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When natural resources are exploited, environmental costs and economic benefits are often asymmetric. An example is apparent in the environmental impacts from fossil fuel extraction by hydraulic fracturing. So far, most scrutiny has been focused on water quality in affected aquifers, with less attention paid to broader ecological impacts beyond individual drilling operations. Marcellus Shale methane exploitation in New York State, USA, has been delayed because of a regulatory moratorium, pending evaluation that has been directed primarily at localized impacts. We developed a GIS-based model, built on a hexagonal grid underlay nested within the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's EMAP system, to examine potential cumulative ecological impacts. In a two-step process, we characterized > 19,000 hexagons, each sized to approximate the footprint of one drilling site (2.57 km²), using ecological attributes; we then developed a method for apportioning resource access that includes assessments of cumulative ecological costs. Over one-quarter of the hexagons were excluded as off-limits on the basis of six criteria: slope suitability, regulated wetland cover, protected-land cover, length of high-quality streams, mapped road density, and open water cover. Three additional criteria were applied to assess the estimated conservation vulnerability of the remaining sites: density of grassland birds (North American Breeding Bird Survey), percent core forest (Coastal Change Analysis Program), and total density of all state-mapped streams; these were determined and used in combination to rank the 14,000 potentially accessible sites. In a second step, an iterative process was used to distribute potential site access among all towns (sub-county governments) within the Marcellus Shale Formation. At each iteration, one site was selected per town, either randomly or in rank order of increasing vulnerability. Results were computed as percent cumulative impact versus the number of sites committed and compared to a most-conservative selection process (ranked by statewide conservation vulnerability). Random selection with proportional distribution by town resulted in larger cumulative ecological impacts, but rank-ordered selection by town was in many ways comparable to selection by statewide conservation vulnerability ranking. These outcomes allow for a political solution for managing resource access fairly, based on a balanced geographic distribution of economic benefits, coupled with an underlying scientific basis for assessing the ecological costs that are publicly shared. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The New York State Attorney General's Environmental Protection Bureau undertook an effort to publicize fish consumption advisories regarding fish found in the waters around New York City. With informational brochures in English, Spanish, Chinese, Creole, and Russian, we reached out to minority and ethnic women who select and prepare family meals. To enhance the utility of the brochures, we illustrated the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) consumption advisories with pictures of the fish and maps of relevant locations. Follow-up questionnaires indicated that the brochures were generally well understood and readers were likely to change their meal selection and preparation practices as a result of reading the brochures. We accomplished this outreach at minimal expense and with no special funding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the architectural design of the National Academy of Design (NAD) in New York. When the NAD moved to Doge's Palace in 1865, the school had difficulty in carrying up weighty sculptures due to the absence of an elevator. In 1882, a 700-seat Lyceum Theater was installed at the school and its interior walls were covered with skylights.

Focuses on eurypterid Eurypterus remipes, the state fossil of New York. Fossil arthropods distantly related to scorpions and horseshoe crabs; Silurian rocks as source of euryterids; Fossilized remains in Fiddlers Green member of Bertie Foundation; Exoskeleton; Chelicerates class; Exhibit of specimens at combined GemWorld 1994 and Eastern Federation of Mineralogical and Lapidary Societies Show in New York.