ADK Recognizes Efforts to Preserve Wild Places

Curt Stiles, chairman of the Adirondack Park Agency, delivered the keynote address at the eighth annual Adirondack Mountain Club (ADK) awards dinner on Sept. 13 at the Queensbury Hotel. The focus of the evening was recognizing outstanding volunteers, staff and organizations that help preserve New York's wild lands and waters.

The Eleanor F. Brown ADK Communication Award was presented by Eleanor Brown to the Adirondack Mountain Club, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the Wildlife Conservation Society for a joint project to educate the public about the problem of black bear/human interaction in the backcountry. To address this problem these groups worked together to promote the proper use of bear canisters in the High Peaks, and the audience was given a quick bear canister use lesson by Leeann Huey from ADK's High Peaks Information Center.

The David L. Newhouse ADK Conservation Award was presented to Jack Freeman, a member of ADK's Conservation Committee since 1984. Executive Director Neil Woodworth cited Freeman's skills at grassroots organizing as being responsible for the successful conclusion of many conservation battles. Freeman is the author of ADK's "Views from on High: Firetower Trails in the Adirondacks and Catskills," and is best known outside of ADK as "Mr. Firetower."

The Arthur E. Newkirk ADK Education Award was presented to Arthur Haberl who said that in 2001 he used funds from his late wife's life insurance policy to begin funding the Marie Lynch Haberl Youth Outreach Program. To date this program has reached over 2000 youth in three north country school districts, helping to instill a life-long appreciation for the Adirondacks. Also in 2001, Haberl established a scholarship fund for Paul Smith's College students.

ADK's Trailblazer Award recipient, Robert J. Ringlee, was recognized by ADK President Curt Miller for his calm and knowledgeable helming of the ADK ship as it traveled through tumultuous waters at various points in its voyage. Ringlee was not only president for three years, but he has served on numerous committees and ad-hoc working groups dealing with critical issues. He continues to serve as one of the stalwarts overseeing the Newhouse and Ringlee Presidential Archives and Library.

The Adirondack Mountain Club, founded in 1922, is a nonprofit membership organization dedicated to protecting the New York State Forest Preserve and other wild lands and waters through conservation and advocacy, environmental education and responsible recreation.

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Fort Ticonderoga Appeals to Public for Help

Although it is apparently, no longer up, two local newspapers have reported (1, 2), that Fort Ticonderoga is asking the public to keep the fort from shutting down. According to Fred Herbst of Denton Publications:

You have probably seen the headlines. Fort Ticonderoga is in a very difficult financial situation. We don’t want to sell assets. We don’t want to lay off staff. We don’t want to curtail our education programs. We don’t want to close. Without the help of our friends and supporters, however, we may be faced with having to take one or more of these measures.

Fort Ticonderoga's financial troubles began when benefactors Deborah and Forrest Mars Jr. withdrew their support - it's been covered at length here.

The original statement continues:

Fort Ticonderoga needs its army of defenders now more than ever. The new Mars Education Center is 95 percent paid for. We have raised and borrowed more than $22 million, but we still need $700,000 to settle the outstanding bills and an additional $3.5 million to repay the loans and replenish our endowment fund.

Herbst revealed more about the details of Forrest Mars conflict with Executive Director Nick Westbrook.

“The ride is over,” he wrote in an Email to Westbrook that was provided to the Times of Ti.

The Email said Westbrook would not listen to new ideas and had stopped communicating with Mrs. Mars, when she was president of the fort board of trustees.

“We will not be writing any further checks,” Mr. Mars wrote. "Your performance as a manager is lacking. As a historian and archivist, etc., you excel. You have not given proper supervision and leadership to the staff.”

Mr. Mars said he and his wife paid for most of the Mars Education Center.

“As far as the new center, I would think that besides not communicating with your president (Mrs. Mars) regarding the opening of it, the exhibits to be in it, the budget for operating it and a program for the future use, you might have been nice enough and polite enough to communicate with the major donor (Mr. Mars),” the Email reads. “Not a word from you to either of us. We do not even know if you can fund it.”

The Email also said Mr. Mars had paid for one of Westbrook’s sons to attend a private school and had paid for vacations for Westbrook and his wife.

The Fort is under threat to close next year or sell off some it collections; Westbrook will be resigning. The fort closes for the season October 20th.

“The fort is running through its available endowment funds to pay the Mars Education Center bills, and, in the absence of a major infusion of funds, the fort will be essentially broke by the end of 2008,” Paine said in the memo.

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DEC Grants Available for Invasive Species

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Pete Grannis announced today that grant applications are now being accepted for projects proposing to eradicate terrestrial invasive species. Terrestrial invasive species is defined as a plant or animal that lives or grows predominately on land. Applications will be accepted until October 31, 2008

DEC is making up to $1 million in state grants available to municipalities and not-for-profit organizations for projects to eradicate and/or permanently remove infestations of terrestrial invasive species throughout the state. The funding for these grants was secured in the 2008-09 enacted state budget, through the Environmental Protection Fund. State funds can be used to pay for up to one-half of the cost of selected projects. Individual grants for terrestrial eradication proposals will be awarded for projects that range from $2,500, up to $100,000.

Invasive species are non-native species that can cause harm to the environment and may result in ecological or economic problems. Some terrestrial invasive plants, such as garlic mustard flower and Giant hogweed, were introduced in New York State by individuals who purposely brought them back from foreign habitats. Various species of terrestrial invasive insects, such as the Sirex wood wasp and the Asian Longhorn Beetle, also "hitchhiked" to New York in wooden shipping crates from foreign points of origin.

One common way many of these insect pests are moved around the country - beyond their natural rate of spread based on biology and flight potential - is on firewood carried by campers, hunters and other users of state forests. People may not be aware they are moving the eggs or larvae of these pests, which may be hidden on or under the bark or buried deep within the logs. Once transported to new locations, eggs may hatch, or larvae may mature and emerge to attack host trees in and around the area. DEC advises people not to transport firewood to campgrounds or parks in an effort to limit the spread of invasive insect species and improve forest health.

Control and management of invasive species are critical and challenging environmental concerns. Invasive species harm ecosystems, food supplies, landscaping, industry and infrastructure and have the potential to cause millions of dollars of damage to our public and private forests. They can rapidly and dramatically reshape the landscape of New York State while causing a threat to the state's biodiversity. More information about how the State is addressing this problem can be found on the DEC website or by calling 1-866-640-0652

The 2008-09 enacted state budget includes $5 million in the Environmental Protection Fund to implement New York State's Invasive Species Task Force recommendations. For more information on the task force, visit DEC's website.

Application materials for Invasive Species Eradication Grants have been mailed to municipalities throughout the state. Copies are also available on the DEC website or by calling DEC's Division of Lands and Forests at (518) 402-9425. All project applications must be postmarked by October 31, 2008.

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This Week's Top Adirondack News Stories

• » State Plans to Cut 200 Prison Jobs
• » State: Tourism Spending Up 9 Percent
• » House Passes Great Lakes Compact
• » McHugh Supports Bailout
• » DEC Moose Alert
• » SUNY-Plattsburgh Braces for Fiscal Crisis
• » GOP Spending Heavily on 48th Race
• » Essex Officials on Botched Primaries
• » Dozens Laid Off at Sagamore
• » Wal-Mart Sues Ticonderoga

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Adirondack Museum Celebrates Hunting and Fishing

The Adirondack Museum is planning to celebrate National Hunting and Fishing Day tomorrow Saturday, September 27, 2008. The museum is planning "A Sportsman's Paradise," a day-long extravaganza of programs, demonstrations, and music - just for outdoor enthusiasts. Activities are scheduled from 10:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. All are included in the price of general admission.

Demonstrations will include "Casting a Line" with licensed guide and fly-fisherman Patrick Sisti, "Fly Tying" with Geoff Schaake co-owner of the fly-fishing and fly-tying web site www.theanglersnet.com, and "Fish Decoys and Lures" from mother-of-pearl as made by Peter Heid.

Members of the American Mountain Men will return to the museum campus, creating a living history camp that will feature the traditional equipment and gear that would have been typical of a nineteenth century hunting excursion in the Great North Woods. The group will discuss historic hunting and trapping techniques and demonstrate target shooting with Flintlocks as well as knife and tomahawk throwing.

An Author's Corner and Book Signing will be held in the museum's Marion River Carry Pavilion from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. Participants will include: Dan Ladd, whose book Deer Hunting in the Adirondacks serves not only as a guide to public lands open to hunting, but also looks at the history and lore surrounding hunting in the Adirondacks; Robert Elinskas, author of A Deer Hunter's History Book - a collection of tales from the Blue Ridge Wilderness Area; and Donald Wharton whose collection of Adirondack outdoor stories about trout fishing, bush pilots, deer hunting and more is entitled Adirondack Forest and Stream: An Outdoorsmen's Reader.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation booth will provide information and answer questions about hunting and fishing in the Adirondacks throughout the day.

Adirondack musician and storyteller Christopher Shaw will delight audiences of all ages with music celebrating the great Adirondack outdoors at 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m.

At 2:00 p.m. an illustrated presentation, "Images From Trail Cameras," will be held in the Mark W. Potter Education Center.

The day will conclude with "Adirondack Pond Fishing 101" with Patrick Sisti. Sisti specializes in fly-fishing, fishing trips on the Indian River and Adirondack ponds in central Hamilton County as well as hiking camping, canoeing, and nature walks. His presentation will take participants through the steps taken to locate an Adirondack pond, get there, and fish. Handouts will be provided.

"A Sportsman's Paradise" visitors should not miss the exhibits "Woods and Waters: Outdoor Recreation in The Adirondacks," the "Buck Lake Club: An Adirondack Hunting Camp," and "The Great Outdoors" - an interactive space that is perfect for family adventures.

The Adirondack Museum tells the story of the Adirondacks through exhibits, special events, classes for schools, and hands-on activities for visitors of all ages. Open for the season through October 19, 2008. For information call (518) 352-7311, or visit www.adirondackmuseum.org.

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Take a Child Outside Week at Adirondack Museum

The Adirondack Museum at Blue Mountain Lake, New York is inviting families visiting the museum from September 24 through September 30 to participate in the "Young Naturalists Program" -- a series of self-guided activities that explore gardens, grounds, and wooded areas while learning about the natural history of the Adirondacks.

The Adirondack Museum is one of many participants nationwide in "Take a Child Outside Week." The program is designed to help break down obstacles that keep children from discovering the natural world. By arming parents, teachers, and other caregivers with resources about outdoor activities, the goal is to help children across the country develop a better understanding and appreciation of the environment in which they live, and a burgeoning enthusiasm for its exploration.

"Take a Child Outside Week" has been initiated by the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and is held in cooperation with partner organizations such as the Adirondack Museum, across the United States and Canada.

The museum is offering a number of special activities to guide families in exploration of the outdoors. Find the beauty in leaves, trees, and rocks with the Nature's Art Scavenger Hunt. Use a tree guide to identify and learn about the trees on museum campus. Learn about the tracks and signs animals leave behind at the Animal Signs Station and visit sites on grounds where you can see signs of nighttime animal visitors. Make a pinecone mobile or leaf rubbing at our Nature Crafts Center. Explore mystery boxes at the Senses Station and look at pictures and pelts of Adirondack animals. Learn how animal coloring helps them survive. Watch fish in the pond, learn how to identify rainbow and brook trout, and help feed them lunch at 12:30 p.m. daily.

Families should not leave the museum without a "Young Naturalists" booklet filled with activity suggestions to do at home, in parks, and on trails.

According to the organizers of the weeklong program, "Going Outside" connects children to the natural world, helps kids focus in school, and reduces chances of childhood obesity.

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5 Questions: Nature Conservancy's Connie Prickett

Connie Prickett is Director of Communications, for the The Nature Conservancy's Adirondack Chapter & Adirondack Land Trust in Keene. I sent her five questions about the impending sale of more then 90,000 of the 161,000 acres of Finch Pruyn lands the Conservancy recently purchased; here are her responses.


AA: Does this sale mean that all 90,500 acres will be logged off?

CP: The lands are being offered for sale subject to a conservation easement that specifies the land will be managed on a sustainable basis for forest products; restricts both private and commercial development; and will provide for some public access in the future. The objective is to keep these lands as commercial working forests. The property is currently managed under two "green" certifications: Forest Stewardship Council and Sustainable Forestry Initiative. Maximum annual harvest levels are determined by things like soil, slope, species composition, and growing conditions. There is a fiber supply agreement in place that requires pulp wood from this property to go to the Finch Paper mill in Glens Falls, New York.

AA: What will happen to those lands located in areas zoned hamlet?

CP: There is very little property in hamlets. The Nature Conservancy is offering some of the hamlet parcels for sale to municipalities. Newcomb, for instance, is interested in converting a house on the former Finch lands into a dormitory for foreign exchange students, and Indian Lake is interested in establishing a new ball field.

AA: Will the Nature Conservancy make a profit off these land sales?

CP: No. TNC will use money from the sale(s) to pay off some of the $110 million we borrowed to purchase all 161,000 acres. At the end of the day, we anticipate that it will cost the Conservancy $35 million in private funds to complete this massive and historic conservation project. We've been hard at work raising that money to underwrite the conservation gains in the transaction.

AA: When will unique areas like OK-Slip Falls be open to the public?

CP: We get this question alot and the answer is we don't know. More than 80% of the former Finch property is leased for recreational purposes, including OK-Slip Falls. Our primary goal is to preserve ecologically-important lands and waters. While those efforts often result in wonderful public recreational opportunities, we are not equipped to manage for public access. We ask the public to be patient as we work through the details of our protection plan.

AA: What about hunting, trapping, and fishing on the new sale lands and the remaining areas?

CP: Much of the property being offered for sale is currently leased on an annual basis by hunt clubs and families for recreational purposes. The reported uses by the leaseholders include hunting, trapping, fishing, hiking, and bird watching. This fall the Conservancy is offering current leaseholders an opportunity to renew for three years instead of the typical one-year term. The conservation easement will permit leasing to continue at the option of the new woodlands owner(s). As for lands that will eventually be sold to the state, hunting, trapping, and fishing are among the many permitted uses of Forest Preserve.

AA: Will there be thru-hiking easements on private parcels that include traditional trails?

CP: The DEC will be developing a public recreation plan for the conservation easement lands.

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Local Museums Offer Free Admission Saturday

This Saturday, September 27, 2008, nearly 100 museums in New York State will participate in Smithsonian magazine's fourth annual Museum Day - including some in our Adirondack region. Museum Day is an opportunity for museums and cultural institutions nationwide to open their doors free of charge. A celebration of culture, learning and the dissemination of knowledge, Smithsonian's Museum Day reflects the spirit of the magazine, and emulates the free-admission policy of the Smithsonian Institution's Washington, D.C. - based museums.

Last year, nearly 100,000 people attended Museum Day. All fifty states plus Puerto Rico were represented by 651 participating museums. Here is a list of local museums that are offering free admission Saturday:

Adirondack Museum, Blue Mountain Lake
Adirondack History Center Museum, Elizabethtown
Brookside Museum, Ballston Spa
Frederic Remington Art Museum, Ogdensburg
National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, Saratoga Springs
Sci-Tech Center of Northern New York, Watertown
Slate Valley Museum, Granville
The Children's Museum at Saratoga, Saratoga Springs

A complete list of New York museums that are participating is located here.

Museum visitors must present Smithsonian magazine's Museum Day Admission Card to
gain free entry to participating institutions. The Museum Day Admission
Card is available for free download at Smithsonian.com.

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Nature Conservancy Purchases Follensby Pond

Some of the biggest news this summer has come out of the Nature Conservancy. First there was the announcement at the end of August that it will list for sale — under conservation easement — about 90,000 acres of the 161,000 acres of former Finch, Pruyn lands it acquired in June 2007.

Now comes the news that the Conservancy has purchased Follensby Pond for $16 million. The pond was the location of the Philosopher's Camp where Ralph Waldo Emerson, William James Stillman, Louis Agassiz, and others helped birth the Transcendentalist movement, often cited as a important precedent for the modern environmental movement.

Both announcements have been heavily covered in the media. According to the Conservancy press release on the sales:

The plan for the future of the entire 161,000-acre holding is being developed in cooperation with partners like the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Open Space Institute, community officials, and other stakeholders. It was projected to take 12 – 18 months from the time of the Conservancy’s purchase, and aims to balance ecological protections with sustainable timber harvesting, while preserving the tradition of hunt club/recreational leases and providing new recreational opportunities for the public.

The approximately 90,500 acres currently listed for sale are being offered subject to a conservation easement and a fiber supply agreement. The former ensures that ecological systems, such as river corridors and high elevation spruce-fir habitats, are protected. The latter helps to keep much of the land available as a pulp wood source for the Finch Paper mill in Glens Falls, New York.

FYI: Here is a report from the Adirondack Daily Enterprise about the August 2007 auction held at the Follensby property and another about the taxes that have been paid on the property.

What follows is the full press release from the Conservancy on the Follensby Pond purchse:

Keene Valley, New York – The Nature Conservancy today announces its purchase of Follensby Pond in New York’s Adirondack Mountains. This 14,600-acre property of mixed northern hardwood forests borders the state’s largest wilderness area, the High Peaks, and includes more than 10 miles of meandering frontage on the Raquette River, one of New York’s longest rivers. Its centerpiece, 1,000-acre Follensby Pond, is considered the largest lake owned by a private individual in the northeastern United States.

The property has been lovingly cared for and enjoyed by the McCormick family, of Manchester, Vermont, for more than five decades. After looking at several parcels in the area, John S. and Bertha “Bird” McCormick purchased Follensby Pond in 1952. Today’s sale to The Nature Conservancy reflects their deep-rooted connection to the lakes and forests and fulfills the family’s wishes to keep them intact and largely wild.

“It is a beautiful piece of property, and the solitude it offers is absolute. We’ve had so many wonderful experiences there. Bird taught our children and grandchildren how to fish and led them on nature hikes,” said Mr. McCormick.

“The significance of Follensby Pond is well-documented and today’s announcement is one for the history books,” said Pete Grannis, Commissioner of New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. “We applaud the McCormicks and The Nature Conservancy for taking measures to protect this special place.”

“The sheer size of Follensby Pond, the undisturbed quality of the wetlands, and the vastness of the surrounding forest landscape make this tract of land extremely memorable and important for conservation,” said Mark Tercek, president and CEO of The Nature Conservancy. “This striking area will now be protected for future generations, thanks to the McCormick family’s many years of stewardship.”

“John and Bird McCormick first gave me a tour of the property many years ago. Along the way, they identified wildflowers and trees and shared tales of fishing. They also showed me the guestbook, which included an entry from President Calvin Coolidge,” said Michael Carr, Executive Director of The Nature Conservancy’s Adirondack Chapter, based in Keene Valley. “It’s been an honor to work together to protect such a wonderful place.”

Follensby Pond drains into the Raquette River where a 20-mile stretch of silver maple floodplain forest is considered to be the best example of that natural community type in the Adirondacks and among the best in the state. The quiet, slow-moving backwater pools associated with that largely undisturbed stretch of river also earned high ranks in a three-year Nature Conservancy study which assigned local, state, and global rankings to approximately 102 natural community types found in the Adirondacks.

Philosophers’ Camp

Visited 150 years ago by Ralph Waldo Emerson and other 19th century scholars, Follensby Pond stands today as a symbol of Transcendentalism, the American-born philosophy that emphasizes the intuitive and spiritual over the empirical and holds nature in high regard. Such thinking, expressed in art and literature by Emerson, William James Stillman, Louis Agassiz, and other intellectuals, helped to transform America’s relationship with nature.

“The philosophers’ camp at Follensby may have been as much intellectual firepower—in the humanities and sciences—as ever gathered together in the U.S., at least under the open air. What one would give to have been privy to those conversations. In due time, we'll all be able to see the scene that inspired them so,” said Bill McKibben, author and Middlebury College scholar-in-residence.

Emerson wrote about the excursion in his poem “The Adirondacs” and Stillman captured the scene on canvas. The latter hangs today in the Concord Free Public Library in Massachusetts. According to Leslie Wilson, curator of special collections, many people from around the country make special trips to the library just to see it.

Bald eagle re-introduction

In the 1950s Follensby Pond was one of the last places in the Adirondack Park with nesting bald eagles. At that time, bald eagle populations were plummeting, leaving just one unproductive pair in the entire state by the mid-1960s, and landing the species on the endangered species list. The decline was linked to habitat destruction and DDT, a pesticide put into use nationwide in the 1940s. After studies confirmed the pesticide’s effects on calcium levels and egg viability in raptors, its use was outlawed by the federal government in 1972.

That ban gave wildlife biologists hope that populations could recover. Follensby Pond was selected as the only site in the Adirondack Park where bald eagles were reintroduced, a process known as “hacking.” New York State Department of Environmental Conservation endangered species unit leader Peter Nye led the effort in the 1980s. “Follensby was an ideal location because it had suitable habitat for current and future use by the eagles, was free from human disturbance, and good for nesting,” he said, adding that it was “a place where eagles could be eagles.”

In 1981 Nye traveled to Alaska, one of the few places in the nation where eagles were abundant, to collect eaglets unable to fly, but old enough to regulate their temperature and tear and eat fish without parental assistance. As many as 60 eaglets were released at Follensby Pond over several years, including one the McCormick grandchildren named “Emerson.” Today, the 12 nesting pairs of bald eagles in the Adirondacks are a testament to the success of those efforts.

“It was wonderful and fitting to see a bald eagle soaring above Follensby Pond this summer. It reminded me of nature’s resilience and filled me with hope for the future,” said Meredith Prime, chair of the Conservancy’s Adirondack Chapter board of trustees.

The plan for the future

Follensby Pond, in Tupper Lake and Harrietstown and bounded by “forever wild” state land to the east, north and south, is listed in the New York State Open Space Conservation Plan. That plan, updated every few years with public input, provides a “blue print” for the state’s land protection efforts. The Follensby listing, added in 1992, is consistent with the McCormicks’ vision for their property.

“My wife was a true conservationist, and together, we’ve long envisioned Follensby one day becoming a part of the publicly-owned Forest Preserve,” he said. “I have every confidence that The Nature Conservancy and New York State will work together over the next few years to make that happen.”

Hunting clubs currently lease the property. Out of respect for hunting as a traditional recreational activity, Mr. McCormick and The Nature Conservancy agreed to continue the five leases for the next several years.

The property is not open to the public. “We know that many people are eager to visit Follensby Pond, but ask that the public be patient as we work through the transactional and transitional details,” said Mr. Carr.

“With more and more water resources being protected and made available to the public in recent years, Tupper Lake is booming with paddlers. They come from all over and are helping to fuel the economy. I can understand why TNC is not opening the property right away. As soon as the public can go there, however, it will be a boon to Tupper Lake," said Robbie Frenette, owner of Raquette River Outfitters, named Tupper Lake Business of the Year in 2005.

The 200,000-acre High Peaks Wilderness links the Follensby tract with some of the former Finch, Pruyn lands purchased by The Nature Conservancy in 2007. Both land conservation efforts contribute to the Adirondack Park’s dynamic history as a place where people and nature can co-exist.

“The Adirondack Park is not your typical park with a gate and an entrance fee. It is a much more interesting place because of its combination of vibrant communities and protected lands—all within a day’s drive of major metropolitan centers like New York City, Boston, and Philadelphia,” said Mr. Carr.

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OPINION: Corporate Giants Taking More Local Money

There is news this week that two corporate giants - Verizon and Wal-Mart - are suing their local host communities to reduce their taxes.

That's Verizon, the second-largest US telecom firm, who reported profits of 1.9 billion dollars in July, 2008. And Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, who reported profits of nearly 3.5 billion in August.

"The margin of profit is very high here," Ticonderoga Town Supervisor Bob Dedrick told NCPR's David Sommerstein. But that doesn't matter to Wal-Mart, which has already been skipping out on their taxes in a "payment in lieu of taxes" agreement for the past ten years. They're seeking an assessment that's less then half of what it is now (about $30,000 less in town taxes). Ticonderoga has a population of about 5,500 - countless others shop in the store from the eastern Adirondacks.

By the way, Dedrick has been an outspoken supporter of the big box stores that have helped ruin local business in Ticonderoga - he once took a busload of local citizens to APA headquarters in Ray Brook to support the Ticonderoga Lowe's. “We have had extreme support on this. APA, here we come,” he told local media at the time. Those will be famous last words - now he says "as far as corporate Wal-Mart; I'm pretty disgusted." How about an apology to your neighbors Mr. Dedrick?

Over in Hebron, Washington County, Verizon’s four parcels are worth about $593,848 in fair market value, according to the town assessor. The company, however, wants that figure lowered by $246,000. That's about $87,000 per parcel - quite a real estate bargain. "It doesn’t add up to a whole lot of money, but it’s a lot for a small town," Hebron Supervisor Brian Campbell told the Post Star, " "It’s just amazing. What an easy way out of paying taxes, if they can do it."

We all know that these two companies have a virtual monopoly in their sectors in our region. Their profits are not limited to their hosts communities, but their costs do range far and wide: county services for underpaid employees, local emergency services, road and highway maintenance, and more. These are the costs we all pay.

Then consider last month's U.S. Government Accountability Office's study that found that the majority of U.S. corporations don't pay federal income taxes: "The GAO’s study found that over 60 percent of U.S. corporations—with revenue totals of more than US $2.5 trillion—did not pay federal income taxes." Of course the study didn't mention which companies, and one wonders where Verizon and Wal-Mart stand on that account. According to media reports, "The GAO found that 25 percent of all large corporations did not owe federal taxes in 2005. A large corporation is defined as a company with more than $250 million in assets."

Add to those costs the $700 Billion of the CURRENT round of corporate bailouts (roughly $4,000 per individual income tax filer) - and who knows what corporate gifts lie ahead.

So much for that $600 so called "stimulus check" that went out this year.

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This Week's Top Adirondack News Stories

• » Nature Conservancy Purchases Follensby Pond
• » Full Audio: 48th NY Senate Debate
• » Tupper Police Question Village Dissolution
• » Big Winds Blamed on Hurricane Ike
• » Aubertine Refuses Online Debate
• » New Northway Cell Tower Approved
• » Police Seize 1900 Marijuana Plants
• » Lows Lake Decision Tabled
• » North Creek Townhouses Approved
• » Fish and Game Licenses Up

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Adirondack Museum's Antiques Weekend

The annual Adirondack Museum Antique's Weekend with a show and sale on September 19, 20 and 21, 2008. According to the Adirondack Museum:

Forty leading antiques dealers from historic resort areas throughout the country will offer the finest examples of premium vintage and antique furnishings for camp, cabin, and collection in an exquisite fall setting.

For a complete listing of the antiques dealers who will exhibit at the show and sale, visit the "Exhibits & Events" section of the Adirondack Museum's web site at www.adirondackmuseum.org .

Rod Lich, Inc. of Georgetown, Indiana, will manage the show. Rod and his wife Susan Parrett have 32 years of experience organizing premier antique shows and sales including the Pleasant Hill Antiques Show and Sale held at the Historic Shaker Village near Lexington, Kentucky. The show was featured in the June issue of Country Living Magazine. To learn more about Rod Lich, Inc., visit www.parrettlich.com .

The weekend will begin with the exclusive Antique Show Preview Benefit on September 19, 2008 from 2:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m. Browse for treasures surrounded by blazing fall foliage. Enjoy scrumptious hors d'oeuvres and beverages while supporting the museum's exhibitions and programs. Preview Benefit tickets are $100 and include admission to the Antiques Show and Sale on Saturday and Sunday. To reserve preview tickets, please call (518) 352-7311, ext. 119.

Adult admission to the Antiques Show and Sale will be $20. Museum Members will be asked to pay a special $4.00 surcharge for the event. A shipping service will be available on both days of the show. Porters will be on site to assist with heavy or cumbersome items.

Visitors should also explore the "Annual Adirondack Mountains Antique Show" in Indian Lake, N.Y., a scenic 11-mile drive from the Adirondack Museum. Antique dealers, crafters, and artisans will display a variety of unique gifts and collectibles throughout the village. Shuttle service between venues will be provided.

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New Trail Cut on Lyon Mountain

The Adirondack Mountain Club (ADK) Professional Trail Crew has completed work on a new hiking trail to the 3,830-foot summit of Lyon Mountain, one of the most popular hiking destinations in the northern Adirondacks.

Lyon Mountain, an isolated peak just west of Chazy Lake in Clinton County, features a fire tower and a spectacular, 360-degree view. On a clear day, hikers can enjoy views of the skyscrapers of Montreal to the north, the Adirondack High Peaks to the south and Lake Champlain and Vermont’s Green Mountains to the east.

The old, 2.5 mile Lyon Mountain Trail was very steep and difficult. It was also vulnerable to erosion. ADK’s Professional Trail Crew recently completed work cutting a new 3.5 mile trail that takes a more leisurely route, incorporating 11 switchbacks in some of the steepest sections. Two new bridges were also constructed. The new trail section provides a more scenic walk and passes many exposed bedrock outcrops.

The trail took the crew, which averaged five members, 10 weeks to complete. It was the longest trail that the Professional Trail Crew has built since it was created in 1979, Lampman said. ADK’s Professional Trail Crew builds and maintains backcountry hiking trails in the Adirondacks, Catskills and other wild areas of New York under a $217,500 contract with the state Department of Environmental Conservation. Scouting and design of the new trail were completed in 2006 with funding from ADK’s Algonquin Chapter.

Lyon Mountain is on property owned by The Nature Conservancy, which eventually plans to sell it to New York state. The trail is currently not marked, but is easy to follow, and there are signs indicating the beginning and end of the trail.

To get to the trailhead from the Northway Exit 38N, take state Route 374 west 23.2 miles to Chazy Lake Road (County Route 8). Drive south 1.8 miles on Chazy Lake Road to an unnamed gravel road on the right. At the beginning of the gravel road is a black and white sign indicating it is a seasonal, limited-use highway with no maintenance from Nov. 1 – May 1. Follow the gravel road about a mile to the parking area.

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A Chance to Help Out Winter Campers

In April a friend of the Almanack, Jim Muller over at WinterCampers.com, entered a national contest sponsored by Timex called Return to the Outdoors. Jim entered the Winter Campers poem "I Am Not Going To Lie to You" and it has advanced to the final round.

There are two days left to vote (today and tomorrow) for this final round. In this final round the Winter Campers poem is competing for an adventure trip for two to San Juan Islands/WA, Moab/UT, or Aspen/CO.

Help our friends at WinterCampers.com by voting today and tommorrow at http://www.active.com/page/timex/vote. Voting is limited to one vote per person per day.

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This Week's Top Adirondack News Stories

• » Whiteface Cross Country Mountain Bike Race
• » APA Favorable: Condos Opposite Whiteface
• » Many Algae Blooms in Lake George
• » Police: Quinn Killed in Fall
• » Dems for Change Sweep Saratoga
• » Old-Growth Protected Under New Law
• » Tourism Impact in the Adirondacks
• » 90-miler Canoe Classic Results
• » Fort Ti Exec. Director to Step Down
• » Tupper Lake Lawsuit Rekindled

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Cemetery Preservation and Conservation Workshop

The Adirondack History Center Museum (AHCM,) Essex County Historical Society, and Adirondack Architectural Heritage (AARCH) will present a cemetery preservation and conservation workshop on Saturday, October 11, 2008. The event will be led by Jon Appell of New England Cemetery Services. The day will include a presentation followed by a hands-on demonstration during which participants will work on gravestones in a local cemetery.

Those attending will learn about the origins of gravestone carving in America, various stone types and styles, and the progression of repair techniques from the 1900s to the present. The workshop will also cover basic stone repair techniques and their proper cleaning.

The workshop begins at 9AM and ends at 4PM; the cost is $40 for AARCH, AHCM, and Essex County Historical Society members and $45 for non-members. For more information or to make reservations, call AARCH at 518.834-9328.

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Fabric and Fiber Arts Fest at Adirondack Museum

Spinning, weaving, knitting, quilting, and a host of talented North Country artisans will take center stage at the Adirondack Museum for a celebration of traditional and contemporary fiber arts at the Adirondack Fabric & Fiber Arts Festival on Saturday, September 13, 2008.

Activities are planned from 10:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. at the Blue Mountain Lake, New York museum, and will include demonstrations, a lecture, textile appraisal, quilt documentation, displays, vendors, a "knit-in," and hands-on opportunities. All are included in the price of general museum admission.

For centuries Adirondackers have spun, woven, and sewn - making textiles both functional and beautiful. Contemporary fiber artists have taken traditional techniques to new heights as they explore color, texture, and design.

The Adirondack Museum will offer a display of rarely seen historic textiles from the collection as part of the Festival, including crazy quilts with silks and embroidery and intricately patterned buff mittens.

Demonstrations will be held from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m.

Members of the Northern Needles Quilting Guild and the Adirondack Regional Artists Alliance will display their work and demonstrate the skills and methods needed to create traditional and art quilts.

The Serendipity Spinners - a "loosely knit" group of women who have been spinning together for many years - will demonstrate the various aspects of wool processing.

Sandi Cirillo is a fiber artist from Corning, N.Y. who specializes in felt making. She will demonstrate the uses of felted wool to create unique pieces, including bowls, jewelry, and books. Cirillo has been felting for over fifteen years. Her work is exhibited locally, throughout the state of New York, and across the nation. Examples of her work may been seen on her web site at www.especially-for-ewe.com

Textile appraiser and historian Rabbit Goody of Thistle Hill Weavers, Cherry Valley, N.Y. will help visitors discover more about personal antique and collectible fabric pieces. For a small donation to the Adirondack Museum ($5 per piece, three pieces for $10) she will examine vintage textiles and evaluate them for historical importance and value. Only verbal appraisals will be provided.

Goody is a nationally recognized textile historian and expert in the identification of historic textiles. She is the founder, owner, and director of Thistle Hill Weavers, a commercial weaving mill that produces reproduction historic textiles for museums, designers, private homeowners, and the film industry. Textiles created by Thistle Hill have appeared in more than thirty major motion pictures. For more about Thistle Hill Weavers, visit

Dr. Jacqueline Atkins, a textile historian and the Kate Fowler Merle-Smith Curator of Textiles at the Allentown Art Museum, Allentown, Pennsylvania will present an illustrated lecture, "The Japan Craze: The Japanese Influence on American Textiles and Art" at 1:00 p.m. Atkins will explore how a "craze" for all things Japanese inspired new textile designs in the late nineteenth century and look at its lasting effect.

The Fabric and Fiber Festival will include an afternoon "Knit-In" in the beautiful Visitor Center from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Folklorist and knitter Jill Breit will host the activity. This will be an opportunity for knitters to work on a project in the company of other knitting enthusiasts, and to exchange tips with participants about how to tackle tricky techniques.

Knitters are encouraged to bring finished projects to display, as well as works in progress. While the group knits, Jill will talk about popular styles of knitting in the Adirondacks, a resurgence of interest in handspun yarn, and the role of knitting groups in this traditional fiber art.

Jill Breit is Executive Director of Traditional Arts in Upstate New York, an organization devoted to documentation and presentation of folklife in the North Country. She is the curator of the exhibition "Repeat from Here: Knitting in the North Country" and author of an article Knitting It Together: A Case Study of a Sweater. She will be working on an Aran pullover during the "Knit-In."

Regional artisans and crafters will offer handmade and specialty items at the Adirondack Fabric and Fiber Arts Festival in the Marion River Carry Pavilion.

Visitors of all ages can use treadle sewing machines to make a souvenir balsam sachet in the Mark W. Potter Education Center from 11:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m.

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Fort Ti Executive Director To Step Down

North Country Public Radio is reporting that Fort Ticonderoga's longtime executive director Nick Westbrook will step down (Post Star says next year). According to the report board president Peter Paine says Westbrook will remain "affiliated with the historic site in a scholarly and advisory capacity" and described the move as "part of a planned transition."

Ongoing controversy over the loss of the Fort's most important benefactor has been covered at length on the New York History Blog before.

This weekend the New York Times covered the story:

This summer, the national historic landmark — called Fort Ti for short — began its 100th season as an attraction open to the public with two causes for celebration: the unveiling of a splashy new education center, and an increase in visitors, reversing a long decline.

But instead of celebrating, its caretakers issued an S.O.S., warning that the fort, one of the state’s most important historic sites, was struggling for survival, largely because of a breach between the fort’s greatest benefactor — an heir of the Mars candy fortune — and its executive director.

The problem is money: The fort had a shortfall of $2.5 million for the education center. The president of the board that governs the fort, which is owned by a nonprofit organization, said in an internal memo this summer that the site would be “essentially broke” by the end of the year. The memo proposed a half-dozen solutions, including the sale of artwork from the group’s collection.

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APA to Host Online Energy Conservation Workshop

From the Adirondack Park Agency:

On Wednesday, September 10, 2008 at the Agency’s offices, there will be an energy conservation workshop beginning at 1:00 (and ending no later than 4:00) focused on technical assistance for the design, construction and financing of energy efficient residential dwellings. The session will be web-cast.

Presenters will include:

James Hotaling, Architect-Planner, AIA, AICP, will discuss the overall energy aspects approach of the regional plan, site assessment, including solar and other potentials, and his experience for the possible energy-related futures for large and small scaled homes, with ‘old’ and ‘new’ examples.

Michael DeWein, Technical Director, BCAP/Alliance to Save Energy, will discuss simple, cost-effective things people can do to save money and energy in the home. This will cover simple home air sealing and insulation treatments, to getting a proper energy audit, to installing a variety of energy conservation measures themselves.

David Trudeau, Program Coordinator for Honeywell, will discuss 3 NYSERDA residential programs for existing homes: i) EmPower NY, ii) Assisted Home Performance with Energy Star, and iii) Home Performance with Energy Star. David will also discuss various types of heating fuels (electric, propane, fuel oil, Kerosene, wood pellets, and cord wood) and the cost comparisons between them.

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End of Summer 2008:Reports from Adirondack Travelers

Even though for many of us summer is just beginning, the summer crowds have now gone, so it's time to take our annual look at some of the folks who were here over the past several months. Some were joyful, amazed, or awed. Others were disappointed , annoyed, or angry - they were all here, and here's a sample of some of the summer's more interesting. You can find last year's look here, and 2006 here.

A number of visitors were rekindling old Adirondack experiences. After 40 years Doctroidal Dissertations made a fourth generation trip up Blue Mountain:

Back around, oh, I’d guess the late 1920s, my grandfather took my father for a hike up Blue Mountain in the Adirondacks. Forty years later, my father took me up Blue Mountain. Now it’s another forty years…

It was, by the way, a great time for Adirondack hiking. The weather was warm but not hot, and it being weekdays after Labor Day, the tourists were pretty much gone. We saw one other group of hikers on the entire Castle Rock hike. Something like 25 hikers signed in at Blue Mountain between the time we arrived and the time we left, but that stands in contrast to something like 150 of them on Sunday. The down side, of course, is that a lot of the businesses that cater to tourists close down after Labor Day. Like Enchanted Forest / Water Safari in Old Forge, which Kenny wanted to go to: I told him we could go to Old Forge but I couldn’t guarantee we’d be able to go to the theme park, and indeed we couldn’t. Instead we played miniature golf (had the course to ourselves) and ate lunch, then came home.

Greater New York returned to the Raquette River after more then 25 years to find "deep forests, friendly paddlers, and plenty of quiet. It was all fine with us."

kallison seems to have had a great (if somewhat dangerous) time, mostly, except for maybe some of the hiking and camping:

The sun setting over Marcy was fabulous as well, but should have had us more concerned. Note to hikers, if you can see the sun setting while on top of a mountain, you may not have enough time to get down the mountain while it is still light. The final 2.5 miles were in darkness, near total, with only a small headlamp to guide us through the land. I imagined bears, slippery rocks, roots, mud. My legs were shot. My joints were aching. The soles of my feet were sore... I literally could not stand up, and kept falling. My last two falls were while standing on a rock in a stream, close to our camp, and my legs giving way. Finally, we had a glorious moment when we realized that we’d reached “home.” I climbed into my sleeping bag to warm up, and Jeffrey proceeded to open his Chef Boyardee ravioli can. When I grew concerned that we might risk starting a forest fire where the stove was, he thought I was rushing his cooking. He dropped the ravioli on the ground, and began a temper tantrum not seen since he was a food-stressed 2-year-old. It included throwing the dirty ravioli at me, and telling me that I was greedily waiting for my can of beans, thus causing him to rush his ravioli. It was a low-point, and necessitated leaving the tarp for the nearby lean-to, as scattered ravioli might attract bears.

Diane at ADK Family Time took a family vacation to the Battle of Plattsburgh Interpretive Center and came to the conclusion that "It is challenging at the best of times to explain war to an eight-year-old child. His understanding is directly related to bad and good. There is no in-between. To him war is a game played between lunch and dinner and casualties are usually a few lampshades."

The author of Dictator Journal, HATES mushrooms, and "stupid deers."

There were lots of mushrooms growing there. Nate's Mom had a book to identify mushrooms, and took pictures of them. When she wasn't looking, sometimes I would stomp on them. Nate nicknamed me Mycozilla. I like it. Then I saw deer eating the mushrooms. I caught a doe one morning scarfing mushrooms like candy. She came within eight or so feet of me and Nate on her mushroom hunt. After that, I retired my Mycozilla ways and left the shrooms for the wildlife, even though stomping on squishy mushrooms is totally fun. Stupid deers.

willowluna had some peak experiences while in the Adirondacks, including this gem:

Teaching my daughter to pee in a hole in the woods that we dug. Truly, this was such a high for me. I loved that she was completely open to it and didn’t mind having to do it more than once. Much better than an outhouse! Go ahead, call me a freak.

The author of Cook, Study, and Be Crafty had a great time in the Adirondacks, except for that part where her daughter broke her arm!

On the outdoor sports front, Bicycling Affair chronicled their trip from Rochester through the Adirondacks on the way to Burlington; Ironhokie blogged about his experience at the 2008 Lake Placid Iron Man; and Kayaker Musings spent the summer building a boat! Somewhere in NJ posted a large birding trip list and some nice photos.

A couple of folks spent the summer getting ready to move in or moving into the Adirondacks.

City Mouse / Country House has been coming to grips with the APA, exploring the variety of toilet bowls, and, well, praising Zone 3. Mauigirl has been blogging her experience of buying property in Lake George.

Also of note:

Although they're at different skill levels, both Jeff Harter and Rat Girl 3 spent time in the Adirondacks practicing their art.

Moonraking spent some time at a former great camp and Disenchanted Youth explored the old mining operations in Essex County, including the Republic Steel property.

Tarnished Poet's blogster rant wondered [very] aloud about whether anybody would care about her trip to the Adirondacks -

i dont know, theres just so much going on inside my head constantly. normally i LOVE camping, and cant get enough of it. this year? not so much. all i wanted to do was get high, have sex, go shopping, whatever. i just did not want to be up there. but finally, on the second to last day, i enjoyed myself. i dont know why im rambling on about all of this. its not like anybody ever reads what i have to say. i guess that can be a positive. i can write whatever the hell i want and know that it will never be found out. imagine that, huh? im writing personal thoughts and posting them on the internet for the world to see, and no one gives a f*** about what i say. pretty intense, huh? yeah, not really.

The Photography

Some of the greatest photography this season came from local photog The Landscapist whose Adirondack Coast series reminds us of the variety of life in the region:

We live in a state park in a village that is somewhat of a geographic oddity. Approximately 25 miles to the SW of us is the heart of the Adirondack High Peaks - rugged wilderness with 46 peaks over 4000 ft. The same distance to the SE is the Lake Champlain Region (AKA, The Adirondack Coast) - a 130 mile long lake with gentle rolling farmland and quaint New England-style villages dotting the shoreline. The 2 areas could hardly be more different from each other. In fact, it's difficult to think of them as part of the same Adirondack Park.

Also worth mentioning is Mountain Trail Photo Blog, a group photography blog that is boasting "some of the most respected and published nature photographers in the country"; Maraca's Vacation 2008; and on a more amateur photography note, check out the 5th Annual Gentleman's Picnic,

For your dose of different check out Peeling a Pomegranate, a blog of "Earth-based Magickal Judaism, often known as Jewitchery - writings, rituals, midrash, magick, prayers, and more…" that found some interesting related images on a 2008 Adirondack Adventure.

The Video

YouTube has been popular way to post some great (and not so great) footage of the Adirondack family vacation. There has been a ton of new footage posted of the Adirondack Scenic Railroad, but taking a look at tallvivian's reminds us that the Adirondack Scenic Railroad Wine Train was probably a lot of fun.

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This Week's Top Adirondack News Stories

• » Legislators Delay JCC's Master Plan
• » Search for Missing Keene Man
• » Schumer: Make More Maple Syrup
• » Plane Lands on Adirondack Northway
• » Essex Day-Care Centers Decline
• » Fewer Tourists Mean Fewer Arrests?
• » E-town Fuel Mis-appropriation?
• » No 4-Day Week for Essex County
• » Lake George Exit 20 Study

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21st Annual Rustic Fair at the Adirondack Museum

Organic, natural, contemporary furniture inspired by the wilderness can be seen at the 21st Annual Rustic Fair presented by the Adirondack Museum at Blue Mountain Lake. Skilled craftsmanship and unique designs in creations made of bark, twigs, branches and burls will be on display.

The Rustic Fair will be held on September 6, 2008 from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and on September 7, 2008 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. More than fifty-five artisans, including six craftsmen new to the Fair, will display and sell furniture and accessories.

On Friday, September 5, the museum will host the Rustic Fair Preview Benefit, offering a special chance to meet the rustic artisans and shop for the perfect treasure for home or camp. Enjoy delectable edibles, tasty beverages, and the 1940s jazz of "Minor Swing." All proceeds from the Rustic Preview support Adirondack Museum exhibits and programs.

Minor Swing of Potsdam, N.Y., blends American big-band swing with the exotic flare of European gypsy folk songs. The band mixes contemporary compositions with the classic Manouche (gypsy jazz) repertoire. Minor Swing includes musicians Christopher Brown, Lorie Gruneisen, Victor Caamaño, and David Katz.

Following the Preview, guests have the option to enjoy a Joint Benefit Dinner at Great Camp Sagamore at Raquette Lake. For more information or tickets to the Preview Benefit, call (518) 352-7311 ext 119. The museum will be closed on Friday, September 5 for the Preview Benefit.

The 21st Annual Rustic Fair will also include lively music, delicious food (look for North Country Kettle Corn and Ben & Jerry's!), and demonstrations in a spectacular autumn setting. In addition, Painter/Furniture Artist Barney Bellinger of Sampson Bog Studio in Mayfield will paint an Adirondack landscape in oils in the Visitor Center throughout the Fair. Bellinger's framed painting will be sold in a silent auction; the winner to be announced on September 7.

On Saturday, September 6, enjoy festive music by the Lime Hollow Boys. John Wolfe, Ray Gardner, Floyd Sherman and Andy White, the musicians, come from an area known as "lime hollow" in near Potsdam. The Lime Hollow Boys play country and folk music combining bass, guitar, fiddle, and harmonica. You can sample their music on the web at www.limehollowboys.com.

Sunday, September 7 will feature traditional fiddling by Frank Orsini. For many years Frank Orsini has been one of the prominent acoustic musicians on the Upstate New York music scene, playing fiddle, viola and mandolin. A sampling from Frank's repertoire includes: Celtic music, Elizabethan or early music selections, old-time fiddle tunes from the Southern mountain tradition, New England and Canadian dance tunes, bluegrass and country classics, Cajun, and blues selections, as well as Urban and Western swing standards.

The Rustic Fair will feature works by rustic furniture artisans from the Adirondacks and other parts of New York State. There will also be craftsmen from the states of Vermont, Maine, Connecticut, New Jersey, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wyoming, Tennessee, North Carolina, California, and the Canadian Province of Ontario.

All Rustic Fair activities and demonstrations are included in the price of regular museum admission.

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Teddy Roosevelt and The Adirondack Forest Preserve

This post has been cross-posted to New York History, the blog of Historical News and Views From The Empire State.

In the heart of the Adirondacks is the Town of Newcomb, population about 500. The town was developed as a lumbering and mining community - today tourism and forest and wood products are the dominate way locals make a living. As a result the Essex County town is one of the Adirondacks' poorer communities ($32,639 median income in 2000).

The folks in Newcomb (and also in North Creek in Warren County) often promote their communities' connection to Theodore Roosevelt's ascendancy to the presidency. Teddy's nighttime trip from a camp in Newcomb to the rail station at North Creek as William McKinley lay dying from a bullet delivered by Leon Czolgosz's .32 caliber Iver-Johnson handgun is usually considered Roosevelt's great tie to the Adirondack region. There is a annual celebration of Roosevelt this weekend, but more of that later.

Roosevelt was the first American president to find the long-term conservation of our natural resources and important goal. According to the great wiki "Roosevelt set aside more land for national parks and nature preserves than all of his predecessors combined, 194 million acres":

Roosevelt created the first National Bird Preserve, (the beginning of the Wildlife Refuge system)... recognized the imminent extinction of the American Bison... urged Congress to establish the United States Forest Service (1905), to manage government forest lands, and he appointed Gifford Pinchot to head the service... In all, by 1909, the Roosevelt administration had created an unprecedented 42 million acres (170,000 km²) of national forests, 53 national wildlife refuges and 18 areas of "special interest", including the Grand Canyon.

A longstanding question from Roosevelt's time still creates raging debates in Newcomb - should the state keep buying land in Newcomb (and elsewhere) to add to the Forest Preserve while it continues to ban logging?

Here is a short history of the movement to log the Adirondack Forest Preserve prior to 1900:

1798 - New York State sells 4 million acres of the Macomb Patent for eight pence an acre. Political and corporate interests would control much of the Adirondacks for the next century. In 1855 for example, the state sold three entire townships to a railroad company for five cents an acre, even though the price had been set by law at 75 cents an acre.

In 1885, the Forest Preserve Act was passed establishing the New York State Forest Commission and declaring that "The lands now or hereafter constituting the forest preserve shall be forever kept as wild forest lands. They shall not sold, nor shall they be leased or taken by any corporation, public or private."

With the establishment of the Forest Preserve came calls to log it. In 1890, the Commission argued that new Forest Preserve lands should be purchased with money from the sales of timber (softwoods over 12 inches in diameter). In 1892, the state legislature established the Adirondack Park within the Forest Preserve and stated it would be "forever reserved, maintained and cared for as a ground open for the free use of all the people for their health or pleasure, and as forest lands necessary to the preservation of the headwaters of the chief rivers and a future timber supply."

The following year later the State Legislature approved the logging of Tamarack and Spruce 12 inches and up and any size Poplar. The New York Evening Post reported that fifteen bills were rushed to the New York Legislature "nearly all of which are directly to the advantage of the timber and land sharks." The following year, the American Forestry Association, the New York State Forestry Association, the Adirondack Park Association, and the Genesee Forestry Association, held a "Forest Congress" in Albany which opposed the lumbering plan.

The move to log the Forest Preserve created a backlash from conservationists and that, along with a report form the State Comptroller outlining immense fraud, bribery, and illegal cutting, led to inclusion of a formal ban in the New York Constitution in 1894. "The lands of the state, now owned or hereafter acquired, constituting the forest preserve as now fixed by law, shall be forever kept as wild forest lands. They shall not be leased, sold or exchanged, or be taken by any corporation, public or private, nor shall the timber thereon be sold, removed or destroyed." The American Forestry Association also opposed this plan.

In 1898, New York Governor Frank Black, pushed for a 40,000 acre experimental forestry station to be run by Cornell Forest School, which was established by the same law. Cornell University started the forestry program but closed its doors in 1903, it was headed by Bernhard Eduard Fernow.

In 1898 Teddy Roosevelt was elected Governor. Roosevelt believed that someday, forestry could be applied to the state's Forest Preserve - he said so in his 1900 annual message: "We need to have our system of forestry gradually developed and conducted along scientific principles. When this has been done it will be possible to allow marketable lumber to be cut everywhere without damage to the forests."

Roosevelt brought in Gifford Pinchot and the United States Division of Forestry who devised a plan to lumber Township 40 in the Totten and Crossfield Purchase. About 25 men were hired under forester Ralph Hosmer and local lumberer Eugene Bruce to survey the woods and lay out a plan to log the Forest Preserve. With the failure of the plan's adoption came the virtual end to serious attempts to log the Adirondacks en masse.

The annual Newcomb Roosevelt celebration is this weekend (Sept. 5, 6, and 7)

Newcomb Visitor Interpretive Center Opening Celebration (Friday night, Sept. 5, at 6:30 p.m., and featuring Adirondack Folksinger-Songwriter Peggy Lynn)

Craft Fair (Saturday, Sept. 6, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. and Sunday, Sept. 7, 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. at the Newcomb Central School)

Quilt Show (Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 6-7, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. at the Newcomb Visitor Interpretive Center).

All Weekend Long: Wagon Rides to Camp Santanoni, Free Pony Rides, Wool Spinning, a Classic Car Exhibit, Historic Guided Tours of Newcomb and Village of Adirondac, the Ty Yandon 5K Memorial Foot Race, and the TR Naturalist Challenge.

Fireworks on Saturday evening, Sept. 6, at the Overlook (Musical Entertainment beforehand)

For more information, contact the Newcomb Chamber of Commerce at (518) 582-3211.

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Rare DEC Adirondack Forest Ranger Interview

We don't often get an opportunity to hear from local Department of Environmental Conservation forest rangers, so yesterday's interview with 26-year veteran DEC Forest Ranger Mark Kralovic by Gloversville Leader-Herald reporter Kayleigh Karutis is worth noting here on the blog.

Although Kralovic, who is stationed in Wells, Hamilton County, notes that he has not seen an Adirondack moose yet, he has seen some strange and dramatic things:

Kralovic said he has seen anywhere from five to over a dozen rescues a year, and each presents its own unique challenges.

One incident several years ago necessitated the use of a helicopter to search for a couple lost in the Silver Lake Wilderness area. Kralovic dropped down from the helicopter into an adjacent swamp and located the pair, escorting them back to civilization.

Other searches are less successful, and some lost explorers are never found. Rain and snow make things, predictably, a bit more difficult. And there's no specific demographic for a lost person - they could be 10, or they could be 70, or anywhere in between.

"You see some very strange things," said Lt. Stephen Preston, zone supervisor for Fulton and Hamilton counties. "You become immune to it."

Preston, a Benson resident who has been in the area as a supervisor for four years and a ranger for 15, remembers one search and rescue decidedly different from the norm: the disabled individual was a 150-pound Newfoundland dog.

While we're at it, here is the complete roster of local DEC Forest Rangers.

Have you had an experience with a DEC Ranger that was notable? Let us know in the comments.

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Adirondack Harvest Fall Events Announced

Adirondack Harvest, the community-based farm and food development and promotion program, has provided funds to groups throughout the region for celebrations of the bountiful fall season farm harvest. The effort is made possible by a $50,000 grant to Adirondack Harvest from the Spaulding-Paolozzi Foundation, which supports agricultural development and ecological preservation.

According to Adirondack Harvest Coordinator Laurie Davis, “This season-long Adirondack Harvest celebration provides consumers with opportunities to meet farmers, visit farms, taste products and become Adirondack Harvest members. Members receive special mailings, dinner invitations, and various premiums from an Adirondack Harvest apron to our Three Farms DVD, gift baskets and the Adirondack Harvest Cookbook with lots of great ideas for serving local foods.”

Adirondack Harvest Activities Set for NNY Region:

Clinton County
Sunday, September 14, 1pm – Adirondack Harvest Farms Tour and Dinner – Cornell Cooperative Extension of Clinton County has organized a farms tour that includes Campbell’s Greenhouse in Saranac (1pm), Everett’s Orchard Store in Plattsburgh (2pm), Black Sheep Barn and Garden in West Chazy (3pm) and Conroy’s Organics in West Chazy (4pm tour and dinner). Call 518-561-7450 for transportation and dinner reservations or drive-it-yourself for tours.

September 6-14 - New I Love Local Food reusable shopping bags for sale - Cornell Cooperative Extension of Clinton County will have the new I Love Local Food reusable shopping bag for sale at cost at the Extension office at 6064 State Route 22 in Plattsburgh and at September 13 Adirondack Harvest Farms Tour sites. Info: 518-561-7450

Essex County
Saturday, September 6-Sunday, September 14 - Adirondack Agricultural exhibits at Adirondack Historical Society Museum, Monday-Saturday 9am-5pm, Sundays 1-5pm. Mention Adirondack Harvest to get 2 admissions for price of 1; Court Street, Elizabethtown. Info: 518-873-6466.

Thursday, September 11, 5-9:00pm - Oil paintings & monumental sculpture exhibits, Crooked Brook Studios Art Farm, early 20th century farm with "bio-organic eruptions" of art appearing across farm landscape, RD2 Box 2364, Wadhams-Whallonsburg Rd., Westport (aka Sayre Rd./Cty. Rte. 55). Info: 518-962-4386.

Thursday, September 11, 11:30am to evening - Turtle Island Café Trail Farm-to-Restaurant Tour For each farm you visit your name will be entered into drawing for $30 gift certificate to Turtle Island Café. Make reservations by September 8 with 518-962-4810x404.

Friday, September 12, 9:00am to 1:00pm, Elizabethtown Farmers' Market - Free samples of seasonal fruits & vegetables and dip for dunking at one of the oldest Essex County markets. Peruse selections of vegetables, flowers, baked goods, crafts, Elizabethtown. Info: 518-293-7877

Friday, September 12, 10-11:30am Cornell E.V.Baker Research Farm Tour – Farm connects Cornell University faculty with important agricultural issues facing Northern NY farmers, including best management practices for perennial forages, tillage and soil health interactions, wine grape variety evaluations, small grain variety trials and season extension using high tunnels… 38 Farrell Road, Willsboro. Info: 518-963-7492.

Saturday, September 13, 11:30am to evening, Deers Head Inn Trail Farm-to-Restaurant Tour - For each farm you visit your name will be entered into drawing for $30 gift certificate to The Deers Head Inn. Make reservations by September 10 with 518-962-4810x404. Tour schedule is as follows:

Sunday, September 14, 9:30am-2pm, Keene Farmers' Market – 6th Annual Pie Baking Contest benefits Keene Food Pantry, open to pie donations, contest pies should arrive no later than 9am. Awards in three categories, donate to food pantry to receive a slices of the pies; Marcy Field in Keene Valley. Info: 518-561-7167.

Franklin County
Saturday-Sunday, September 6-7, 1-3 pm – Adirondack Alps Cooking Classes at Hohmeyers’ Lodge on Lake Clear, 6319 State Route 30, Lake Clear, NY. Info: www.lodgeonlakeclear.com , 518-891-1489.

Wednesday-Sunday, September 10-14 - 6-6:30 pm free harvest cooking demonstrations prior to dinner service at Hohmeyers’ Lodge on Lake Clear, 6319 State Route 30, Lake Clear, NY – Chef Cathy Hohmeyer will serve a special Old World Style Harvest Dinner Menu complete with local beef, pork, and lamb; potatoes; salads, and strudel with organic apples and peaches - a whole, 100-mile menu of local products. Everything from stroganoff and soups to sauerbraten will be prepared with organic and local foods. Info: 518-891-1489, www.lodgeonlakeclear.com

Hamilton County
August 28, 3-6pm, Long Lake Farmers' Market, Long Lake Pavilion, Long Lake, NY - display of Adirondack Harvest materials with photos of local members such as Neil McGovern of the Inn at Speculator, maple producer Dave McComb, and Ann Miller of Indian Lake Restaurant. Info: 518-548-6191

September 9, 8:30am, Indian Lake, NY - Roll out for Indian Lake Chamber of Commerce will provide an explanation of Adirondack Harvest and what it has the potential to do for the local tourist-based economy. Info: 518-548-6191

September 9, 6pm, Speculator, NY - Roll out for Speculator Region Chamber of Commerce will provide an explanation of Adirondack Harvest and what it has the potential to do for the local tourist-based economy. Info: 518-548-6191

September 11, 3-6pm, Speculator Farmers' Market, Speculator Farmers’ Market, Speculator Pavilion, Speculator, NY - display of Adirondack Harvest materials with photos of local members, such as Neil McGovern of the Inn at Speculator, maple producer Dave McComb, and Ann Miller of Indian Lake Restaurant. Info: 518-548-6191

October 4, 10am-4pm Fall Fest, Speculator Pavilion, Speculator, NY Adirondack Harvest display booth and solicitation of members. Info: 518-548-6191

Jefferson County
Monday, September 15, 3:30pm, Monday Neighborhood Farmers’ Market, 203 N. Hamilton Street, Watertown – Celebrity chef Lori Wells of Café Mira in Adams will offer a cooking demonstration using the freshest fall produce and with the assistance of her 10-year-old daughter Madison Wells. Info: 315-788-8450

Lewis County
September Mondays, 2-6pm; Saturdays, 8:30am-2pm; October Saturdays, 9am-1pm - Lowville Farmers Market - Mondays are Mini-Market days; the first Saturday of the month is Customer Appreciation Day with free beverages and door prizes donated by vendors with produce, meats, maple, baked goods…The market accepts WIC Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program food coupons; Lewis County Fairgrounds Forest Park Pavilion, Lowville. Info: 315-376-5270

September 20, 4th Annual Cream Cheese Festival, Lowville downtown – World’s largest cheesecake, contests, entertainment, artists, Children’s Discovery Park, raffles…benefits local churches’ food pantries. Kraft Foods in Lowville is the largest cream cheese manufacturing plan in the world. Info: 315-376-8688

September 29-October 5 – NY Harvest for NY Kids Week activities at county schools Info: 315-376-5270

October 4, 11am-4pm, Lowville Dairy Producers Cooperative, 7396 Utica Blvd. (Route 12), Lowville, next to the giant cow! This stop is part of the Lewis County Chamber of Commerce Fall Foliage Tour and you know at the farmer-owned and operated Lowville Dairy Producers retail store they’ve “got good cheese” and cheese curd made with local milk, maple products, Croghan bologna, and many locally made goodies. Watch for details on a local restaurant serving a meal with local products. Info: 315-376-5270, 376-3921

St. Lawrence County
Saturday, September 27, 10:30am-5pm – Harvest Festival, Cornell Cooperative Extension of St. Lawrence County Learning Farm, Canton – Farmers’ market, foods, activities, pet the farm animals: sheep, goats, pig, beef calve; tractor safety, hay rides, sorghum sudangrass maze, pick & paint pumpkins, dog agility class, NY State Police Child Safe, fire safety house, Dairy Princess and Maple Queen. Info: 315-379-9192

Warren County
Saturday-Sunday-Monday, October 11-13 – 1st Annual Thurman Farm Tour and Harvest Dinner at The Grist Mill on Schroon Lake – On Saturday and Sunday learn about local agriculture at farms throughout the Town of Thurman. On Monday, enjoy dinner a event organized by Cornell Cooperative Extension and the local Adirondack Harvest Committee at The Grist Mill on The Schroon, 100 River Street, Warrensburg. The mill dates to 1824; the dinner at this landmark restaurant will feature freshly harvested produce and other farm products from Warren County farms. Info: 518-623-3291, 518-668-4881

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