Governor David Paterson's 2010-11 proposed budget has some good news for the local environment, and some distressing news for state environmentalists.

First, the not-so-good news: Paterson's proposal includes a net loss of 54 staff members at the Department of Environmental Conservation. That's on top of the 450 staff positions lost at the DEC in the last two years, says Allison Jenkins, fiscal policy director at Environmental Advocates of New York. Environmental groups say that the steady loss of DEC staff has led to weaker regulatory monitoring and enforcement.

At the same time, the budget proposal includes a $2.5-million allocation to hire DEC staff to monitor and oversee natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale formation.

There are two problems with this arrangement, Jenkins says. For one, environmental groups are unsure whether the DEC will have adequate staff to properly regulate and monitor drilling and wells in the Marcellus Shale, even with the additional staff.

The plan will also shift staff away from water and air pollution oversight, Jenkins says, as well as other DEC functions.

The good news is that Paterson's proposal won't stop a still-unfinished state takeover of Hemlock and Canadice Lakes and their watersheds. The governor proposed a $79-million cut to the state's Environmental Protection Fund for 2010-11, as well as an indefinite moratorium on land acquisitions.

The Hemlock and Canadice deal, however, will be exempt from the moratorium, since it is already under way and money for the purchase was budgeted, via the EPF, in the 2009-10 budget, says DEC spokesman Yancey Roy.

The City of Rochester, which owns the lakes and their watersheds, began negotiating with the state in 2007. Gary Walker, the city's chief spokesman, says he hopes the deal will be completed by the end of the year.

The moratorium also will not apply to a number of state parks projects that were already under way, including an addition to the Harriet Hollister Spencer State Park recreation area in Dansville.