, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) has approved Amendment 3 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Shad and River Herring. To protect coast-wide shad populations, shad fisheries will be closed except in states that demonstrate through research that their commercial and/or recreational fisheries will not … Learn More

In a major victory for American shad coast-wide, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) has approved Amendment 3 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Shad and River Herring. To protect coast-wide shad populations, shad fisheries will be closed except in states that demonstrate through research that their commercial and/or recreational fisheries will not diminish the potential future stock reproduction and recruitment. Amendment 3 will require all states to have management plans completed and approved by January 1, 2013, otherwise closures will be instituted on a state-by-state basis. Riverkeeper … Learn More

Riverkeeper kicked off the new year by submitting comments to the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) supporting the closure of the Hudson River American shad fisheries and restrictions on American shad fishing in the Delaware River. Learn More

Riverkeeper supports the NY State Assembly Bill 8914 which calls for reducing the use of products that contain phosphorus in New York State. Phosphorus, which is currently found in some lawn fertilizers and household cleaning products, is a hazardous chemical when it makes its way into our waterways through lawn run-off and dumping into our sewers. Read letter to NYS Assemblyman Sweeney in support of a statewide Phosphorus bill. Learn More

In a significant victory for environmentalists concerned about the proposal to build a desalination plant in Rockland County, using Hudson River water, the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is requiring the applicant, United Water New York, to provide detailed information on alternatives, including water conservation, loss minimization and minimization of demand. Learn More

On January 1, 2009, Riverkeeper submitted comments on the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC) Draft Amendment 2 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Shad and River Herring. Riverkeeper called for ASMFC to require extensive monitoring and reporting of river herring populations in member states, mandate programs to reduce and monitor bycatch, coordinate at-sea monitoring programs on a coast-wide basis, implement habitat restoration, reduce anthropogenic threats to fish survival, and work with member states to implement sustainable management of commercial and recreational fisheries. http://www.riverkeeper.org/campaign.php/hudson_fisheries/we_are_doing/1532-riverkeeper-calls-for-protecti Learn More

(Tarrytown, NY) Today Riverkeeper is submitting written comments on the new Tappan Zee Bridge/I-287 environmental review documents. Riverkeeper is somewhat gratified that, subsequent to its last set of comments which raised the following among its concerns, the New York State Department of Transportation (NYS DOT) along with other stated federal agencies: (1) has provided this second public scoping comment period; (2) appears to have eliminated at least some aspects of the segmentation of the environmental review process (transit and bridge options are now being considered together); (3) has decided to provide the proposed transit station locations along the corridor; and (4) as stated by the agency in a separate Fall 2008 newsletter, may be committing to do a full Environmental Impact Statement on the integration of the mass transit components and station locations. Learn More

On December 1, Riverkeeper submitted written comments on the new Tappan Zee Bridge/I-287 environmental review documents. While a few of Riverkeeper’s concerns have been addressed by the New York State Department of Transportation, concerns about the legal procedure, environmental impacts, and commuter rail option remain. Learn More