Assemblyman Matt Simpson (R,C-Adirondack), Sen. Dan Stec (R,C-Queensbury), Chairman of the Warren County Board of Supervisors Kevin Geraghty, Lake George Town Supervisor Vinnie Crocitto and other locally elected officials and stakeholders were at the Warren County Municipal Center in the Town of Lake George for a bridge dedication in honor of Stephen L. Raymond. The ECO Stephen L. Raymond Memorial Bridge will forever bear the name of the longtime Adirondack environmental conservation officer who died from illness tied to his service at Ground Zero after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

Family, colleagues and community members gathered for the ceremony on the 25th anniversary of 9/11. The bridge is located at the Exit 23 overpass, carrying Diamond Point Road over the Northway, which Officer Raymond frequently used throughout his years patrolling Warren County and the surrounding Adirondacks.

Stephen Raymond served 26 years as a New York State environmental conservation officer. He began his DEC career in 1981, transferred to Region 5 in 1988 and retired in 2007. A U.S. Navy veteran, he was deployed twice to New York City after 9/11 to assist with security and recovery at Ground Zero and also supported emergency operations in Albany. He died April 17, 2017, at age 67. He was the first New York State environmental conservation officer formally recognized as having died from a 9/11-related illness.

“Steve Raymond spent his life looking after this place and the people in it. He knew these woods, these lakes and these roads better than almost anyone. When New York called after 9/11, he went. That service cost him his life. Today we put his name on a bridge he crossed for years so that no one driving through Lake George has to be told to remember. The sign will do it for us. I am grateful to Shari Raymond for never letting this fade, and I am proud our community made sure his service is written into the landscape he protected,” said Simpson.

Sen. Stec added, “It’s fitting that on the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks that we honor one of our local heroes. When our nation was in need, Stephen L. Raymond made the journey to Ground Zero and put his health and life on the line to help others. Officer Raymond is no longer with us, due to illness suffered from that service to our country, but his memory lives on. Having his name on the overpass at Exit 23 ensures his name and the sacrifice he made will continue to be recognized for generations to come.”

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Amanda Lefton said, “On September 11, one of America’s darkest days, ECO Stephen Raymond was among an elite group of heroes who ran towards danger, chaos and uncertainty while our nation processed the unthinkable evil and loss of life that truly rocked us to our core. On behalf of the entire DEC family, and his fellow Environmental Conservation Police Officers, we sincerely thank Officer Raymand’s family for their support of his service, and the individuals who pushed for this honor to name this bridge in his memory. ECO Raymond put the safety of New Yorkers and his country ahead of his own on an awful day in our state and country’s history, and for that, we are eternally grateful.”