April 2, 2026
The Steuben County Legislature is working on sending a resolution to Albany, requesting that state forest land in Steuben County does not get used for wind projects. County Legislative Chairwoman Kelly Fitzpatrick says there is legislation to do just that. “The state wants to have the ability to control whether or not renewable energy projects can go on state forest land,” Fitzpatrick tells WLEA News. “Steuben County has 25,000 acres of state forest land and if that legislation passes we would have no say in whether or not they put projects on those forest lands. So we (the county lawmakers) are putting together a memorialization against that. We don’t believe that it’s an appropriate use of the forest properties,” Fitzpatrick stated.
The legislation in question is from State Senator Rachel May, (D, 48 Senate District, Syracuse). The bill number is Senate Bill S4408A. It passed in the senate in February of this year and has been sent to the Assembly.
Below is the bill’s summary:
Authorizes the department of environmental conservation to enter into agreements or easements for the sole purpose of interconnection of renewable energy installations across reforestation areas where such installations are located outside such reforestation areas; provides that such agreements or easements shall not interfere with the operation of such reforestation areas for the purposes for which they were acquired.
