Hocutt Receives 2004 David Morehouse Memorial Award

Gene Hocutt of Aurora, NY was selected as the 2004 recipient of The David Morehouse Memorial Award. The award recognizes leadership and commitment to protect the Cayuga Lake watershed in honor of the late David Morehouse, a Town of Ledyard resident, who dedicated his life to improving water quality. Morehouse was a founding member of the two organizations that co-sponsor the award, the Cayuga Lake Watershed Network and the Cayuga Lake Watershed Intermunicipal Organization.

Before retiring as Director of the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge, Hocutt used his consummate people skills and his broad knowledge of wildlife management to improve and restore the marshland at the north end of Cayuga Lake. The refuge is a haven for wildlife and both resident and migratory birds, including nesting eagles. He worked to establish a stream connecting the lake to 2000 acres of the marsh. Lake water revitalizes the aging 65-year old marsh pools during the summer and fall. The pools have literally “come alive” again as a result of this infusion of high-quality water.

Hocutt was mindful of possible adverse effects of the nearby Seneca Meadows Landfill, one of the largest operating landfills in New York. Black Creek could transport pollutants from the landfill to the Refuge. Through his brokering skills, during the landfill permitting process Gene mobilized a diverse group of people into an effective political force that promulgated strict guidelines for several operational aspects of the landfill including rigorous leachate sampling and an improved closure plan.

Concerned that tampering with lake levels could devastate the ecology of the Refuge and Cayuga Lake, Hocutt helped found the Finger Lakes Ecology Association (FLEA) in 1993. This volunteer organization provides information about the lake’s water levels and flood-plain issues including effects of lowered water levels on wildlife, littoral (near shore) zones of the lake, and human drinking water supplies drawn from the lake. With a single-issue as its focus, the group monitors and responds to political activity related to attempts to turn Cayuga Lake into a flood-control retention reservoir by lowering the lake several more feet each winter than the present three feet.

In 1998 Hocutt was elected to the first Board of the Cayuga Lake Watershed Network, where he serve for six-years, including providing leadership as Board Chair. He presently volunteers with Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, a national non-profit alliance of local, state, and federal scientists; law enforcement officers; land managers; and other professionals dedicated to upholding environmental laws and values.