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Among our Achievements
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Establishment of Environmental Agencies
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RCCA, under the presidency of Eleanor Burlingham (1953-1976),
took the leadership in sponsoring legislative action to set up agencies
concerned with conservation, good land use and the preservation of
open space. State and federal funds supplemented county support to finance
their programs. The Rockland County legislators established:
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Rockland County Park Commission (1960) |
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Soil and Water Conservation District (1965) |
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Rockland County Environmental Management Council (1974)
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Saving High Tor Mountain
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This majestic mountain, made famous by Maxwell Anderson's play,
overlooks the Hudson River. It was part of the ancestral farm of
Everet Van Orden and at this death the Trap Rock Company hoped to
secure it for mining.
Mrs. Leonard Morgan, president, and her Committee to Save High
Tor were largely responsible for the success of the project. RCCA
raised $6,000 toward the purchase of the 23 acres which were given
to the Palisades Interstate Park in 1943. Mrs. Leroy Kimball was
president when the legal battle began to save the slope to the south
from mining. It took 19 years to win the case. |
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Restoring the Dutch Gardens
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Mary Mowbray-Clarke, landscape consultant, supervised the WPA
labor that constructed these gardens in the '30s. They were
designed to develop the brook area and waste land behind the Courthouse
in New City. The garden house, the walks and the serpentine walls
were made from local brick to commemorate this local industry that
was important at the turn of the century.
RCCA records bear witness to the continual struggle to maintain
the beauty of the gardens, to finance the needed repairs, to
enlist community support through festivals and to stimulate public
interest in the preservation of this unique spot. The Association
was responsible for bringing the gardens under county jurisdiction
in 1968. |
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