Longtime Leader Steve Galla Named Hiking Committee Chair
Congratulations to Steve Galla, who has been elected leader of the Hike Committee. Galla, who had been serving as the Committee’s Vice Chair, is a retired New York City school teacher who joined the AMC in 2004.
An active hike leader, he also served as Chair of the Hiking Committee from March 2007 through March 2009 and as Interim Chair of the Committee from February 2011 to August 2012.
Here’s a snapshot of Galla’s plans for the role:
What motivated you to take on the position?
“I’m glad to take on these responsibilities. I feel qualified and energetic and above all, I have a fabulous team of experienced and motivated volunteers to work with. It is my honor to serve AMC and devote my time and effort to make a difference.”
What are your goals for the Hike Committee?
“My goals are to seek out and add qualified hike leaders to our hiking committee and encourage lots of hikes. I am currently reaching out to leaders who can introduce hiking to communities within our coverage area. We have a reservoir of recent AMC-sponsored leadership trainees who need to become full AMC Hike Leaders. We’ve already begun the process of including them.”
Interested in getting involved with the Hiking Committee? Contact Galla at hiking@amc-ny.org
$3 Billion Restore Mother Nature Bond Act
In April 2021, New York State took a major step forward for the environment by approving the annual budget which includes provision for a $3 billion bond, the Restore Mother Nature Bond Act. It will be placed on the ballot for approval by voters in the November 2022 general election.
If approved by voters, projects that would be funded include:
- Water quality improvement and resilient infrastructure
- Open space land conservation and recreation
- Climate change mitigation
Find out more about the ballot initiative in this Riverkeeper blog post.
Protecting Public Lands and Rivers
On February 26, 2021, the House of Representatives passed the Protecting America’s Wilderness and Public Lands Act. It now awaits action by the Senate. This act designates several new wilderness areas, protects portions of rivers as components of the National Wild and Scenic River System (NWSRS), expands some existing National Monuments and National Recreation Areas, and permanently bans new mining claims around the Grand Canyon, while helping to protect the clean water resources critical to the livelihoods of local tribal communities.
Executive Order on Climate – 30X30
On January 27, 2021, President Joe Biden issued a far-reaching Executive Order on Climate with ambitious environmental and conservation goals. Among the many areas within this Executive Order is a section (216 – Conserving Our Nation’s Lands and Waters) to support ’30X30” i.e. protection of at least 30% of the country’s land and water by 2030. Why is this important? Under the pressures of population growth, increasing consumption, habitat destruction, and rising temperatures, species have been disappearing alarmingly fast, going extinct at 100 to 1,000 times the normal rate seen over the past millions of years.
In a major May 2019 biodiversity report, the UN warned that 1 million species are at risk of extinction across the world. To protect biodiversity and mitigate climate change impacts, ambitious conservation goals are necessary to fight climate change and to protect the estimated one million species at risk of going extinct. When done well, protected areas provide durable benefits to people, biodiversity, and habitats.