Project White Deer (original PowerPoint)
Battleground (Seneca Army Depot) February 2008
Background:
The Democrat & Chronicle published a series of proposed uses for the Seneca Army Depot. http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080217/NEWS01/802170347/-1/archive1 The original idea to create a backup for vital Wall Street data has been modified for the data center uses of a particular company and its clients.
Another company has proposed a hunting lodge to allow national and international trophy hunters to hunt the "White Deer" population created by the fencing of the Army Depot which has protected a genetic variation resulting in a large number of white deer. The deer are more plentiful on the former base than in the wild because they are protected from predators by the fence.
The deer are not a unique breed (that might be protected if they were an endangered species), but they are unique because they are present in numbers much larger than an ordinary deer population. This uniqueness has caused the deer to be viewed as a prized trophy. Until recently, the Army has controlled the manner and method of hunting on its grounds (rather than the State of New York) to control the deer population.
The hunting company proposes to allow individuals to enter the property and hunt in the immediate vicinity of the data center.
I sent this as letter to the editor to Democrat & Chronicle:
I proposed Project "White Deer” to Governor Spitzer’s gubernatorial campaign in 2006 in response to WIRED’s “Wall Street West” in Allentown, Pa.. I proposed creating a New York disaster preparedness data center for Wall Street firms.
The Seneca Army Depot is geographically remote from New York City. Essential power and telecommunications could be upgraded at the former base and modern, military grade perimeter security could be added for a facility that had limited human presence. I discussed the fiber with Finger Lakes Technology Group following a meeting of the Ontario County Broadband Committee. FLTG, private companies and Project ION had the necessary fiber to obtain diverse path routing to Manhattan.
My intent was to improve the economy of the Finger Lakes Region with remote disaster preparedness for a vital New York institution and to preserve the unique wildlife within the confines of the former base. Placing a private hunting facility in which foreign and domestic individuals carry weapons near a “secure” data center would compromise the very security that the center was meant to preserve.
T
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April, 2007
Dear [Governor's Regional Representative],
It was a pleasure meeting you yesterday.
[References to PowerPoint: http://www.ceci.org/400/Cdga/WhiteDeer.ppt]
* * *
I had hoped to speak with Governor Spitzer in more detail, back when he was a candidate, but much of the [data center deal began] before he was sworn in as Governor.
May all such projects be as fruitful.
I sent the letter [and response], below, to the Spitzer Campaign in October. Since then, another company has gone from my initial proposal to a $7.5 Million dollar project. The [current project] does not focus on Wall Street, as my proposal had done.
I still believe that the Wall Street idea (below and in the PowerPoint), remains a valid idea for the State of New York. The Wall Street backup idea could also be added to the new purposes for the Seneca Army Depot. We now know that at least one company had sufficient faith in the fiber optic broadband idea that they used a combination of private and public dollars to begin the data center project and bring fiber to the Seneca Army Depot.
We may soon have access to the National Lambda Rail ( www.nlr.net ) at Cornell's Technology Farm (high speed service mentioned in the PowerPoint).
Very Truly Yours,
T
Letters to Spitzer Campaign (October 2006):
I noticed that Allentown, Pa. is listed as "Wall Street West" under a $15 million WIRED grant.
I believe that New York should be second to none in offering disaster recovery services for one of the most essential businesses in the State (not Pennsylavania or other States).
The WIRED grant for the "Finger Lakes" region seems to be more focused on Monroe County and training - not infrastructure.
The Ontario County Broadband Group is focused on fiber optic wiring in Ontario County ( www.canandaigua.com/broadband ).
Private industry is developing new fiber optic rings in the Finger Lakes Region and other parts of New York. They are moving more quickly than the efforts in Ontario County.
New fiber optic services will be most cost effective to add at the time that these rings are built.
If the infrastructure is built under current plans, most services will pass through (but not service) the Finger Lakes Region. The same is true for new power transmission services.
The former Seneca Army Depot will be turned to non-military use, but some forms of heavy industrial use or residential division will threaten regional wildlife including the Write Deer population. ( http://www.senecawhitedeer.org/ )
One, less invasive, use of this region would be to take advantage of the new fiber optic services and establish a beach head for disaster services for Wall Street and other financial business.
The Seneca Army Depot is more geographically remote from Wall Street than Allentown, Pa. The depot will have access to two Local Exchange Carriers which will have some of the most modern fiber optic services at their Central Offices. Those central offices will have access to the services of a wide variety of inter-exchange carriers using some of the most modern fiber optic technologies. I would expect that the former military base has greater access to security and additional redundant services such as power grids. Service to New York can also pass over geographically diverse routing paths (I-90 / I-390) - Many of these services will be available within the immediate future.
Storage of munitions at the Seneca Army Depot (both traditional and nuclear), do not lend conversion of the property to high end residential use.
The size and previous isolation of the property will not support most traditional residential or commercial uses. Continued isolation for the purposes of disaster backup and security would be a plus for financial disaster services.
I would be interested in exploring the uses of the Seneca Army Depot in order to provide secure back up services for Wall Street and financial businesses.
I have been attempting to meet with a group in Geneva, New York. However, the willingness of media to cover "Wall Street West" may serve as a distraction to offering similar services in Upstate New York.
Who would be the best contact within your organization to discuss the redevelopment of the Seneca Army Depot in order to create business which can generate jobs and preserve the environmental balance and regional character of the Finger Lakes?
Very Truly Yours,
T
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October 17, 2006
Dear T:
Thank you for your interest in Eliot’s campaign for governor. He really values your support. If Eliot is lucky enough to be elected governor, he will have more time to look at issues that, while extremely important to the voters in the small geographic areas, are not big enough to campaign on. Your best bet is to write back sometime in December or January to this same e-mail address.
We believe that it’s time for change in Albany. And we need your help to make it happen. Please sign onto our website, www.spitzer2006.com, subscribe to our e-mail list, and share more of your ideas.
Thank your for joining us on this exciting journey to restore New York State to the greatness and opportunity it once defined.
Best Regards,
Spitzer-Paterson 2006
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