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New York farmers brace for more wildfires as dry conditions continue

Oliver Gawlik and Eryn Leavens run the Happy Compromise farm and animal sanctuary in New York's Tioga County. They relocated the organization from Oregon after wildfires surrounded their property.
Rebecca Redelmeier / WSKG News
Oliver Gawlik and Eryn Leavens run a farm and animal sanctuary in New York's Tioga County. They relocated the organization from Oregon after wildfires surrounded their property.

When Eryn Leavens and Oliver Gawlik moved their farm and animal sanctuary to New York’s Tioga County three years ago, they were looking for a refuge.

The couple cares for neglected animals and grows food that they give away for free. They started the organization, called Happy Compromise Farm + Sanctuary, in Oregon. But after wildfires surrounded their property, they decided they couldn’t stay.

After pouring over maps that showed the impacts climate change would have over the next 50 years, they chose to move to New York’s Southern Tier — in large part because of the low fire risk.

“We were just looking for somewhere where we wouldn't have to evacuate,” said Leavens. “Where property wouldn't get destroyed, where the animals who we rescued would actually have a safe haven.”

The couple thought that New York's climate would provide safety for the farm and the more than 100 animals they care for. But now, as wildfires burn across the state, they're facing fire risks once again.

New York has become a hot spot for wildfires this month, with one major fire burning 5,000 acres along the New York-New Jersey border. A small brush fire ignited 10 minutes away from Leavens and Gawlik’s property earlier this month, the couple said. Other fires have recently burned in the Hudson Valley and around the Finger Lakes.

“It's not a threat until you're living in it,” said Gawlik. “We can see it starting already. And so it's like we know that we need to start preparing.”

The fires come after weeks of little to no rain across much of the Northeast, with record-low rainfall in some areas.

Data from the U.S. Drought Monitor shows that the majority of New York state is experiencing abnormally dry conditions, with some areas in severe drought. Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and New Jersey are also experiencing an unusually dry fall.

Climatologists predict the dry conditions will likely continue. And though New York does occasionally experience dry periods, scientists have found that human-caused climate change will make these conditions more frequent and intense.

Farmers, who are already struggling with drought, say the fires pose a serious danger to their lives — and livelihood.

Crews battle a wildfire along the New York-New Jersey border.
Susan Watts
/
Office of the Governor
Crews battle a wildfire along the New York-New Jersey border.

Tompkins County farmer Christa Núñez watched a piece of her land go up in flames last month after wind blew a controlled burn out of containment, spreading over about half an acre of hillside before the fire department put it out.

“It was scary,” said Núñez. “No structures were burnt, nobody was hurt. But it just shows the power of wind.”

Núñez said she hadn’t heard of any brush fires locally until then. But in the weeks afterwards, with little rain to dampen soil and fallen leaves, more fires blazed nearby. The county eventually instituted a burn ban.

That ban became statewide earlier this week after Governor Kathy Hochul announced no fires would be permitted until the end of the month. Hochul said the state needs all its resources directed to fighting fires still blazing in Orange and Ulster counties.

To Núñez, the fact that the fire on her land did not cause any long-term damage feels like a stroke of luck, she said. The experience has made her much more wary of how climate change will present weather-related risks to farmers in the area.

“Our local climate is changing,” said Núñez. “We definitely learned our lesson in terms of being extremely conservative in our timing when it comes to doing controlled burns on the farm.”

Though rain has fallen across New York in recent days and more precipitation is expected, climatologists predict the Northeast will remain fairly dry through the fall. That could mean tackling more drought conditions and fires on farms.

"We need a couple of big, slow moving weather systems to produce slow soaking rains that can really soak into the ground," said climatologist Samantha Borisoff with the Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell University. That’s not what the fall predictions for the Northeast show, she added.

Eryn Leavens restocks the free farm stand at the Happy Compromise farm and animal sanctuary. The organization grows food that they give away to the local community in Tioga County.
Rebecca Redelmeier / WSKG News
Eryn Leavens restocks the free farm stand at the Happy Compromise Farm + Sanctuary. The organization grows food that they give away to the local community in Tioga County.

In the meantime, Oliver Gawlik and Eryn Leavens said they’re bracing for the potential of more drought and wildfires in Tioga County — just like they did in Oregon. They have set up their land to catch rain that falls and try to keep their soil moist.

From their experience, they know climate change could make the dry conditions even more severe.

“Probably, native, local New Yorkers are not seeing that,” said Gawlik. “Because you don't notice that the water is boiling until it's boiled.”

Produced with assistance from the Public Media Journalists Association Editor Corps funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.