Today on the show I get to speak with Nancy April, a ceramicist and master gardener and Leonora Wiener, an executive and career coach. They are both officers of The Pacama, a Conservation Collaborative, Inc., which was established in an effort to preserve the rural character of the Olive, Marbletown, and Rochester communities in Ulster County, New York, by a group of concerned neighbors. The group came together in 2020 to strategize how to protect local wetlands, animal habitat, and native plant species in the face of growing development in the area and insufficient town oversight of that development. They created this non-profit conservation corporation, to hold land in trust, preserve its natural character, and educate the community about the beauty and unique attributes of the area.
Pacama is the name the Esopus-Munsee band of Mohicans, the native people of this area, gave to the wetland/vly in our community. For more information about the native people who lived in the area contact the Stockbridge-Munsee Mohican Tribal Historic Preservation Association. Their motto is “People of the waters are never still.”
Today they share how they were personally impacted by the proposed development in Olive, and what they did to limit the size of the development so that it was aligned with the needs and preservation of the natural environment, from letter writing, to attending planning board and town board meetings to filing an Article 78 Petition following the town’s negative declaration of an environmental impact. Through their combined expertise, dedication and successful fundraising, they eventually came to an agreement with the developers to purchase a portion of the land. They formed Pacama as a non-profit organization to hold this land as “forever wild” for the benefit of the larger community, and the environment, which so desperately needs protection.
Not only was this a timely conversation aligned with Earth Day and an ever increasing need for us to take better care of our earth, but it was also a story of a community coming together successfully to work on a solution to a collective problem. Something we could also use more of in my humble opinion.
I mentioned towards the end of the show an Art Exhibit honoring the art and life of Sarah Bisceglie, a dear friend and past guest who passed last year. Opening reception happening May 4th from 3-6pm at the Stable Gallery.
And here’s the info on The Goddess Party performance also happening on May 4th at 7:30 pm.
Finally, here’s the Full Moon Report.
Today’s show was engineered by Ian Seda from Radiokingston.org.
Our show music is from Shana Falana!
Feel free to email me, say hello: she@iwantwhatshehas.org
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