International Paper Awards Grant to Adirondack Council to Support Climate-Smart Local Farming & Business
Will Support Organization’s Work to Boost Low-Carbon Adirondack Economy
For more information:
John F. Sheehan
518-441-1340 (cell)
518-432-1770 (ofc)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, January 12, 2016
TICONDEROGA, N.Y. – International Paper Company has awarded a $2,000 grant to the Adirondack Council to assist with the Council’s efforts to boost a low-carbon Adirondack Park economy.
“We are very happy that the region’s largest private employer is helping us to support local farmers and small entrepreneurs,” said Adirondack Council Executive Director William C. Janeway. “We will use this award to support micro-grants to help foster vibrant communities. Small businesses and farms are an important part of the Adirondack Park landscape and culture.
“One program goal is to help farmers cut carbon pollution out of local food production,” Janeway explained. “That will help us to build a low-carbon economy. We know Adirondackers can’t stop global climate change on our own. But we can stand as an example to others and show the world that it’s possible to prosper while protecting the environment.”
“International Paper is committed to supporting local communities and improving the quality of life for Adirondack residents,” said IP’s Ticonderoga Mill Manager Jay Wilson. “Helping local farms and business to succeed is part of that commitment.”
The grant will support an expansion of last year’s Adirondack Council Cool Farms/Healthy Park Program. The program combined education and citizen participation to curb the air pollution that causes climate change, while providing small grants to local farms that help the farms with environmental and economic sustainability.
Janeway noted that farms play an important role in maintaining water quality, wildlife habitat and open spaces for recreation. Well-run farms are an asset to any community, he said.
“When farmers go the extra step of finding low-carbon, non-polluting solutions to their daily farming challenges, everybody wins,” Janeway said. “That’s what we want to support and encourage.”
On Earth Day 2016, the Adirondack Council awarded Cool Farms/Healthy Park micro-grants to 12 Adirondack farms, with support from the Nathaniel and Courtney Klipper Fund, working with a coalition of partner organizations.
The 2016 micro-grants were awarded to:
Black Kettle Farm, Essex: $1,500 for a horse-powered wood-splitting operation;
Boquet Valley Farm, Westport: $1,000 to modify and enhance beekeeping equipment;
Echo Farm, Essex: $1,500 for improvements to a solar-powered watering system;
Harris Family Farm, Westport: $1,500 for draft-horse gear at an organic dairy;
Hub on the Hill, Essex: $1,500 for solar power improvements;
Juniper Hill Farm, Westport: $1,500 to upgrade cold-storage and decrease energy use;
Kelsie’s Creamery, Essex: $500 to increase seeding and pasture sustainability
North Branch Farm, Saranac: $1,000 for diversified, more climate-resilient crops;
North Country Creamery, Keeseville: $500 to expand/improve grazing rotations;
Reber Rock Farm, Essex: $500 towards an expanded marketing campaign;
Sugar House Creamery, Upper Jay: $500 to upgrade milking technology; and,
Tangleroot Farm, Essex: $1,000 for a growing tunnel to support early season crops.
In addition to grants from the Klipper Family Fund and the new grant from International Paper, the Council supports the micro-grants program through the sale of Carbon Reduction Certificates and Carbon-Zero Certificates. Each certificate memorializes the retirement of carbon allowances from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.
Power plants in RGGI states must purchase one allowance from state officials for every ton of carbon they emit. The nine participating states are all in the Northeast, from Maine to Maryland, excepting NJ.
The Adirondack Council competes against power plants at RGGI auctions to purchase allowances. It then solicits donations from its members and the public to retire those allowances, permanently removing them from the program. Every allowance retired is a ton of pollution that power plants will never be allowed to emit. Every allowance retired reduced the regional pollution cap by one ton. So far, the Council has retired more than 13,000 tons’ worth of carbon allowances from the RGGI program.
Donors receive a certificate explaining how the donation is helping to protect public health, clean water, wildlife and ecologically sensitive places like the Adirondack Park. The certificate is suitable for framing, made out to whomever the donor wishes, recognizing support for cool farms, a healthy park, climate-smart farming and carbon reduction.
The Adirondack Council doesn’t accept government grants or taxpayer-supported funding of any kind. The Adirondack Council is an independent, privately funded, not-for-profit organization.
The Council’s mission is to ensure the ecological integrity and wild character of the Adirondack Park. The Council envisions an Adirondack Park comprised of large, core Wilderness areas, surrounded by working forests and farms and vibrant local communities.
The Adirondack Council carries out its mission through research, education, advocacy and legal action. Adirondack Council members live in all 50 United States.
