32,000 acres of forestland purchased by nonprofit in Pa.



by , Philly.com Staff Writer

A vast swath of Penn’s Woods in Elk and McKean Counties will be conserved, thanks to a Virginia-based nonprofit.

The Conservation Fund, in a news release, said the Clarion Junction Forest consists of 32,598 acres of “sustainable timberland” around the city of Johnsonburg, Elk County, in the “Pennsylvania Wilds,” just under 300 miles northwest of Philadelphia. It may be the largest conservation acquisition by a nonprofit in Pennsylvania history, a spokeswoman said.

In a deal finalized Wednesday, the Conservation Fund said its purchase will bridge Pennsylvania Game Commission lands and the Allegheny National Forest, while also securing the confluence of the East and West Branches of the Clarion River.

“We are in an entirely new era of private forest ownership in America,” Brian Dangler, vice president and director of the Conservation Fund’s Working Forest Fund, said in the news release. “The transfer of large, industrial-size forests is happening so quickly, we only have a very short window to protect these forested landscapes to ensure their ecological benefits and that they can remain the backbone of rural economies and traditional uses nationwide.”


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Action in New Jersey Assembly on Thursday, June 7, 2018



By Frank Brill, Editor, EnviroPolitics 


The following environment and energy bills are scheduled for floor votes when the New Jersey Assembly meets at 1 p.m. on Thursday, June 7, at the State House in Trenton:

A1093 (Downey / Pinkin) – Requires DEP to update Shore Protection Master Plan.

A2544 (DeAngelo / Houghtaling) – Requires DCA to provide certain information on low-income home energy assistance program, annually update its low-income home energy assistance program handbook, and provide quarterly training sessions on administering program.

A3798 (Calabrese / Eustace / Murphy) – Revises “New Jersey Smoke-Free Air Act” to prohibit smoking at public beaches and parks.

AR45 (Thomson / Mazzeo / Armato) – Urges President and Congress to enact “Transparent Summer Flounder Quotas Act.”


S1057 / A1046 (Van Drew / Gopal / Houghtaling / Andrzejczak / Mazzeo) – Requires EDA, in consultation with Department of Agriculture, to establish loan program for certain vineyard and winery capital expenses.







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FBI: Reboot your router to stop Russia-linked malware


[No, this has nothing to do with the environment (although possibly with politics) but we recognize it as important enough to call to the attention of  all our readers. Heed the FBI’s warning and reboot your router. It only takes a few minutes and could save you a lot of grief–and cause some for Russian hackers. Wouldn’t that be nice? — Editor]


Louis Lucero II reports for the New York Times:

Hoping to thwart a sophisticated malware system linked to Russia that has infected hundreds of thousands of internet routers, the F.B.I. has made an urgent request to anybody with one of the devices: Turn it off, and then turn it back on.

The malware is capable of blocking web traffic, collecting information that passes through home and office routers, and disabling the devices entirely, the bureau announced on Friday.

A global network of hundreds of thousands of routers is already under the control of the Sofacy Group, the Justice Department said last week. That group, which is also known as A.P.T. 28 and Fancy Bear and believed to be directed by Russia’s military intelligence agency, hacked the Democratic National Committee ahead of the 2016 presidential election, according to American and European intelligence agencies.

The F.B.I. has several recommendations for any owner of a small office or home office router. The simplest thing to do is reboot the device, which will temporarily disrupt the malware if it is present. Users are also advised to upgrade the device’s firmware and to select a new secure password. If any remote-management settings are in place, the F.B.I. suggests disabling them.


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Lower limits announced for horseshoe crab catches in NY



The New York Department of Environmental Conservation has advised commercial Horseshoe Crab Permit Holders that:

  • Effective Monday, June 4, 2018, the daily trip limit is decreased to 30 crabs. This trip limit will remain in effect until further notice.

These Changes Only Apply to Commercial Fishing

All horseshoe crab harvest must be reported on the Vessel Trip Report (VTR). Weekly submission of horseshoe crab VTRs is required from April through July. If you need extra VTRs, or would like information on online reporting, please call 631-444-0857.


This action is taken pursuant to the quota distribution schedule of subdivision 44.3 of 6 NYCRR


Postcards have been sent to appropriate permit holders.
See complete list of Commercial Fishing Limits.


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PSE&G says big spending plans won’t hurt ratepayers


Company insists that expenditures will not spike ratepayer’s bills, but Rate Counsel, others remain skeptical

Tom Johnson reports for NJ Spotlight:
Public Service Electric & Gas plans to align its capital spending with state energy policies by filing requests to invest $2.9 billion on a clean-energy initiative and $2.5 billion to upgrade its power grid.

Public Service Enterprise Group, the utility’s parent, outlined the broad features of the programs yesterday at the New York Stock Exchange to analysts at the company’s annual investor’s conference. The formal filings should be made to the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities in the coming weeks and later this year, executives said.

Despite the huge proposed expenditures, PSEG executives argued they will not spike customers’ bills, in part because of the historically low natural-gas prices, which have plummeted in recent years, leading to lower electricity prices and sharply reduced heating costs.The spending proposals reflect the bulk of the company’s planned $14 billion – $17 billion capital investment program over the next five years with 90 percent of the expenditures targeted for the utility. Just last week, PSE&G won BPU approval to spend $1.9 billion to replace cast-iron and unprotected steel mains in its gas distribution system in a separate rate case.
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Even with the investments, Ralph Izzo, the company’s president, CEO, and chairman, said “in a decade, customers will be paying what they were paying back in 2010.’’ Customers’ bills have dropped by 20 percent since the company’s last rate case eight years ago, he said. 

Rate Counsel remains skeptical

Others were more skeptical. “This is just a massive transfer of wealth from the citizens of New Jersey to the shareholders of PSEG,’’ said Stefanie Brand, director of the New Jersey Division of Rate Counsel.
Steve Goldenberg, an attorney representing large energy users, said these multi-billion dollar programs, when combined with other initiatives, such as a new $300 million annual subsidy for nuclear power plants, would place an intolerable burden on the business community and ratepayers.

Read the full story

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