"... each life given in the name of liberty is a life that has not been lost in vain." - Colin Powell
Veterans' Memorial Forest
The Veterans' Memorial Forest...
...formerly known as Oneida County Reforestation, was created from nearly 800 acres of farmland beginning in the 1930s. The living Veterans' Memorial Forest was dedicated to all veterans in 1953, and is located on both sides of State Route 294 in the township of Ava, New York.
Sadly, in 1993, the Oneida-Herkimer Solid Waste Authority (OHSWA) selected the Veterans' Memorial Forest as the only choice for their landfill. As a result of this apparent disrespect to American veterans - residents, local veterans and members of ACAL worked together to keep the Authority and the Oneida County Legislature from using a veterans' memorial for a dump.
The Veterans Memorial Forest bronze marker and flags located on Route 294 in Ava, NY, where dozens of garbage trucks pass by daily
The OHSWA Landfill, amid lush green forests, trees and wetlands, during construction in 2005
After many years of fighting to protect the Veterans' Memorial, citizens and veterans were successful in keeping the Authority out of the forest.
Unfortunately, when OHSWA could no longer use the Veterans' Memorial Forest for their landfill, instead of relocating the landfill away from the memorial, they sited it adjacent to the Veterans' Memorial Forest.