Release

UAlbany Libraries Open New Collection
Materials Document NYS Environmental Activism 1970-2000

Contact: Karl Luntta (518) 437-4980

ALBANY, N.Y. (October 27, 2004) -- the University at Albany Libraries have made public a collection documenting the legislative activities of the group Environmental Advocates of New York from 1970-2000. An inventory of the collection is available online, and the records are open to researchers in the M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives, New Library, University at Albany, uptown campus.

Environmental Advocates of New York was established in Rye, New York, in 1969, as the Environmental Planning Lobby. Founded as a means to form innovative environmental policy, it was one of the nation�s first organized environmental activist groups. Environmental Advocates works to safeguard public health and preserve New York�s unique natural heritage.

The records of Environmental Advocates include correspondence, meeting minutes, reports, publications, research files, and promotional material. The strength of the collection lies in its documentation of New York State legislative issues via the chronicling of Environmental Advocates� positions on, among other issues, acid rain, New York�s Bottle Bill, energy, hazardous waste, land use, pesticide use, solid waste management, and wetlands. It is, according to Brian Keough, head of the Department of Special Collections and Archives, a �critical collection in preserving the history of environmental affairs and public policy in New York State.�

Robert Moore, the executive director of Environmental Advocates lauds the work that has been done with the collection. �What the staff at the Libraries� Department of Special Collections and Archives has done is extraordinary,� he said. �Thanks to them, the public can review how our organization�s efforts, and those of the environmental community at large, have shaped the debate on environmental policy in New York State over the past 35 years.�

To learn more about Environmental Advocates of New York and related collections in the Special Collections and Archives, contact Brian Keough (518) 437-3931 or [email protected], or visit http://library.albany.edu/speccoll/.

Albany�s University Libraries are ranked among the top 100 research libraries in the United States by the Association of Research Libraries. The Libraries serve the University�s community, the citizens of New York State, and scholars and researchers from around the world. For up-to-date information about the University�s Libraries, visit http://library.albany.edu.