New York is home to some of the most diverse natural landscapes in the country, from the Adirondack and Catskill mountains to the Long Island shore, the Finger Lakes and the western lands adjoining the Great Lakes. Since graduating from SUNY Cortland in 1995, I have been fortunate to spend a bulk of the past 30 years working across many of these landscapes and on the environmental issues that define them. And for much of the last 12 years based in the greater Lake Placid region within the “Blue Line” of the Adirondack Park, one of the largest protected areas in the lower 48 states.

As executive director of the Adirondack Council, I witness every day how climate impacts and shifting political winds, particularly now at the national level, challenge our state’s capacity to serve as a steward of these natural resources. Ensuring that our state remains a leader in the environmental movement will require determination, innovation, and, most importantly, attracting and educating the next generation of conservation leaders. That is why I often point to “pipeline” programs like the Timbuctoo Institute, a groundbreaking partnership between Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn and the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) as hope for the future. The program introduces urban youth to green jobs and conservation careers, which helped start me down my career path three decades ago.

Pipeline programs like these expand access to environment-focused education and give New Yorkers, whether young people exploring future careers or adults already committed to protecting the state’s wild places, the tools to advocate for conservation and sustainability.

Another example of meaningful engagement is the new SUNY Outdoors for All initiative, supporting SUNY campuses as they create more outdoor recreational opportunities for students and surrounding communities. This effort will help more New Yorkers develop a connection to the natural world and, in turn, a commitment to protecting it.

While programs like this matter tremendously, I remain deeply grateful for the education I received in a formal classroom, learning from experts and pursuing an outdoor recreation and resource management degree unique to the SUNY system. For me, a SUNY education leveled the playing field to get into the conservation field. Today’s renewed focus and dedicated resources across the SUNY system only increases the opportunities for New Yorkers who want to serve the environment, no matter where they grew up or what opportunities they started with.

The SUNY system, especially thanks to innovative schools like SUNY ESF and programs like those at my alma mater, SUNY Cortland, remains one of the nation’s leading institutions for environmental study, natural resource management, outdoor recreation and sustainability, continues to build that pathway. As a long-time member of the SUNY Cortland Recreation Alumni Advisory Committee, I have seen firsthand how SUNY, under the leadership of Chancellor John B. King Jr., is taking important steps to plan for a resilient and fiscally responsible future, ensuring that students continue to benefit from its programs in central New York and the Adirondack Park.

This work to address the fiscal challenges by Chancellor King is essential not just for conservation, but for New York’s economy. Training the next generation of forest rangers, conservation professionals, recreation specialists, environmental scientists and others who keep our outdoor economy strong, SUNY is creating impacts far beyond the classroom. Outdoor recreation and New York State Parks provides critical economic support to some of our most rural communities, as I see every day in the Adirondack Park. A report from the state comptroller shows that even in COVID-impacted 2020, New York’s 250 state parks and historic sites supported over 241,000 jobs and $13.1 billion in compensation. 

The economic impact of the state’s parks and historic sites has grown to rival that of the agricultural sector as the popularity of New York’s public spaces has grown in recent years. And we know that our state parks deliver a strong return on investment: every $1 million invested in parks generates $10 million in sales, $4 million in labor income and $7 million in state GDP.

If that is the return on investing in our public lands, it stands to reason that investing in environmental focused higher education, particularly for pipeline programs like the Timbuctoo Institute and the Outdoors for All initiative, delivers a similar return by building the skilled workforce of the future that will be needed to protect those very lands.

As I look back on 30 years in the conservation field and ahead to the environmental challenges that New York must confront, these programs and the emphasis by SUNY leadership gives me hope. The focus on cultivating the next generation of environmental leadership can, and should, be a driving force that helps New York rise to the moment. Continued investment in SUNY, and in the programs that open doors for future conservation leaders, is an investment in the future of New York’s environment, economy and outdoor heritage.