The CAC regularly meets via Zoom on the second Tuesday of the month at 6:30pm. Please contact Jane Meigs at janehmeigs@gmail.com if you would like to remotely attend any of our upcoming CAC meetings. Jane will then send you a link to our next meeting date. All are welcome.
The Conservation Advisory Council (CAC) conducts research, disseminates information and advises other town agencies in the management, development and conservation of the town’s natural resources. It is the CAC’s mandate to serve as an in-depth data base for all issues that pertain to the preservation and ecological well-being of the town’s flora and fauna. The CAC’s mission is also to identify human activities or developments that may pose major threats to environmental quality, and to provide the Town Board with research and comprehensive analyses of the environmental impact of proposed land-use decisions on an “as-needed” basis. The CAC is comprised of 3 to 9 town residents with a strong interest in the Council’s mission, as well as knowledge and experience in the environmental sciences, planning and/or environmental law. It is the aim of the CAC to foster increased understanding of environmental problems and issues, and to support their solutions, including, from time to time, making recommendations to the Town Board of appropriate and desirable changes in existing local laws and ordinances relating to environmental issues.
Conservation Advisory Council Members
Jane H. Meigs, Chair/ 646-512-2520
BA Oberlin College and MS Long Island University; Conservation Education Director, Sustainability Coordinator and Environmental Science Teacher at Millbrook School. Green Schools Alliance Coordinator; Librarian and Field Research experience.
Tom Ciano: Master of Architecture Columbia University, Master of Public Administration/Public Finance George Washington University. President of Property Management at Monadnock. Extensive nonprofit experience in low income housing development at Homeward NYC and Neighborhood Restore in LA. Experience in brownfields restoration.
Amy Gold: Studies in wildlife conservation and degree in psychology; Founding member of the Minnesota International Wolf Center; Fundraiser for Save the Thompson-Finch Farm, and member of Pine Plains United.
Colleen Lutz: BS from Marist College in Environmental Science, currently pursuing an MS in Biodiversity and Conservation Biology from SUNY Albany; Assistant Biologist for the New York Natural Heritage Program; member of the Climate Smart Community Task Force and Ancram representative for the Columbia County Environmental Management Council.
Jonathan Meigs: Director of the Trevor Zoo and ecology teacher at Millbrook School with extensive work in wildlife rehabilitation, retired; Member of the Town of Stanford CAC for 20 years, and member of Hudonsia Ltd. Advisory Board.
Susan O’Sullivan: BA in Education and Theatre Arts CUNY Hunter. MS in Education Molloy University. Adjunct Writing/ELA Instructor St. John’s University. Former Executive Producer at CNN NY. Emerging organic/regenerative farmer in Ancramdale. Climate Committee NW Bronx Indivisible. Member Operation SPLASH (Stop Polluting, Littering, and Save Harbors)
Erin Robertson: Certification in Landscape Design and Horticulture from the Institute of Ecosystem Studies; Architectural designer and draftsperson; biodiversity mapping team.
Walter Williamson: BA, Cornell University; MD, NYU School of Medicine; Post-graduate Medical Training, Mt. Sinai Hospital, NY, NY; JD, Columbia University School of Law. Captain, USAF, Medical Corps, Ret. President, Williamson & Williamson, P.C., ret. Certified Master Forest Owner, Cornell University Cooperative Extension.
Associate Members:
Jamie Purinton: State licensed landscape architect; author of books on landscape architecture; biodiversity mapping team and amphibian monitoring program.
Kim E. Tripp, D.O., Ph.D. / 398-0644
Osteopathic physician (D.O.) and plant scientist (Ph.D.) with an extensive career dedicated to plants, plant conservation, and botanical gardens, and fully licensed osteopathic physician in practice in Sharon, CT.
Links
- Audubon Society
- Butterflies of New York
- Columbia Land Conservancy
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology
- Dutchess Land Conservancy
- Hawthorne Valley Farmscape Ecology Program
- Hudsonia
- Inland Fish of New York
- International Dark Sky Association
- Invasive Species of New York
- New York Flora Association
- New York State Bluebird Society
- Wildlife Rehabilitators Council
Recreation
CLC Public Conservation Areas (Columbia County) including Roundball Mountain & Drowned Lands Swamp: https://clctrust.org/public-conservation-areas/about-our-sites/
Weed Mine Taghkanic State Park – Weed Mine Rd. Ancram, NY
(Banner photo credit: Jamie Purinton)
