Layoffs and cutbacks threaten the center’s educational programming
Last year at this time, there were six people on the state payroll working at the Fiver Rivers Environmental Education Center in New Scotland. By the end of this month, there will be two.
Cutbacks at the state level are having a very real impact at the environmental preserve in the form of layoffs and early retirements, which have culled the ranks to these low levels and left some wondering if a rich portfolio of educational programming will soon become a thing of the past.
I’m really hoping that there’s some restaffing here because it’s really difficult to maintain the level of programming with just two staffers, said Senior Educator Anita Sanchez, who will be taking advantage of a state early retirement incentive come the end of September. She first started at Five Rivers in 1983.
`There’s so many people calling for programs … wanting to book programs for the fall, for winter, for next spring … we’re really not sure what level of programming there’s going to be,` Sanchez continued.
Like Sanchez, all of the recent departures have a long history with the center, said Director Craig Thompson.
`It’s a brain drain, about 110, 120 years of service represented just with those four,` he said.
Three of the recent departures were full-time employees. Three were environmental educators, and the fourth was the center’s sole secretary.
Some didn’t want to go, some felt it was the best time, but with state finances in the tank it’s unlikely any will be replaced this year, Thompson continued.
A Department of Environmental Conservation representative said there’s no way to tell if staff levels will be increased in the future, but for this year, there’s no chance.
`These are not cuts that DEC wants to make, but they’re cuts that DEC has to make,` spokesman Yancey Roy said. `The staff has been reduced there like it has been in every division of the agency.`
Luckily, volunteerism at Five Rivers has always been strong, and the private group Friends of Five Rivers even funds two part-time workers for the center.
According to figures from Five Rivers, there were 1,400 volunteer `log ins` at the center, amounting to 3.8 full-time equivalencies. There are 100 to 150 people who volunteer regularly, said Thompson, and another 100 that volunteer occasionally.
Nancy Payne, an environmental educator assistant laid off in March, said she’d be returning to volunteer her time.
`I don’t think I could walk away from that place and not volunteer, with all those people who volunteered for me,` she said.
Her 30 years of experience at Five Rivers and teaching certification helped her instruct visiting school groups, lead public walks, build exhibits and teach the very programs she helped to create for years. As a part-time employee, she earned less than $1,500 per year, she said. With another 20 months on the job, she would have been eligible to draw out of the state pension system.
But even with an eager bank of volunteers, much of the paid staff’s work is in environmental education.
`Teaching a two-hour class on pond ecology is something you need a lot of training for,` said Sanchez. `There’s really some things only a staff person can do.`
Dee Strnisa is in possession of one of these unique skills. She ran the center’s Water Education for Teachers (WET) program, but was laid off in April. Funding for the WET program is also being reduced across the state.
Though volunteers would often teach classes, she said, it was up to educators to train the volunteers and also be available to cover scheduled classes.
`It’s always been if somebody couldn’t show up … there’s always staff people there,` Strnisa said. `I don’t know if you can run a whole center with two people.`
One thing all the staffers said they worried about is how the remaining staff will cope with extra workload. It’s possible something will have to give.
`We run a seven-day a week shop, so after Anita leaves in late September, we’re going to have to look in the mirror and see if we can run a seven-day a week shop,` Thompson said.
For Sanchez, those concerns are accompanied by the worry the gateway to environmental awareness might be shut for some, especially schoolchildren who make use of the center’s resources.
`The main thing about Five Rivers, of course, is the people,` she said. `For so many people, we’re the entry point, we’re the place where people discover they love nature.“
