DELHI, NY NOVEMBER 1, 2010 -- At the annual Watershed Forestry Program dinner and silent auction, Andes resident Jack McShane (center) accepted the Karl Connell Award from the Watershed Agricultural Council. Tom Pavlesich, the Council's Forestry Program Manager (at left) and Craig Cashman, the Council's Executive Director (right), presented McShane with a plaque at the November 5th event held at SUNY-Delhi.
"We present this award in honor of Karl Connell, a Catskill Mountain leader in conservation who helped mediate the citizen interests upstream with the New York City interests to protect its water supply," noted Cashman. "The Karl Connell Award recognizes individuals for their wisdom, guidance, and leadership in promoting forest stewardship and protecting water quality. Jack calls himself a 'habitat enhancer', and as the seventh Award recipient, we recognize his contribution as a true friend of the Catskills forests."
Along with serving on the task force that helped create the Council's Watershed Forestry Program, McShane is a past president of the Catskill Forest Association and the Catskill Landowners' Association. He writes a column on conservation and environmental topics for the Andes Gazette and is an avid outdoorsman who discovered the wonders of the forest at an early age.
"It's an honor getting the award," said McShane, "but the real honor is having had the luck to work with Karl. He was a fine gentleman, an old-school lawyer, who taught me a lot as the watershed forestry program evolved. He was vital to the contract. He would bring to your attention the nuance of minor detail, the difference between a colon and semicolon and what comes after it. He was always thinking of the landowner and the forest, and how things might affect them both in the future."
Along with McShane and Connell, past award recipients include:
2003 - Karl Connell, Esq.
2004 - Marcus Phelps (retired Forest Service)
2005 - John Schwartz
2006 - Ren� Germain, PhD (SUNY ESF)
2007 - Congressman Maurice Hinchey
2008 - No Award Given
2009 - Paul Trotta (retired DEC)
2010 - Jack McShane
The Watershed Agricultural Council helps private landowners to improve their farm and forest lands in order to protect clean drinking water for nine million New York City residents. The Council works with nearly 1,000 property landowners in developing conservation plans and applying those practices in accordance with farm and forest management plans. The Council's mission is to support the economic viability of agriculture and forestry through the protection of water quality and the promotion of land conservation in the New York City watershed region. The nonprofit is funded by The New York City Department of Environmental Protection, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Forest Service and other federal and foundation sources. The WAC is an equal opportunity employer and provider. For more information, visit www.nycwatershed.org.
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