Gov. Murphy Issues Environmental Excellence Award To Billionaire Wall Street Elite Greenwasher
Peter Kellogg’s Hudson Farm Funds Highlands Logging, Hunting, & Sham Carbon Markets
From Jane Addams and Benton MacKaye To A Wall Street Grift
Hudson Farm
The oblivious arrogance operating here is stunning.
If for the optics alone, didn’t DEP Commissioner LaTourette see a problem here?
NJ Gov. Murphy today issued the annual Governor’s “Environmental Excellence” awards.
I’ve previously noted how political those awards are, see:
This year, my eye caught this one, issued to a Wall Street billionaire and owner of Hudson Farm: (boldface mine)
HEALTHY ECOSYSTEMS & HABITATS: Hudson Farm
Hudson Farm operates as a year-round outdoor experience for its members on more than 4,000 acres of land in Sussex County. The farm manages its land voluntarily through its New Jersey-approved Forest Stewardship Plan, along with multiple associated and complementary voluntary conservation projects. This work has provided enormous regional ecological uplift over the years. This year, Hudson Farm voluntarily implemented ecological forestry practices on an annual basis including forest-stand thinning, integrated pest management, reforestation and invasive species controls, as well as stream and water quality restorations, riparian buffer work, wetland restoration and native grassland restorations to benefit various declining wildlife species. From October 2020 to October 2021, Hudson Farm and its partners implemented more than 130 acres and 1.5 miles of habitat restoration/stewardship on its property, as well as wildlife monitoring projects. The results were enhanced biodiversity, improved surface water infiltration, provided critical habitat, controlled soil erosion and sediment runoff, and diversified forest age-class to improve forest resiliency, carbon sequestration and improved nutrient cycling.
Let me translate that bullshit and tell folks what the DEP press release left out:
1) the “year-round outdoor experience” Hudson Farm provides is a private hunting club for elite members (they even brag of a heli-pad to wisk Wall Streeters to the Farm in just minutes). They manage their land to maximize hunting opportunities for their private members:
The Hudson Farm Club operates as a private year round outdoor experience for its members as one of the most attractive and challenging shooting layouts in the country since 1997
2) the “New Jersey-approved Forest Stewardship Plan” is part of a DEP scandal that promotes commercial logging under various guises, slogans and pretexts, like stewardship, sustainability, forest health, wildfire prevention, and habitat creation.
3) “ecological forestry practices and forest-stand thinning” are code for logging and maximizing game species habitat to promote hunting.
4) the “riparian buffer” work fails to note that under DEP’s Forestry Best Management Practices, riparian (stream side) buffer protections are only 50 feet wide, compared to regulatory protections they are exempted from, which are 300 feet wide for Highlands and Category One stream buffers.
5) Hudson Farm’s “partners” include NJ Audubon. Hudson Farm provided a huge $330,000 grant to NJ Audubon to conduct logging on public green acres acquired lands (e.g. Sparta Mountain Wildlife Management Area and other Highlands forests). NJ Audubon’s logging has been criticized by local activists, numerous scientists, and the Highlands Coalition for logging core Highlands forests – including a Forest Stewardship Council Audit.
NJ Audubon also formed a “partnership” with and received significant funding from Donald Trump. Recently, NJ Audubon hired a former Exxon-Mobil hack to lead their Corporate Stewardship program.
6) Hudson Farm owner billionaire Peter Kellogg also funded 15 DEP employees to attend a weeklong junket at $5,000 a head. I wonder if the Gov. is aware of this egregious conflict of interest?
7) “wildlife monitoring projects” are largely designed to promote hunting.
8) the mention of “carbon sequestration” fails to note that Hudson Farm is generating profits and economic benefits from participation in a sham carbon credit and offset market scheme. (Hudson Farm and Kellogg also may benefit from DEP’s climate PACT rules and RGGI sequestration and offset programs, two more egregious conflicts of interest)
9) Finally, DEP’s press release fails to note that Hudson Farm is owned by Wall Street billionaire Peter Kellogg (the place ironically began during the Progressive Era to benefit poor urban kids. Hit that link and read the history):
The Hudson Guild, a charitable organization who ran the property as a camp.
Notice how the DEP press release also fails to mention that the “camp” was for poor urban kids and part of the Progressive Era reforms and the politics of guilds. It was also the place where Benton MacKaye conceived the Appalachian trail. His regional planning philosophy and public interest ethic would be appalled by the current Hudson Farm elite private enterprise and Gov. Murphy’ recognition of that. So, MacKaye and Jane Addams now join Mumford and McHarg in rolling in their graves.
10) Is Wall Street Peter a friend of Phil and Tammy?
The oblivious arrogance operating here is stunning.
If for the optics alone, didn’t DEP Commissioner LaTourette see a problem here?