The Refuge is already being overseen by NYC Parks as well as NPS. Any complaints about maintenance should also be directed at the City of New York: http://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/jamaica-bay-and-the-rockaways
You can contact the commissioner via this form: http://www.nyc.gov/html/mail/html/maildpr.html There's also a Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks Conservancy: http://www.jbrpc.org/ Christina Wilkinson Queens, NY ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Askildsen" <askild...@verizon.net> To: nysbirds-l@cornell.edu Sent: Monday, July 13, 2015 5:17:27 PM Subject: [nysbirds-l] JBWR East Pond Water Levels susan herbst, a good thought on your part. unless andrew backsh can say otherwise with his knowledge of the inner workings of the national park service, in my view the problem is that in this day and age, the issues of liabilities and lawsuits would very likely prevent any volunteer from working on levees and release valves, not to mention federal union rules about workforce mgmt concerns. unfortunately, from my past experience, the only way to solve the problem is through organized public pressure. the biggest "achilles heal" for public officials is public opinion. if the public is mad enough to raise enough commotion with congressional representatives in both sides of the house, things will change. until then, birders concerns fall on deaf ears. the jamaica bay coalition should not disband after the west pond issue is resolved, but strengthen and follow through to make sure that the JBWR is funded, managed and staffed to meet the needs of the refuge ecosystem, wildlife and its usership. until we take that approach, we will be standing up to our knees in east pond 'gook'. in recent years, i have been in favor of transferring JBWR to the NWR system, and taking out of the hands of the NPS, who seem to care not for managing for wildlife, but only for skateboard parks, bicycle paths and ballfields. i don't think that top management in NPS Gateway really cares about JBWR, birds or birders. in my opinion, They care about active recreation where there is probably big grant money available, which offers more job security for NPS/Gateway staff. I would imagine that there is little job security in making shorebirds happy. John Askildsen Millbrook, New York -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ -- -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
