In Memory of
Michael Ciaiola
by Bob Bondi
The people of Putnam County appreciate the life of Michael
Ciaiola. Michael was one of the founders and the tireless leaders
of the Putnam County Land Trust and its predecessor organization,
Save Open Spaces. Together with a select group of activists
which included Paul and Eleanor Fitchen, Robert Smith, Ed Rose
and Del Goldsmith, Michael drafted the legislation in 1984-85
for what might prove to be the single most important piece
of legislation ever passed by the Putnam County Legislature.
Resolution R-555 adopted a policy for the preservation of open
spaces in Putnam County, which "recognized the importance
of preserving appropriate parcels of land as permanent open
spaces which includes woodlands, lakes, ponds, wetlands, streams
and greenbelts, which should be held in their natural, undeveloped
state of perpetuity."
One of the most significant achievements of this man include
the two adjacent conservation areas on Haviland Hollow Road
in the Town of Patterson which total 900 acres of pristine
parklands that will be enjoyed by future generations of Putnam
County residents. Mike was instrumental in getting the Great
Swamp designated as a Critical Environmental Area in Putnam
County, an action also taken later by Dutchess County. Countywide,
Mike was successful' in getting the Putnam County Legislature
to dedicate 81 unique parcels which totaled 1478 acres in five
towns as County Conservation areas.
Over a thirty year career at JFK High School, thousands of
students had the opportunity to be trained by Michael. Michael
organized and supervised a filed trip to the Rain Forests of
Costs Rica which involved many of our young leaders who needed
to experience first hand the threatening nature of poorly planned
development on an international scale. When the trip ended,
Michael continued on his own research on this momentous issue.
Many years earlier, Michael Ciaiola competed with other high
school science teachers including Christa McAuliffe for the
once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fly in the NASA space shuttle.
God obviously had more work in Putnam County for Michael when
the selection was made.
Michael's last major project was to partner with New York
State Senator Vincent Leibell to obtain the necessary funding
to forever protect the Ice Pond Conservation Area at the southwest
portion of the Great Swamp. A planned educational center yet
remains to be completed at Ice Pond for the benefit of future
generations of young people.
I will treasure my memories of hiking the trails of SOS properties
with Mike and trying to keep up with the long legs of Tom Morgan,
paddling the canoes through the Constitution Marsh and the
Great Swamp with our families, eating the famous plowsman lunch
at the annual meeting of SOS in the backyard of Dorrie O'Brien's
house on Cobb Road and in the early 1980's strategy meetings
were held at the Fitchen's to protect SOS's holdings from the
tax assessor so future generations could inherit those lands.
Spoken at Michael Ciaiola's funeral in January of 2000 |
In Land We Trust
for County's Future
by Michael
Ciaiola
Putnam County is blessed with many beautiful natural features.
Some of these land forms and ecosystems are of national and
regional significance. The Hudson River Fjord is the only true
fjord on the east coast of the United States south of Mt. Desert
Island, Maine. The beauty of the river, its historical landmarks,
and the profusion of life in its estuarine waters and fresh
water tidal wetlands are a national treasure.
Putnam County is also home to the Great Swamp of Putnam/Dutchess,
the Appalachian Trail, New York City reservoirs, the bog turtle,
the Atlantic White Cedar and more.
Whose responsibility is it to protect these treasures? All
levels of government and the private sector share this responsibility.
Present law leaves a significant amount of control in the hands
of local government. Local government must deal with the demand
for services from its constituency while also protecting the
quality of life that attracted people here in the first place.
This is no simple task. Towns are often in competition with
each other for tax ratables. The need to meet bills and the
lack of both real regional planning and innovative cooperation
can lead to planning scenarios that do not adequately address
environmental constraints or opportunities. Rivers, lakes,
wetlands, groundwater and wildlife do not respect municipal
boundaries nor are they aware of "economic realities." Thus,
a cooperative approach is called for.
It is important that a community retain a sense of self and
place. In so doing, it instills a sense of pride in all who
live there. The preservation of natural, as well as cultural,
features helps identify a community. A community that plans
to retain its identity defines clearly the limits of growth
and designs its developed areas to be sensitive to the nature
of the land and its life. A community with a sense of place
and self tends to have fewer problems.
Land trusts should be a partner with government. They can
provide services to the community that would eliminate the
need for government to do so. In providing publicly accessible
trails, protecting natural resources and vistas, providing
research and educational opportunities and more, land trusts
contribute to a community's character and resources with little
or no need for services.
People gain sustenance and well-being from being in contact
with wilderness and natural areas. It is difficult to put a
price on this. Nurturing nature gives us the opportunity to
demonstrate our humanness and the opportunity to encourage
natural creatures to flourish among us not only in some far
away place. Relegating natural areas to Yellowstone is like
relegating happiness to heaven. We do not know whether we will
ever get there.
We must continue to improve our understanding of the natural
environment we live in while encouraging the development of
a land ethic. Our economic structure can be responsive to our
ethical concerns for people and nature.
Appeared on April 8th, 1994 in the "Gannett Suburban
Newspapers, Putnam Reporter Dispatch" edition. |
