by David Flint
About 60 people attended a Community Forum on the future of the Rensselaer Plateau held Monday evening at the Stephentown Fire Hall. The Forum was sponsored by the Rensselaer Plateau Alliance, the Capital District Chapter of the New York Forest Owners Association, the Home Waters Chapter of Trout Unlimited, and the Black River Raiders Snowmobile Club.
Nancy Bell, Vermont Representative of The Conservation Fund, coordinated the discussion, providing a set of questions that the group, split up at tables of five to eight persons each, were asked to ponder and provide answers to. The questions included: What is important to you on the Plateau? How would you like to see the area left to your grandchildren? What are the threats to your vision of the Plateau? What are the solutions? How do you need to go about fulfilling your vision?
Bell emphasized that the key to accomplishing anything in land conservation is to set aside arrogance and judgmentalism and adopt an attitude of acceptance and collaboration. Power, she said, comes from “common-unity” and she had long ago come to realize that we all love the same things about the land. We just have different views of how to use it or how it might be used. “Let differences sit,” she said, “and build on common ground.”
Another forum was held Tuesday evening at the Grafton Fire Hall. According to Rensselaer Plateau Alliance President Jim Bonesteel, there were more than 75 people attending there.
According to John Leahy of Grafton, who attended the meeting there were six questions that the groups were directed to answer – What do you love about Rensselaer Plateau? What is your vision for the future for the Plateau? What are the threats to the qualities that you love for the Plateau? What are the solutions for these threats? What kind of person do you have to be to help create the Plateau the way you would like it? (This question was directed at behavior and not profession.) What are the 3 things that you can do now to help create the Plateau the way you would like it?
“The meeting had a friendly and positive atmosphere and attendees expressed the concepts of environmental stewardship combined with open minded flexibility,” Leahy said. During discussions on community values, the concept of strong local schools popped up on several occasions. The Alliance will publish the results of the answers selected by the table groups on their website. The meeting was well organized and the Alliance organizers had the forethought to provide plenty of free pizza.
Bonesteel was very pleased with the input from both forums. “The values, thoughts and ideas ran the gamut,” he said. “We had a great turnout and a diverse crowd; we had sportsmen, snowmobilers, skiers, saw mill owners, loggers, local officials, farmers, scientists, people whose families have lived here for generations, people who have lived here a few years and recreational users who live off the Plateau. It was great to see so many people of different backgrounds talking and sharing ideas on the subject of the Plateau. I’d like to keep this going.”
