Climate Smart Community

climate-smart

Climate Smart Community

(CSC) Program is a New York State program that helps local governments take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to a changing climate.

The Village of Millbrook took the Climate Smart Community pledge in August of 2022 and is working to achieve bronze certification status in 2025.

The Village of Millbrook and the Town of Washington have completed several initiatives that have earned us points toward CSC certification.

These initiatives include:

  • Creating Climate Smart Community Task Forces and Coordinators
  • Installed Electric Charging Stations at the Town Hall
  • Pollinators Pathway and No Mow May
  • Planning phases for composting programs for the Village and Town
  • Trainings for Climate Smart Community Task Force Members
  • LED Light replacement in government buildings and streetlights AND this Joint Natural Resources Inventory

September 2024

The Village of Millbrook and the Town of Washington made a presentation to the public at the Millbrook Firehouse in September 2023 in which the NRI Steering Committee along with NYSDEC and Cornell Cooperative Extension scientists presented residents with an overview of our current Natural Resource Inventory which included Watershed and Ecosystem Maps.

Natural Resources Inventory (NRI)

The Town of Washington, the Village of Millbrook and the Town of Clinton are working on a joint Natural Resources Inventory. A program supported by the New York State’s Department of Environmental Conservation.

A Natural Resources Inventory is an accounting of a municipality’s natural resources. Natural resources include things like water, animal habitats, trees, and vegetation. It can also take account of a municipality’s cultural resources as well. NRIs are maps and narrative descriptions identifying these unique and varied resources.

NRIs enable municipalities to make informed decisions around land use. It is vital to fully understand the location and extent of our natural resources when adopting regulations, reviewing changes and making decisions concerning land use.

To learn more about NRIs:
https://hudson.dnr.cals.cornell.edu/conservation-planning/inventory-and-planning/

The Village of Millbrook, Town of Washington and the Town of Clinton, was jointly awarded technical support for this NRI by the Hudson River Estuary Program in conjunction with the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation and the Cornell University/Cornell Cooperative Extension.

An updated Natural Resources Inventory was also recommended to our Town and Village as part of the Town of Washington’s 2015 Comprehensive Plan and its 2023 Hospitality Addendum to the Comprehensive Plan. Our NRI should be completed by calendar year end, 2023.

Task Force Members

Village of Millbrook

Gen Glasson
VOM Planning Board Member and CSC Coordinator

Dr. Peter Groffman
Microbial Ecologist / Cary Institute for Ecological Studies

Mike Herzog
VOM Trustee, CSC Task Force Member, Conservation Advisory Commission Member, Chairperson Shade Tree Commission

Dr. Shannon LaDeau
Conservation Advisory Commission Member, CSC Task Force Member, Disease Ecologist/Cary Institute for Ecological Studie

Special Meeting 9/21/23 – Natural Resources Inventory Draft Presentation

By Village Admin | September 7, 2023

The Natural Resources Inventory Task Force is holding a Special Meeting on September 21st at…

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Natural Resources Inventory

By Village Admin | June 20, 2023

The Town of Washington, Village of Millbrook and Town of Clinton is working on a…

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How Can You Help?

We want to hear from you! If you have questions or thoughts about our NRI, feel free to email the Task Force at
Village of Millbrook: mhtrusteevom@gmail.com or Town of Washington: nritaskforce@washingtonny.org

Additionally, to learn more about our CSC work and its members, visit the Town of Washington’s site at washingtonny.org