October 30, 2017
The Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo
Governor of New York State
New York State Capitol Building
Albany, NY 12224
Dear Governor Cuomo,
The undersigned organizations – one of the broadest coalitions ever formed in support of New York’s forests,
with national, regional, state-wide, and local organizations from the business, farm, environmental, energy,
and land conservation communities -- urge you to fulfill your 2017 State of the State commitment to
establish the Empire Forest for the Future Initiative (EFFI), and put forward an Executive Budget that funds
the EFFI and support its enactment as part of the 2018-19 State budget.
We thank you for your demonstrated leadership and commitment to protecting New York’s environment. We
are grateful for the historic level of investment provided through the 2017-2018 Enacted budget to protect
and enhance our shared natural resources. The $300 million for the Environmental Protection Fund, the
record level of investments in our State Parks, the $2.5 billion funding for drinking water and wastewater
infrastructure projects, coupled with your leadership on climate change, solidifies New York’s national
leadership in demonstrating that protecting the environment, investing in a robust economy, and ensuring
peoples’ health and well-being are intertwined.
We now ask you to continue this leadership by ensuring that the EFFI is enacted. The EFFI would create a
program that incentivizes private forest landowners to reduce the conversion of forests to non-forest uses,
and encourages sustainable forest management on privately owned lands for the benefit of the State’s
people, economy, environment, communities and climate.
Key Elements of the Empire Forests for the Future Initiative
The EFFI as outlined in your State of the State address has four key elements, which our diverse coalition
supports.


Fixes to the property tax shift associated with the current Real Property Tax Law (RPTL) section 480-a
where such taxing jurisdictions are impacted.



Creates a new RPTL section 480-b which would:
o Decrease the required eligible acres from 50 acres to 25 acres (of which 10 would need to be
forested) to be eligible for tax relief;
o Expand the eligible acres of forest and related lands (e.g. steep slopes, water bodies, wetlands,
etc.) to be included in the program;

 The Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo
October 30, 2017, Page 2

o Expand the range of forest management activities eligible for tax abatement under the new
480-b to include management for enhancing or preserving carbon sequestration, protecting
water quality and quantity, and increasing wildlife habitat and conservation; and
o Provide financial relief to those taxing jurisdictions significantly impacted by the new 480-b
program.


Creates two new grant programs for private forest land stewardship and for community forests; and



Creates a state procurement preference for New York wood products.

Benefits of the EFFI
EFFI offers New York many important benefits, which is why this unprecedented coalition is supporting its
enactment in 2018.
New York can obtain significant carbon benefits through the EFFI.
The EFFI would provide enormous carbon storage benefits. A recent study by the Nature Conservancy
calculated that forest land eligible for preservation support under a new RPTL 480-b would sequester
about 1.3 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide, the equivalent of the annual emissions of over half of the
coal fired power plants in the nation. Of course, not all of these lands would immediately be put into
stewardship under any scenario, but the same study found that assuming enrollment significantly
increases with a new 480-b, the increased carbon sequestration would equal about 3.3 million tons of
carbon dioxide per year – the equivalent of the emissions of over 250,000 homes. This is a significant
carbon benefit.
New York can show national leadership in state action to address climate change.
At a time when many in the federal government cannot understand that addressing climate change does
not require conceding economic prosperity, state leadership is critically important.
Reforming New York’s forest tax program would help establish a national model. Many, and likely most,
states have some form of law to encourage the management and timbering of private forest land. Most
have not been updated or reformed, and continue to focus on creating incentives for timbering. If New
York reforms its forest tax program, other states will have another tool to employ against climate change.
The over 200,000 New Yorkers with over ten acres of forest strongly support expanding the range of
eligible management activities.
The current 480-a program is not working optimally. Participation is about 19 percent of our eligible acres,
in contrast to our neighboring states. For example, New Hampshire and Vermont have over 50 percent of
eligible acres enrolled in their programs. New York’s low participation is likely due to the narrow range of
management options.
New York is missing a tremendous opportunity to increase its participation through a broader 480-b
program that encourages landowners to manage their forest lands for other reasons. Specifically,
according to a recent survey of the over 680,000 forest landowners in New York, the top reasons for
holding their land include beauty, wildlife, water, and recreation. Fewer than 25 percent list timber as a
priority. At the same time, about 95 percent view taxes as their main concern, ahead of invasive species,

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October 30, 2017, Page 3

water, insects and climate change. Forest owners hope to leave a legacy for their families, and tax reform
can help make this possible.
New York can support and expand an important economic sector.
Maintaining forests as forest is good for New York’s economy. New York’s forest products produce a net
economic benefit of over $22 billion dollars and the sector employs over 100,000 New Yorkers with family
supporting wages. Forest-related tourism and recreation alone contribute over $8 billion per year to the
New York economy supporting 32,000 jobs. Further supporting the strong interest of New Yorkers in
preserving their forests for beauty and wildlife, wildlife-related recreation alone adds over $4 billion
annual to New York.
New York can protect water quality and quantity.
It is well established by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) that
preserving watersheds is among the best ways to ensure high quality drinking water for New Yorkers.
Forest lands comprise a substantial, and growing, portion of the acreage in our watersheds, which ensures
a supply of safe, clean drinking water for about 15 million New Yorkers. Forest lands also act as sponges,
retaining water that can then be slowly released, reducing the threats of drought and minimizing the
devastating impacts of floods.
New York can fulfill its policy goals.
The 2010 DEC Forest Resource Assessment and Strategy provides as a key goal, “keeping forests as
forests.” With 75 percent, or 14.2 million acres, of New York forests in private hands), New York cannot
accomplish this goal without greater participation by the private sector – primarily the hundreds of
thousands of families who overwhelming want to keep “woods as woods.” The EFFI will expand the
incentive for maintaining forests as forests in accordance with landowners’ preferences.
In sum, there is no bigger benefit, nor larger return on investment, for carbon sequestration, forest health, the
protection of water quality and improvements to wildlife habitat and New York’s forest economy, than an
investment in New York’s forests. The availability of forest resources for recreation, timber, carbon storage,
and a host of additional ecosystem benefits are determined by management decisions made by these diverse
owners. The EFFI provides a cost effective way to addresses critical conservation needs through private land
management while also supporting local economies.
Over the past several years, we have worked with your Administration and various stakeholders to generate
support for the EFFI. We urge you to act quickly in proposing the EFFI to the Legislature and for the public’s
consideration, and including it in the Executive Budget, in order to enact the EFFI into law in 2018.
Our organizations would enthusiastically champion the EFFI as a comprehensive and complete forest initiative
with the Legislature and engage our vast networks in support of the proposal. We would like to meet with you
or your staff as soon as possible to discuss how best to enact the EFFI in 2018 and to bring its progressive
benefits to New York’s forests, forest landowners and forest related economy.
Thank you again for your leadership on environmental and economic issues and we stand ready to work
shoulder to shoulder with you to ensure the enactment of the EFFI in 2018.

 The Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo
October 30, 2017, Page 4

Sincerely,
Thomas Williams
President
ADIRONDACK LANDOWNERS ASSOCIATION
Neil F. Woodworth
Executive Director and Counsel
ADIRONDACK MOUNTAIN CLUB
Rita Hite
Executive Vice President, American Tree Farm
System, Woodlands, and Policy
AMERICAN FOREST FOUNDATION
Sasha Eisenstein
Government Relations Manager
AUDUBON NEW YORK
Darren Suarez
Director of Government Affairs
BUSINESS COUNCIL OF NEW YORK STATE
Jeff Senterman
Executive Director
CATSKILL CENTER
Ramsay Adams
Executive Director
CATSKILL MOUNTAINKEEPER
Tom Duffus
Vice President, Midwest Region & Northeast
Representative, Conservation Acquisition
THE CONSERVATION FUND
Peter Lehner
Senior Attorney, Sustainable Food &
Agriculture Program
EARTHJUSTICE
John K. Bartow, Jr.
Executive Director
EMPIRE STATE FOREST PRODUCTS ASSOCIATION
Deborah Hawkinson
President
FOREST RESOURCES ASSOCIATION

Dana Cole
Executive Director
HARDWOOD FEDERATION
Ethan Winter
New York Senior Program Manager
LAND TRUST ALLIANCE
Chip Murray
Vice President for Policy & General Counsel
NATIONAL ALLIANCE OF FOREST OWNERS
Mark A. Izeman
Director, New York Program & Senior Attorney
NATURAL RESOURCES
DEFENSE COUNCIL
Jessica Ottney Mahar
Policy Director
THE NATURE CONSERVANCY
Kelly Young
Deputy Director, Governmental Relations
NY FARM BUREAU
Jeffrey Williams
Director, Public Policy Division
NY FARM BUREAU
Charles Stackhouse
President
NY FOREST OWNERS ASSOCIATION
Michael Burns
Immediate Past Chair
NEW YORK SOCIETY OF AMERICAN FORESTERS
Christopher J. Elliman
President & CEO
OPEN SPACE INSTITUTE
Gordy Mouw
Director, Program Participant Relations
SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY INITIATIVE, INC.

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October 30, 2017, Page 5

Cc.
Melissa DeRosa, Secretary to the Governor
Alphonso David, Chief Counsel to the Governor
Jamie Rubin, Director of State Operations
Kate Dineen, Chief of Staff to Director of State Operations
Zachary Knaub, Assistant Counsel to the Governor for Agriculture, Energy and the Environment
Venetia Lannon, Deputy Secretary for the Environment
Pat Hooker, Deputy Secretary for Food and Agriculture
Rajiv Shah, Assistant Secretary for the Environment
Robert Mujica, Director, New York State Division of Budget
Basil Seggos, Commissioner, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
Kenneth Lynch, Executive Deputy Commissioner
Adam Zurofsky, Deputy Secretary for Energy and Financial Services