Solar energy has been around for thousands of years. Contrary to what CENTRAL HUDSON and the NEW YORK STATE ENERGY GRID (NYSEG) believe, solar energy production is rampant in the Catskill and Hudson Valley regions.
Solar energy manufacturing is occurring so much that some can hardly keep up with the energy output. Ironically, even power-lines themselves are in danger from the high output of abundant, natural solar energy.
The products of natural solar energy are most commonly known as… TREES!
Maybe you have seen a couple on your way to work. When it comes to leaves – nature’s little solar panels come in many different shapes and sizes! Although the architects of these little solar panels wish to remain anonymous, they must truly be brilliant.
However, their marketing department does need some improvement.
These green solar panels really are green, and made from some really natural stuff… like chloroplasts. Each one is able to capture the sun’s energy in a peculiar manner through photosynthesis. Add in some water and carbon dioxide and a dash of minerals to the mix and alakazaam – glucose energy. In fact, without this reaction, life on earth would cease to exist!
Human beings have been tapping into natural solar for a long time – so long that in reality, the usage of fossil fuels should be called alternative energy. Wood is akin to stored sunlight in a fibrous form. When we burn it, we are releasing carbon dioxide, some water vapor, and other particulates the tree had stored throughout its life. Carbon is not added, but only reintroduced to again mingle with fellow greenhouse gases.
If used properly, wood can serve as a renewable, easily accessible, and cheap source of heat in forested regions – potentially displacing thousands of gallons of fossil fuels, while reducing greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases are negligible since emissions from burning wood are recycled through the natural solar process anyway.
As a Forester, trees can be harvested for fuel in order to subsidize costs of meeting other goals – wildlife habitat; biodiversity; forest health; maple sugaring; timber; etc. Also, using local heating energy like wood not only displaces foreign energy sources, but dollars otherwise exported outside the region too.
By using our energy locally, we provide growing space for younger forest growth and younger humans seeking employment and a living.
Learn how you too can partake in natural solar – our region’s most readily available, renewable natural heating source www.catskillforest.org
Join the Catskill Forest Association Today!
Membership in the Catskill Forest Association is open to anyone interested in protecting the working forests of the Catskill Region. CFA covers a six-county region in Central New York State. CFA's membership is made up of people who own land and those who do not. We have members living in the Catskill Region and members living outside.
In short, if you care about the sustainability of the Catskill forest and a way of life for the people who live and visit here, the Catskill Forest Association needs your help. Please join today.
You can buy a year's membership for $50 by clicking the "Buy Now" button:
The Watershed Post will process your payment and forward your contact information to the Catskill Forest Association, which will contact you with your membership details.
The Catskill Forest Association offers benefits both to the forest and to you. Your membership will ensure that impartial, professional foresters are available to work on forest conservation projects in the Catskill Region. Your dues help to fund educational and advocacy programs, tools and equipment, and the infrastructure necessary to run a dynamic non-profit organization. Through CFA, you will add your voice to the cry of other concerned citizens, making sure policy makers listen to important forestry issues.
CFA offers members:
- A CFA Member sign to acknowledge your commitment to healthy forests in the Catskill Region of New York
- Impartial and Confidential Land Management Advice just a phone call away
- Contractor referrals
- Many events are free or discounted to members
- CFA's quarterly newsletter, CFA NEWS
- Full access to CFA's website with all of its information including newsletters
- E-mail notice of all CFA educational events and activities
- On-site visit program: have a forester come out to your property to evaluate your trees and help you set your management goals. $200 + mileage; membership included
- Only members can enjoy the improvement harvest tree-marking program at an additional fee ·
- Coming soon: Management plans service for CFA’s forest owners that have less than 50 acres
