William "Willie" Janeway is the new head of the Department of Environmental Conservation's [0]Region 3. His main duty is to oversee 300 DEC employees in Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster and Westchester Counties. This diverse region stretches from the Long Island Sound to the Catskill Mountains.

A Westchester County native, Janeway sees his main priority in his new post as strengthening the agency and making it more pro-active. He’s already visited the seven counties he oversees, even though he’s been on the job for a month. "I want to ensure better and stronger stewardship of our air and water. We need a stronger DEC,” he says.

Janeway comes to DEC from the Nature Conservancy [0], where he had been the government relations director. He is also a former member of the New York League of Conservation Voters’ Capital District Board, and an avid camper and hiker. "I'm an environmentalist. I'm not ashamed of that, I'm proud of it,” he says. "I think it is a really neat statement of priority, for both Governor Spitzer and Commissioner (Pete) Grannis, that they would surprise somebody like me and say, 'Would you be willing to be our representative in Region 3?'"

As the new regional director, Janeway is tasked with coordinating DEC’s various programs and effectively integrating them on the ground. Among his initial goals are finding ways to combat climate change and promote sustainability. "We have to make sure the environmental resources around us can sustain us. It's no longer a question of whether people expect the government to take care of the environment. They do. Now the argument is over how we do it,” he notes.

Smart growth in Region 3 will be a particular focus; Janeway plans to urge redevelopment rather than the current trend of transforming large, open areas like the Catskills. "I think this area of the state is like ground zero for environmental issues," he adds. "A lot of Long Island and the greater New York City area is very developed. As you come up the Hudson Valley to the Catskills ... you see everything from the very rural to Yonkers, the state's fourth-most-populated city."

Janeway, who studied the environment and economics at St. Lawrence University, recognizes the need to foster New York’s future beyond conservation strategies alone. The next 10 to 12 years, he predicts, will help define what the entire state will look like for the next hundred years. Jobs and a healthy economy will be necessary for long-term growth, and the state's environmental policies can contribute to that with greater consistency. "We haven't always been able to be as responsive as we needed to be," Janeway concludes of the DEC. "If we can increase that ability ... I think that will help.”