NY: "Cuomo Picks 'Open Space' Advocate for Environment Chief"

"Gov. Andrew Cuomo is receiving plaudits from environmental groups for nominating Joseph Martens as the new commissioner of New York State’s Department of Environmental Conservation.

Since 1998, Mr. Martens has served as president of the Open Space Institute, a nonprofit that works largely in the northeastern United States to acquire lands for conservation and sustainable development and farming. Mr. Martens also served as deputy state secretary of energy and the environment from 1992-94, during the gubernatorial administration of Mr. Cuomo’s father, Mario.

Last fall the Department of Environmental Conservation was rocked when David Paterson, then governor, dismissed the well-respected Alexander B. Grannis after the public disclosure of a memo that Mr. Grannis had written about the negative impact that a new round of layoffs would have on the agency."

Leslie Kaufman reports for the New York Times January 4, 2011.

http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/04/cuomo-picks-open-space-advocat...

SEE ALSO:

FL: "Scott Picks Shipbuilding Executive To Head Environmental Protection Agency" (St. Petersburg Times)