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Presented by the Historical Society of Rockland County and signed by the
Rockland County Executive, RCCA was presented with the prestigious Merit Award
shown below:
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Article below, appeared in South of the Mountains, The Historical
Society of Rockland County, July - September 2000 edition
Four awards were given for "preservation leadership" to an
individual or organization displaying outstanding leadership or continuing
contribution to the preservation of historic resources in Rockland County.
Betty Hedges, President, and Faith Leigh, First
Vice President, of the Rockland County Conservation Association, at the
awards dinner on May 21, 2000 |
The Rockland County Conservation Association,
Inc. and its president Betty Hedges have long been associated with
conservation activism in Rockland County. Mrs. Henry von L. Meyer, who
saw the need to expand the Suffern Woman's Club Conservation Committee
to address countywide concerns, founded the Rockland County Conservation
Association in 1930. It became Rockland's first county-wide
environmental organization, working to preserve our natural resources
and areas of historic significance. The organization has shown
outstanding leadership in both recycling issues and pesticide misuse,
and its work has been called "a living textbook on Rockland's
ecology."
Some of the notable accomplishments of the Rockland County
Conservation Association have included the saving of majestic High Tor
Mountain on the Hudson from mining interests, working for responsible
riverfront development and attaining designation of three and a half
miles of the Ramapo River as a Recreational River under a New York State
program. In 1990, RCCA called for a Comprehensive Environmental Impact
Statement on the construction of the extension of I-287. Under Betty
Hedges's leadership, the group helped develop the guidelines for the
Rockland County Open Space Acquisition, was active in the campaign to
preserve Sterling Forest and continues efforts to acquire the remaining
acreage slated for development. Through its Committee to Save Tone
Valley, RCCA is promoting acquisition of open space, and their
Resolution in Support of Preservation of the Ramapo/Torne Valley has
been endorsed by regional groups, the Town of Ramapo and the County
Executive.
To date, this volunteer organization has some 300 members and, under
the outstanding leadership by President Betty Hedges, the Rockland
County Conservation Association celebrates a remarkable 70 years of
service to Rockland County and its future. |
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