Letters to the Editor; published December 15 to 21

Birds and birthdays

Posted 12/13/22

Bees need us. They are being killed by neurotoxins called neonicotinoids (neonics for short). Just one neonic-treated corn seed has enough active ingredients to kill 250,000 bees. When neonics in treated corn and soybean seeds became more toxic, bee die-off increased. As with mercury and lead, there are no known safe levels for these chemicals, and they are in our soil, water and, increasingly, in us. They sterilize the soil and cannot be removed from water.

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in
Letters to the Editor; published December 15 to 21

Birds and birthdays

Posted

Bring back the Birds and Bees Protection Act

Bees need us.  They are being killed by neurotoxins called neonicotinoids (neonics for short).  Just one neonic-treated corn seed has enough active ingredients to kill 250,000 bees.  When neonics in treated corn and soybean seeds became more toxic, bee die-off increased.  As with mercury and lead, there are no known safe levels for these chemicals, and they are in our soil, water and, increasingly, in us.  They sterilize the soil and cannot be removed from water.

We need bees. The loss of bees means less food, more expensive food and fewer choices.  Farmers have recently cut back on apple, cherry and blueberry crops due to an insufficient number of bees to pollinate.

The New York Birds and Bees Protection Act (A7429A/S699D) would eliminate 80-90 percent of these neonics that are killing pollinators.  It does allow continued use to combat the wooly adelgid and other invasive species, and it allows a farmer who couldn’t access untreated seeds to use it. 

Quebec and Ontario phased out most neonic-treated crop seeds; Maine and New Jersey banned neonics in gardens.  This past July, France banned pesticide use in all private and public areas.  

Bees need us. Please call our state legislators to support a renewed New York Birds and Bees Protection Act during the 2023 session.  Remember, this act protects us too!

Depending on your district, this means calling either Michelle Hinchey at 845/331-3810 and Sarahana Shrestha at 845/658-0274, or Mike Martucci at 518/455-2400 and Brian Miller at 845/895-1080.

Doris Chorny
Wallkill, NY

Editor’s note: In Sullivan County, until December 31, call Martucci’s district office at 845/344-3311 or Aileen Gunther at 845/794-5807.

Happy birthday, Monticello!

On December 7, 1804, the first house was being completed by the founder of my hometown, Monticello, NY—John Patterson Jones of Connecticut. 

His ambition—to carve a settlement out of the woods in the Town of Thompson, Ulster County, NY—began on September 4, 1804 with the building of a road that became the Newburgh and Cochecton Turnpike. It connected the Hudson River to the Delaware River through Monticello.

The village got its name from two known sources: the home of President Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809) who was the president in 1804, and for the Latin term for “little mountain” or “home on the mountain.” 

The current highways that follow the old turnpike from Newburgh include State Route 17K to Bloomingburg, then Old Route 17 (County Roads 171, 172 and 173) to Monticello, then State Route 17B to Fosterdale, then County Route 114 to Cochecton. 

It’s widely known that Sullivan County was created from Ulster County on March 27, 1809. But not known generally is that Monticello was a part of Ulster County. 

In its storied history, Monticello has had many footnotes that have influenced the world over. The founder of the New York Times newspaper in 1851 was from Monticello. So was one of the organizers of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 1924, following a study of the need for a national police force. In 2009, a financial wizard from Monticello saved the collapse of American International Group (AIG). An Air Force Airman who was the chief steward for three presidents was from Monticello. Three chief justices of the New York State Court of Appeals hailed from the area. 

Monticello is the county seat. It is host to a world-renowned hotel (Resorts World Catskills ) and was one of the local hosts of the Woodstock festival in August 1969. Two hundred and eighteen years of a place on the mountain have seen many great people come and go with an experience that continues to pay forward for now and for years to come. 

Happy birthday to my hometown, Monticello, NY. 

Alvin Dumas
Monticello, NY

monticello, bees, protection act, anniversary

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here