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  7th AWARD RECIPIENT HONORED:
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. Read more about Jack in the Winter 2010 issue of Watershed Farm & Forest due in mailboxes on December 31.
FUND THANKS:  Benefits & Data Processing Administrator Edna Boroden took home the coveted raffle prize...a Hsqvarna chainsaw donated by Dave Cammer and Tom Buel. The silent auction featured donations from area Catskills wood crafters including cutting boards from Stamford, NY-based Catskills Craftsman, 10 skeins of wool yarn from Snow Hill Farm, 100 square feet of curly maple tongue-groove from Cannonsville Lumber, and wood baskets by Dry Brook Customs. Thanks to all who donated items and bid on over 40 items. The event raised $5,195 towards the Council's Conservation Easement Stewardship Fund.
The Fund's current assets (roughly $600,000) will be transferred to a formal endowment fund vehicle this year. The endowment will oversee the easement property portfolio in the future, should the time arise. The Council estimates the need to set aside approximately $88,000 per easement property in the Stewardship Fund to effectively manage that holding in perpetuity. Fundraisers such as the Forestry Dinner Silent Auction provide a venue to supplement the Council's $15-million endowment goal. If you missed the event, you still donate to the Fund easily online.
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