Conservation Advisory Commission (CAC)

Meetings

We welcome you to join us at our public meetings held on the fourth Monday of each month at 7 p.m. unless otherwise indicated on the Town calendar.

Committee Members

  1. Pam Kingsley

    Chair of the CAC

  1. Susan Karnes Hecht

    Member - CAC

  1. Lorraine Mirabella

    Member - CAC

  1. Margaret Slomin

    Member - CAC

  1. Maribeth Rubenstein

    Member - CAC

Town Government Liaisons

  1. Michael Welti, AICP

    Director of Municipal Development

  1. Anne Burger

    Third Ward

OverviewCAC - Climate Smart Display at the Arlington Street Fair September 2019

The CAC was established in 1979 by the Poughkeepsie Town Board to, according to its founding resolution: “Advise the Town Board on matters affecting the preservation, development, and use of the natural and man-made features and conditions of the Town of Poughkeepsie insofar as quality, biologic integrity, beauty and other environmental factors are concerned. In the case of man’s activities and developments, advise on any major threats posed to environmental quality, so as to enhance the long range value of the environment to the people of the Town of Poughkeepsie.”


It also falls within the responsibilities of the CAC to conduct programs “of public information in the community which shall be designed to foster increased understanding of the nature of environmental problems and issues and support their solutions.”

Natural Resource Inventory / Open Space Plan

The Town of Poughkeepsie has received a grant from the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation’s Hudson River Estuary Program to complete a Natural Resource Inventory (NRI) and Open Space Plan (OSP). The Town of Poughkeepsie is in the process of updating its Comprehensive Plan, and the NRI/OSP will implement one of the updated Comprehensive Plan’s key recommendations by advancing the community’s understanding of the natural resources present in the Town and establishing specific resource protection and conservation goals and strategies. In October the Town Board approved moving ahead with the contract with MJ Engineering and Land Surveying, P.C., to complete this work, which will include opportunities for public engagement in 2021. 

For more information, please visit the Natural Space Inventory / Open Space Plan Project Page, which will track its development, including future meetings and other opportunities for public involvement. 

The NRI and OSP are crucial elements in the Town’s application for certification as a New York State Climate Smart Community. The CAC is also pursuing other initiatives that intersect with Climate Smart. You can learn more about this related work on the Climate Smart Task Force page.  

View the "Gardening for Wildlife" video on the Ralph T. Waterman Bird Club YouTube page.

Events


Documents

  1. Natural Areas and Wildlife in Poughkeepsie (PDF)
  2. Significant Habitats in the Town of Poughkeepsie (PDF)