Fifty Years Ago 5

What we probably now take for granted as far as modern environmental protection, has had its roots with offshoots from the first celebration of Earth Day in April of 1970. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation was created that day. By combining the responsibilities that were earlier assigned to the old Conservation Department, which the DEC replaced, along with some duties transferred from the departments of health and agricultural under one agency, a new era of environmental awareness began. Still in its infancy in 1971, the DEC had yet to pass many new land-use protection measures, acting more as a sounding board and mediator over land-use disputes. Such was the case with the Edgewood Lakes development. Likewise, for many, new environmental concerns over a variety of issues, such as pesticide use, water and air contamination and unregulated land usages would no longer be acceptable by being dealt on a reactive basis, waiting for the problems to happen, but proactively. 

John Adams, a long-time resident of the Beaverkill Valley, was on the forefront with the proactive, environmental activism movement, being one of the founders of the Natural Resource Defense Council in 1970 and serving as that group’s executive director. On a national basis, this environmental advocacy group worked on environmental issues within the legal system, and as a result took on the causes of the most egregious nation-wide environmental concerns over the years. Now, in 1971, these concerns were local, a very loosely regulated and grandiose subdivision in John Adams’ backyard. As the Livingston Manor Times article of July, 29, shows, Adams presented his case to the Roscoe citizenry.