#2007-06: April 13, 2007 Deborah Meyer DeWan signs on with The Catskill Center Executive Director Tom Alworth announced today that prominent environmental planner and community specialist Deborah Meyer DeWan has agreed to serve as Special Advisor to The Catskill Center for Conservation and Development. She brings her diverse experience and regional leadership to the Center, and will focus on policy, smart growth and program development. "Deborah is one who cares deeply about the people and places of the Catskills, and we are thrilled to benefit from her experience and love of this region. Time and again she has a demonstrated commitment to building bridges and building a strong constituency for the environment," Alworth said. This is a coming home of sorts for Ms. DeWan. As Senior Associate at The Catskill Center in 1995, she played a leading role in the historic NYC Watershed Agreement, having helped to create the Upstate Downstate Partnership and advocated for a mediated process. At the time, former DEC Commissioner Erin Crotty remarked, "Deborah played a valuable role in bringing together parties with different points of view and enabling them to appreciate the other’s position. This helped in building trust among the parties that was crucial to reaching a consensus on the complex technical, legal and policy issues relating to the New York City watershed." In 1997 Governor Pataki appointed Ms. DeWan as environmental representative to the Board of the Catskill Watershed Corporation (CWC), on which she continues to serve. "Deborah has been a steady presence on the CWC Board since the corporation was established," said Alan Rosa, Executive Director of the CWC, "Her balanced concern for the environment and for the people of the Catskills has been clear as we have developed watershed protection and community assistance programs over the past ten years." Ms. DeWan worked for seven years at Scenic Hudson, where she was director of its Riverfront Communities Program, advancing environmental protection, land preservation and community planning. In many communities from Yonkers to Kingston, as an advocate for conservation and community-based planning, she brought together developers, municipal officials and citizens to craft outcomes that benefited the environment and the community. "She has helped to save, shape and to preserve the integrity of the Hudson Valley's world-class landscape" said Ned Sullivan, president of Scenic Hudson. In July 2004, her career at Scenic Hudson -- and nearly her life - was abruptly halted when a tree struck her car as she was traveling to work. After a lengthy recovery, she returned to work in the Hudson Valley as a Community Preservation consultant to Hudson River Heritage, as well as planning consultant to the Hudson River Estuary Program of the NYSDEC. In October 2006 she received the Jane Jacob Community Vision Award from Sustainable Hudson Valley and the New York Planning Federation. "It is a privilege to join forces with The Catskill Center at this auspicious moment," DeWan noted. "Under Tom’s leadership, the organization has accomplished a great deal, and I look forward to working with him and his talented, dedicated staff to take exciting and critically important next steps to further the environmental health and economic vitality of the Catskills."