Environment

This bill establishes New York's "Farmland for a New Generation" program to support farmland access and transfer. It creates a statewide resource center (partnering with American Farmland Trust) and regional navigators to help new farmers find affordable land, assist established farmers in succession planning, connect landowners with farmers, and support conservation easements. The program requires state funding for the resource center and financial assistance for regional navigators through organizations like Cornell Cooperative Extension. It directly affects farmers, landowners, and agricultural businesses seeking to start, expand, or transfer farmland operations across New York.

This bill proposes amending New York's constitution to clarify state forest preserve land management, not specifically related to the Mount Van Hoevenberg complex as the title suggests. It allows limited land exchanges and infrastructure projects while preserving the forest preserve's core purpose, including: conveying specific parcels to towns for public uses (like airport extensions, cemeteries, or water wells) in exchange for equivalent forest land; permitting up to 25 miles of ski trails on designated mountains; and allowing highway maintenance within strict acreage limits. These provisions require legislative approval before land transfers and mandate that exchanged lands must be equal in value. The bill does not create new facilities at Mount Van Hoevenberg but modifies constitutional language governing forest preserve land use statewide.