The new governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, has chosen a new commissioner of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. The Governor received praise from environmental groups for his nomination of Joseph Martens who has been the president of the Open Space Institute since 1998. This non-profit organization works to obtain lands, mostly in the northeastern U.S., to be set aside for conservation or sustainable farming and development.
The nominee was also the deputy state secretary of energy and the environment in New York from 1992 until 1994, during the tenure of the new governor’s father, Mario Cuomo.