A report released yesterday by Environmental Advocates of New York says that the state's Environmental Protection Fund is just about wiped out. Lawmakers have not only reduced its size, but they've authorized a "sweep" of the fund to help plug the state's growing budget gap.

For local environmentalists - who really want to see the state take control of the Rochester-owned Canadice and Hemlock Lakes - this is surely alarming news. One of the key purposes of the EPF is open-space preservation and water-quality protection.

I just got off the phone with Jim Howe, executive director of the Nature Conservancy of Central and Western New York, and he had some reassuring words about the Hemlock-Canadice deal. Howe is working with the governments to help broker the deal.

The city and the state are very close on their appraisals of the Hemlock and Canadice properties, he says. The state's fiscal situation is slowing things down, he says, but he expects some progress once the budget process wraps up. He figures a deal could be reached by year's end.

"This is the absolute top priority in New York State for new acquisition," Howe says.

If things really head south and the state can't find the funds in a timeline that suits the city, there's still hope.

"The Nature Conservancy is willing to do its best here to purchase these properties and get them into the state's hands," Howe says.

The anxiety over this deal is a symptom of a bigger problem. Albany politicians have a tendency to use the EPF for all the wrong purposes. Environmental groups are unhappy about this practice and are putting more and more pressure on lawmakers in hopes of stopping it.

"This sweeping of EPF funds has got to stop," Howe says. "Environmental programs are not luxuries."

Clean water, clean air, open-space protection, and recreation opportunities "are things New York cannot afford to slip on," he says.