Executive Director Marcia Bystryn with David Sampson, at a NYLCV candidate training sessionIn September, David Sampson, the chair of NYLCV's Capital District Chapter Board, stepped down from that position to accept a new challenge -- as a key point person for Gov. Eliot Spitzer's sustainability efforts.

At the Department of Environmental Conservation's Office of General Counsel, Sampson will provide legal support and advice regarding not only sustainability, but also energy, climate change and a host of other issues. In his new role, he hopes to unite other state agencies, such as the Department of Transportation and the Department of State, behind the mutual goal of promoting sustainable development.

Sampson was most recently an attorney with the Martin Law Firm in Troy, and is the founding director of the Hudson River Valley Greenway Communities Council. He is also a past chair of the New York State Bar Association's Environmental Law Section and the New York State Freshwater Wetlands Appeals Board.

When asked what motivated his move to DEC, Sampson cited the opportunity to return to work with the Greenway Council. This state agency works with communities of the Hudson Valley on agriculture and farmland preservation, as well as inter-community planning projects.

Sampson first became involved with NYLCV in the 1980s and praises the organization for fulfilling "a niche that nobody else does." During his tenure with the League's Capital District Chapter Board, he organized an unprecedented training session for local elected officials at the Albany Law School that focused on the legal issues associated with the environmental concerns of the region. Having U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) address the board at its annual breakfast was another notable achievement, one that brought significant visibility to the concerns of the region and the League.

Although the purview of his new position is statewide, Sampson remains deeply invested in the environmental challenges facing the Capital District. He cites urban sprawl as the area's main concern and calls the trend a product of the growing high-tech industry in Albany and the surrounding cities.

Dean Sommer will serve as acting chair of the NYLCV Capital District Chapter Board, following Sampson's departure. Sommer is currently a partner at Young/Sommer LLC, where he practices environmental law.

Newsletter Issue

• Ecopolitics Monthly --- October 2007