FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 22, 2016
Contact: Jane Lerner, Director of Strategic Communications
Office of the County Executive (845) 638-5645

Rockland County Executive Ed Day Names Martus Granirer as Recipient of 2016 Outstanding Environmental Volunteer Award

NEW CITY - Rockland County Executive Ed Day dedicated a tree at Kennedy Dells County Park on Friday, April 22 - Earth Day -  in recognition of Martus Granirer, recipient of the 2015 County Executive's Outstanding Environmental Volunteer Award.

Granirer was honored for the decades he has dedicated to preserving Rockland's natural beauty and saving it from over development.

"Martus Granirer moved to Rockland County in 1969, during the furious building boom fueled by the construction of the Tappan Zee Bridge - the first Tappan Zee Bridge -  a little more than 10 years before," Day said. "That building boom meant that farms and forests that dotted Rockland for centuries were rapidly disappearing. Martus set out to make sure that didn't happen."

Granirer's efforts to protect the environment and natural beauty of Rockland county have spanned nearly 50 years, Day said during the ceremony at Kennedy Dells Park.

The ceremony was organized by Allan Beers and the Rockland County Division of Environmental Resources. Local lawmakers attended to honor Granirer, including Assemblyman Ken Zebrowski and Rockland Legislator Harriet Cornell.

As president of the West Branch Conservation Association, Granirer has protected more than 1,000 acres in Rockland from development.

He and the West Branch Conservation Association created the 93-acre Davenport Preserve in Clarkstown.

Granirer, a lawyer, also mobilized volunteers and filed lawsuits – pro bono – to prevent a large shopping market and parking lot at the South Mountain Road and Route 45 in Ramapo.

Granirer was a key player in the efforts of the Palisades Interstate Parks Commission and the County of Rockland to obtain 619 acres that comprise High Tor State Park and 475 acres for South Mountain Park.

Under his watch, the group also obtained conservation easements for 34 acres on South Mountain Road and helped work on efforts to preserve the historic Crow house.

"These are only a few examples of the ways that Martus Granirer has worked to protect Rockland's environment," Day said. "In honor of all his efforts, Martus Granirer is being named Outstanding Environmental Volunteer of the year for 2016. This tree planted in his honor will be a reminder of his dedication to Rockland's natural beauty for years to come."

His name will be added to a plaque featuring previous environmental award recipients and displayed in the County Executive's Office.

Past award winners include Grace Meyer, Deborah Munitz, Peggy Kurtz, George Potanovic, Jr., Bill Baker, Patsy Wooters, Alberto Baruffi, Catherine Dodge, Jeanne and Robert Nelson, S. Hazard Gillespie, Dr. Constantine Gletsos, Charles Schwep, Betty Hedges, Zipporah Fleisher, Colleen and Harold Leidy, George Zoebelein, Geoffrey Welch and Diane Grusk.