Grant Awarded to Initiate SCAPE Project

Claverack & Philmont Residents:

In the next 5-10 years, decisions affecting the environment/landscape of our communities are going to come up, and there are many outside pressures that could influence what happens. We want to make sure that the people who live here are heard first. To this end, a group of community volunteers, including many from our Climate Smart taskforces, are undertaking a year-long, non-partisan listening project called Stewarding Claverack and Philmont's Environment, or SCAPE. This project is supported by funding from Partners for Climate Action Hudson Valley's "Funding Futures" program. The project received letters of support from over a dozen local organizations and our municipal governments.

SCAPE represents an opportunity for our communities to plan ahead, on our own terms, so that we can effectively steward our fiscal resources and shared ecosystem. By June 2026, our goal is to identify our community's top three actionable initiatives for our environment. These initiatives could be grassroots, non-profit,

or municipally-driven and could include concrete projects, policy proposals, or plans/feasibility studies. 

The first step we are undertaking is to interview 100 individuals from across our community. These are happening now through the end of November. Interviews are open to all Claverack and Philmont residents! We want to hear from you.

Share your stories, concerns, and ideas about nature - our open space, wildlife, farms, watersheds, hazard resilience, forests, parks, and more. We will ask questions such as, "What aspects of our natural environment do you regularly enjoy or utilize?" and, "What outdoor places or experiences in our community should be protected or improved?" Your responses will be kept confidential.

In February, we will hold two interactive workshops to generate project ideas based on the interview data. These will be open to the public. Stay tuned for more details.

A full description of the interviews and project timeline are available on our website, projectscape.org. If you would like to be interviewed, please contact us at yourideas.scape@gmail.com. We are also on Instagram at scape_together.