ESFPA E-News

Register for Upcoming Lake George Regional Meeting

• DATE: Wednesday, October 19th 
• Location: Fort William Henry Hotel
  • 48 Canada St, Lake George 12845
• Info:
  • 6pm-7pm social hour
  • 7pm-9pm dinner & meeting
  • Speakers:
    • John Lochner- NYSERDA
      • Carbon sequestration initiative
• Registration price: $50
• To register, please call Dorian Johnson at (518) 463-1297 ext. 224

Join Us for the 2022 ESFPA/ARC Fall Forestry Round Table

When: Thursday, November 3, 2022

Where: Adirondack Community College, Queensbury

• 8:30 a.m. Registration
• 9:15 a.m. Opening Remarks:
• Session 1: 9:30- 10:30 a.m.
  • Viability of the Logger Corp
  • Presenters: Dr. Rene Germain, Dr. Steven Bick, Kris Brown
• Session 2: 10:45 – 11:45 a.m.
  • Bats, Understory Treatment and Green Tree Retention: Biodiversity and Forest Management
  • Presenter: Dr. Vanessa Rojas, Julia Rizzo
• Lunch 11:45 a.m.
• Session 3: Keynote 1:00 p.m. – 2:15 p.m.
  • Latest on Forest Inventory & Analysis (FIA) and FIA and Forest Soils
  • Presenter: Dr. Grant Damke, US Forest Service, Team Leader, Research Forester FIA
• Session 4: 2:15 - 3:00
  • NY Climate Smart Commodity Project
  • Presenters: Julie Suarez, CALS, Robert Malmsheimer SUNY ESF
• Session 5: 3:15 – 4:15 p.m.
  • Forest Biometrics Modeling
  • Presenter: John Foppert, Paul Smiths College
• Wrap-up 4:15 – 4:30 p.m.
• Registration Fee: $75

Minimum Wage Set to Increase in Upstate NY

Despite the effects of the pandemic on employers, particularly upstate employers, the New York State Department of Labor (DOL) is proceeding with scheduled increases to the state’s minimum wage effective December 31, 2022. While there is no change for New York City employers, Long Island, or Westchester employers, the remainder of upstate New York will see increases.

The new minimum wage and minimum salary levels were published in the State Register on October 12^th and bring upstate minimum wage up to $14.20; one dollar increase from the current wage.  See pages 18-19 in the State Register and the wage rates can be found below. Additional things to keep in mind:

• A new poster. You will be required to post a new minimum wage poster. You will be able to find the new poster here.
• Exemptions. The minimum salary level to be considered exempt from overtime under NYS law for Executive and Administrative employees is tied to the minimum wage and may also be increasing for your industry and area. Remember, there is no NYS minimum salary level for Professional exemptions. For Professional employees you would be subject to the Federal minimum salary level.

NYS Minimum Wage

• NYC-Large Employers (11 or more)   $15.00
• NYC-Small Employers (10 or less)     $15.00
• Long Island & Westchester               $15.00
• Remainder of the NY State               $14.20

Effective 12/31/2022

Future increases will be based on an indexed schedule to be set by the Director of the Division of the Budget in consultation with the Department of Labor following an annual review of the impact.

Telling Your Forest Story – Marketing Class 

A marketing workshop series specifically for wood products businesses.

Are you a wood products business looking to create or fine-tune your story?  Looking for a competitive edge with your marketing that captures the story behind your product?  “Telling Your Forest Story” is an online workshop series designed to help you better understand and incorporate your wood-origin story into your business philosophy and marketing messaging.

The series will cover and connect you with experts on:

• Branded marketing
• Wood and wood flows from the forest
• Forest stewardship
• Forest product and chain of custody certifications
• Consumer perceptions of wood and wood products

Following the workshop series, each participating business will receive up to 10 hours of 1-1 technical assistance from a marketing expert to help you put what you have learned into practice in marketing your business.

This class consists of six (6) online sessions:

• Dates: Tuesdays, starting October 25, 2022
• Time: To be determined
• Location: All sessions will be via ZOOM

This will be a small group (up to eight businesses), which will give you an opportunity to learn from each other, engage with guest speakers, and receive up to ten (10) hours of one-to-one time with a marketing consultant.

In order to receive the 10 hours of technical assistance with the consultant, you must complete all six sessions.  Please be sure you can commit to this entire time frame before applying.

If you are interested in participating, please complete and submit the application by October 20, 2022.

DEC Announces Nearly $1.35 Million in First Round of Grants Supporting Land Trust Forest Conservation Easements

New Partnership Program Provides Grants to Four Land Trusts to Increase Forested Land Conservation and Combat Climate Change

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) today announced nearly $1.35 million in awards to four land trusts to help protect and preserve local forests. The awards were announced during a press conference at the Wiawaka Center for Women in Lake George, Warren County, with the Land Trust Alliance and other partners working together to protect forests and combat climate change.

"Protecting New York's publicly and privately held forests is critical in combatting climate change because of the valuable roles trees play in absorbing and storing carbon, maintaining wildlife habitats, and reducing air pollution," DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos said. "DEC worked quickly to administer these grants to help promote forest conservation and we look forward to partnering with the award recipients and continuing our ongoing collaborations with Land Trust Alliance and land trust across the state."

Protecting forests from potential development and establishing new forested areas helps preserve biodiversity and safeguard the ecosystem benefits forests provide, such as stormwater mitigation, temperature regulation, carbon sequestration, and climate resiliency.

In partnership with the Land Trust Alliance, the $1.35 million in grant funds is awarded to eligible, accredited land trusts to purchase conservation easements on forested land to protect them from future development. The funds were made available through the Forest Conservation Easements for Land Trusts (FCELT) Grant Program (leaves DEC website), which helps increase the pace of forest land conservation to keep forests as forests and continue to help combat climate change.

"Forests are an irreplaceable resource to the people of New York that provide clean air and water, reduce the risks of flooding and extreme heat, protect habitat and boost our local economies," said Meme Hanley, New York Senior Program Manager for the Land Trust Alliance. "Development and economic pressures make protecting forests a challenge that today's announcement will help to address. The Land Trust Alliance and our more than 85 local land trust members appreciate Governor Kathy Hochul, the New York State Legislature, and the DEC's support of this program that will increase the rate of forest conservation in our state to serve as a first line of defense against climate change."

FCELT grants will further goals and strategies identified in the New York State Open Space Plan, the New York State Wildlife Action Plan, the New York State Forest Action Plan, and other local, regional or statewide land protection plans. As noted in the 2020 Forest Action Plan, privately owned forestlands cover 13.62 million acres and represent 74 percent of New York's forests. More than 10 million acres are considered family-owned or non-corporate forests. Nearly 700,000 private forest landowners provide the public with the benefits of clean air and water, carbon sequestration, wildlife habitat, and a forest-based economy. The plan identifies some of the biggest threats to keeping privately-owned forests healthy and intact: development pressure, inconsistent or lack of professional forest management practices, succession planning, and invasive pests which are often exacerbated by climate change and have the potential to devastate or completely wipe out entire tree species. The projects funded by the FCELT grants will help address these threats.

The funded projects include:

Lake George Land Conservancy, Warren County: $350,000 to purchase a conservation easement on a 47-acre forested property on the southeastern side of Lake George that is owned by Wiawaka Center for Women. The "Wiawaka Uplands" property is currently undeveloped forested land with more than 1,500 feet of tributary stream and five acres of forested wetland. The conservation easement will protect the ecosystem services that the property provides in a region of the Lake George watershed that continues to be under pressure from high-density development.

Scenic Hudson Land Trust, Columbia County: $350,000 to purchase a conservation easement on the 200-acre Steepletop property, which is surrounded by the Harvey Mountain State Forest. Steepletop consists of mixed northern hardwood forest, wetlands, and open meadows and represents the largest single inholding in Harvey Mountain State Forest. It is the historic home of Edna St. Vincent Millay, who elegized this landscape in her works. This property is an important conservation priority due to its educational, historic, and ecological value, as well as potential for restored public access.

Agricultural Stewardship Association, Washington County: $294,640 to purchase a conservation easement consisting of approximately 262 acres of forested area on Sugar Mountain Forest and connecting Mount Tom and Chestnut Woods State forests. The completely forested land includes tree species such as sugar maples, American beech, northern red oaks, red maples, black birch, white ash, and hemlocks. The property is completely forested and features several intermittent streams within the interior. A perennial stream is located along the eastern boundary of the property and runs south onto New York State reforestation land.

Genesee Valley Conservancy, Livingston County: $348,025 to purchase a conservation easement on 375 acres of primarily forested land immediately adjacent to thousands of acres of State Forest and Wildlife Management Area public lands. The forest includes a mix of hardwoods and hemlock-dominated deep ravines and more than one mile of stream frontage along Sugar Creek. The project will create a valuable buffer between public and private lands that would expand habitat and biodiversity protections, while providing resource use protection from noncompatible or potentially noncompatible adjoining land uses.

First announced in March 2022, applicants could apply for up to $350,000 to fund the acquisition of conservation easements on forest land in New York State. To apply, a 25 percent match of grant funding was required and land trusts must be accredited by the Land Trust Accreditation Commission (leaves DEC website).

Funding for this grant program was provided by the State's Environmental Protection Fund (EPF), a critical resource for environmental programs such as land acquisition, farmland protection, invasive species prevention and eradication, recreation access, water quality improvement, and environmental justice projects. Among the many environmental victories in the 2022-23 State Budget (leaves DEC website), Governor Hochul succeeded in increasing the EPF from $300 to $400 million, the highest-ever level of funding in the program's history.

About the Land Trust Alliance

Founded in 1982, the Land Trust Alliance is a national land conservation organization that works to save the places people need and love by strengthening land conservation across America. The Alliance represents more than 950-member land trusts and their 6.4 million supporters nationwide. The Alliance is based in Washington, D.C., and operates several regional offices. More information about the Alliance is available at the Land Trust Alliance website.

View a map of the awardees (PDF)

Independent Contractor Rule

In yesterday’s Federal Register, the Department of Labor published its proposal establishing guidelines for distinguishing a full-time employee from an independent contractor. The proposal essentially reinstates guidance similar to that used under the Obama administration that is considered less favorable to classifying workers as independent contractors. From FRA’s perspective, we are concerned that a more restrictive approach to employing independent contractors will increase the costs of logging and trucking, two sectors that rely heavily on the independent contractor business model. Organized labor has been critical of companies utilizing independent contractors, alleging that contractors are actually full-time employees that have been falsely characterized as contractors so that companies may avoid paying benefits.  

The National Retail Federation came out swiftly to oppose the measure: “The changes being proposed by the Labor Department will significantly increase costs for businesses across all industries and further drive already rampant inflation. NRF staunchly opposes a change in this important area of law, which is both unwarranted and unnecessary. This decision will only foster massive confusion, endless litigation, reduced innovation, and fewer opportunities for employees and independent contractors alike.” Alternatively, Uber issued a statement on social media that it believed the proposed rule was reasonable.  

The Department of Labor will be accepting comments on this proposal through November 28. The Federal Register notice may be found here: [PDF]