I am from Northern Westchester NY, the ‘suburbs’ of NYC. Regardless of the stereotype of Westchester, the area near me is what my dad likes to call ‘rural suburbia’ because most of the houses have large areas of land surrounding them, including forests. I grew up in the outdoors, and it is something that is very important to my family and I.
This morning, I was startled to read on Facebook that Westchester County is planing on cutting budgets that support many protected areas, such as parks and nature centers, including Muscoot Farm, a place I spent many summers at camp. Here I was taught how to milk various animals, collect eggs from hens but also how to fish, hike and learned about the local ecology.
It is quite upsetting to hear about parks and centers like many of the ones in Westchester become defunded and in turn becoming abandoned, vandalized or generally just less educational, I truly believe that these places hold so much value educationally so I hope that grassroots efforts such as signing petitions and writing to local officials can have positive effects!
For reference, here is the petition: https://www.change.org/p/ask-legislators-to-save-our-curators-save-our-parks?recruiter=429543954&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink
This is truly such a bummer to hear! It is so frustrating when budget cuts get directed at these kinda of valuable outdoor areas. It is especially frustrating because there might be a lack in interest these days for it to be a consideration, yet some people have such positive experiences at these parks and nature centers. I worked on trails near home throughout high school, which was an amazing experience, and I can’t imagine facing budget cuts toward that area in my own home town! This reminds me of recently when the West Ward Neighborhood Partnership in Easton, with which I am very involved, was about to run out of funds. However, enough people expressed concern with this and interest in the valuable projects through the WWNP, and they were able to acquire additional funds for the time being. I hope that a similar success story can come from this, and that people who care about it, like you, are able to make that difference!