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Legislative Panel Hears Testimony On Environmental Spending

NYS DEC Commissioner Joe Martens
WAMC Photo by Dave Lucas
NYS DEC Commissioner Joe Martens

State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joe Martens says cleaning up brownfields, improving access to public lands and increasing resiliency to extreme weather are among his agency's priorities in the coming fiscal year.

Martens spoke Wednesday at the first of 13 budget hearings before the Senate and Assembly fiscal committees.

The DEC budget for the fiscal year that starts April 1 includes a new Habitat Conservation and Access Account funded by revenue from habitat stamps and a portion of lifetime license sales. The account will allow DEC to match federal funds to support 18 new DEC staff to manage and protect fish and wildlife habitat and related recreation.

Budget hearings continue through Feb. 27.

© 2015 AP

Dave Lucas is WAMC’s Capital Region Bureau Chief. Born and raised in Albany, he’s been involved in nearly every aspect of local radio since 1981. Before joining WAMC, Dave was a reporter and anchor at WGY in Schenectady. Prior to that he hosted talk shows on WYJB and WROW, including the 1999 series of overnight radio broadcasts tracking the JonBenet Ramsey murder case with a cast of callers and characters from all over the world via the internet. In 2012, Dave received a Communicator Award of Distinction for his WAMC news story "Fail: The NYS Flood Panel," which explores whether the damage from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee could have been prevented or at least curbed. Dave began his radio career as a “morning personality” at WABY in Albany.
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