Lake George FUND & Waterkeeper Want Phosphorus Law

For your Sunday afternoon reading pleasure comes this delightful press release from Lake George Waterkeeper Chris Navitsky. The FUND for Lake George and the Waterkeeper are working together to support state legislation to ban the sale of high phosphorus household cleaners and fertilizers. According to Navitsky, studies find 50 percent of phosphorus in stormwater runoff comes from lawn fertilizers and nine to 34 percent of phosphorus in municipal sewage treatment plants is from household cleaning products. New York law would follow laws in Minnesota, Maine and Wisconsin and a law just enacted in Westchester County. You've got a lot of science and policy reading ahead of you, so enjoy!

Lake George – The FUND for Lake George and Lake George Waterkeeper support new state legislation to ban the sale of high phosphorus products used for household (and commercial) cleaning supplies and in lawn fertilizers. The impact of the widespread use of these products is that they contribute to water pollution across New York. In this action, New York follows successful legislative efforts of the state of Minnesota, which passed similar legislation in 2005, and Maine, which started its law on January 1, 2008, and Wisconsin, which just passed similar legislation in April 2009. Local laws banning phosphorus in household cleaning products and lawn fertilizers have passed a number of counties in Michigan, Florida, and Illinois, among other states such as Maryland and Vermont. In New York, Westchester County recently passed a phosphorus product sale ban in order to protect the water quality of its public drinking water supply reservoirs and the Long Island Sound. Studies of the Minnesota law found 97% compliance in retail establishments, no higher costs for consumers, and found an overall decrease in phosphorus loading to state waters.

“One pound of phosphorus can make 50-60 pounds of algae in a lake or pond” said Peter Bauer, Executive Director of the FUND for Lake George. “This state legislation would have a positive impact on Lake George where overall phosphorus levels have continued to rise due to poor lawn management, lack of stream buffers, poorly designed and managed septic systems, and high volumes of stormwater runoff. Limiting the amount of phosphorus used in fertilizers and in household cleaning products used primarily for dishwashing, is an important tool to help protect the water quality of Lake George.”

This legislation prohibits the sale or distribution of household/commercial cleaning products used in dishwashers that contain 0.5% by weight of a phosphorus compound, reduced from 8.7%, and to prohibit the use of such products in commercial establishments as of July 1, 2010. High phosphorus household cleaning detergents often include as much as 9% phosphorus and are often responsible for between 9 – 34% of the total phosphorus in municipal water treatment plants. The legislation bans the sale of fertilizers that contains 0.67% by weight of phosphorus. The NYS Department of Environmental Conservation estimates that fertilizers can be responsible for 50% of the total phosphorus in stormwater runoff. Phosphorus loading continues to negatively impact Lake George.

“It’s important to limit the amount of phosphorus that is being loaded into Lake George” said Chris Navitsky, the Lake George Waterkeeper. “Each time it rains, improperly managed stormwater loads phosphorus into the lake. Phosphorus in fertilizers is being washed into Lake George, is not being absorbed into the soils and becoming absorbed into soils and is failing its intended use.”

The issue of phosphorus loading into Lake George has long been identified as a major long-term problem facing the lake. The 2001, the Lake George Park Commission published a report “Total Phosphorus Budget Analysis for the Lake George Watershed” by Sterns & Wheler, which concluded that “The majority of phosphorus loading is from surface water runoff, with a disproportionate amount of runoff derived from developed area round the lake as compared to undeveloped (forested and agricultural) areas. Although developed areas only account for 5 percent of the land area in the watershed, they produce 43 percent of all the phosphorus that enters the lake as surface runoff.” The report also calculated that Lake George is receiving 300% of the amount of phosphorus that it can naturally process.

Lake George is buffered somewhat as compared with other lakes across New York as its watershed is 95% forested. The undeveloped natural forest systems around Lake George load phosphorus to the lake. This happens as leaves and twigs that fall into the lake decay and as sediment is carried to the lake as part of the natural stream bed load, among other ways. A healthy Lake George needs phosphorus to function. Excess phosphorus causes water pollution and the natural aging processes are accelerated.

The Sterns & Wheler report stated that undeveloped areas around Lake George, which includes 95% of the entire watershed (some 141,500 acres), produces as much phosphorus as the developed 5% of the watershed (some 7,500 acres). Just 5% of the watershed around Lake George is developed with houses, roads, parking lots, barns, stores, parks, sewers, yards, and a whole lot more, whereas. 95% is still relatively wild, either in private forest lands, a backyard forest, or as part of the state’s Forest Preserve. From this 2001 study the developed areas deliver phosphorus to the Lake George at a ratio of 15-1 when compared with natural forest areas. This is consistent with research around the U.S. that compares developed areas with non-developed areas. Use of household cleaning detergents and fertilizers are part of the overall phosphorus loading problem.

As mentioned above, Lake George receives 300% more phosphorus than it can process naturally. What happens to phosphorus-rich waters? They steadily lose water clarity as transparency in the water is lost as microscopic algal life is stimulated. They stimulate greater plant growth, which is turns creates more decayed matter on the lake bottom thus changing the aquatic system as this matter accumulates. Phosphorus rich waters are also very hospitable to invasive aquatic species, such as Eurasian Watermilfoil (EWM), which require high levels of nutrients. High phosphorus rates are also a human health issue as this can make water not safe to drink. High levels of phosphorus also contribute to creation each summer of a “dead zone” on Lake George where oxygen levels are depleted due to high nutrient levels making large parts of the lake unable to support fish life. Lake George has been experiencing a slow, steady decline in water quality. Land use changes and poor land use practices on just 5% of the land areas around the lake have changed the lake’s water quality.

“Legislation to control phosphorus pollution from household cleaning products and lawn fertilizers is critical to help manage and reduce water pollution across New York. Lake George is enormously important to the local economy. In many ways, Lake George is the engine of the Warren County economy. The high property values, robust tourism season, sport fishing and boating industries, among others, all require clean water” said Peter Bauer.

“If this legislation is unsuccessful at the state level, we would explore whether or not it’s feasible for the Lake George Park Commission to undertake a similar effort within the Lake George watershed” said Chris Navitsky.

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Last Chance To Win A Copy of 'Adirondack Reader'

Today is the last day to enter to win a copy of the new, expanded Adirondack Reader. Thanks to a donation from the Adirondack Mountain Club, which published the latest edition of the Reader, Adirondack Almanack is giving away a copy of what Mary Thill called in her review a collection of "pivotal and perceptive accounts of how people have experienced these woods since the arrival of Europeans 400 years ago."

Here's how you can win:

1. Follow Adirondack Almanack on Twitter.

2. Tweet the following:

Just entered to win a copy of The Adirondack Reader. Just follow @adkalmanack and retweet - www.adirondackalmanack.com

We'll be drawing at random on June 1, 2009. You must tweet by midnight tonight (May 31, 2009). Good luck.

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Adk Gardens: To Till or Not to Till

Spring arrives and the garden beckons. The urge to plant seeds and pick flowers is strong. But first, the chores must be done, and the big garden chore that looms over all is preparing the soil for planting.

We open the shed and stare at the tiller (or we go to the garden store and stare at the tillers). Lugging the machine out into the yard we check for fuel, check for oil, push the lever to choke and yank on the chord. If we are lucky, it fires up with only a pull or two. If not, well, we stand back, glare at the machine, pull the chord some more, kick the infernal machine, push some levers back and forth, pull the chord, flood the engine, and lug the thing back into the shed.

There must be a better way.

That was me last weekend. I had one bed that I really wanted to till up, but for the first time in three years I couldn't get the tiller started. Not being mechanically inclined, I returned the tiller to the shed and grabbed my broadfork instead.

I discovered the broadfork three years ago, about the time I was really getting into my veg gardens. All the flower beds around my house I had dug by hand, and doing the same with the veg gardens was daunting, so I bought a tiller. After running/bouncing it over the lawn a few times, I still had to dig by hand to remove all the rocks and weeds and clumps of grass. What had been the advantage of getting this $300 machine that now stood idle in the shed?

I read through some of my gardening books and came across the broadfork in a book about Biointensive gardening. This method espouses double digging, in which the gardener starts at one end of a garden, digs down with a shovel one shovel length, puts that soil in a container, and digs down another level to just loosen the soil. This can be done with the broadfork - a tool that breaks up and loosens the soil without disrupting the soil's structure (more on this in a moment). This tool looks exactly like its name: a fork that is rather wide. It has 6-8 tines attached to a horizontal bar, with handles emerging upright from the ends of the bar. One thrusts the tines into the ground, steps on the bar, and then grabs the handles, levering the tines through the soil. It's a primitive thing, but it works great! You then back up and start the next row of digging. The first layer's soil goes into the trough you just dug, on top of the broadforked soil. The second layer is now forked. This continues until you reach the end of your bed. After you broadfork the last layer, the soil you removed from the first row is placed on top - the loop is closed, the system complete.

Over the years, my garden reading has come across many justifications for not tilling the soil. I first learned of no-till agriculture in a conservation class I took many years ago in college. We were reading about the Dust Bowl and how the advent of no-till farming helped cut down on soil erosion. In today's gardening world, however, the idea of no tilling has more to do with "being green" - not polluting the air with gasoline fumes, cutting down on our carbon footprints. But it's more than that - it's also about preserving the vitality of the very soil itself.

As soil develops, layers are built; this is the soil's structure. But the structure is more than mineral and organic layers; it is also the layers of living things: the worms, the beetles, the fungi, the bacteria. All these things work in concert to create a healthy environment in which plants can grow. When we run through this carefully balanced system with our rototillers, we mix everything up, disrupting the health and balance. Can your plants still grow in it? Of course, but the soil's vitality has been reduced. By using the double digging method we preserve the soil's structure. We are essentially fluffing up the soil without turning it on its head.

So I took my broadfork to this final garden and applied it. I was anticipating a struggle with hard-packed soil, but to my pleasant surprise the soil loosened up with hardly any effort at all. Maybe this is because last year the bed was built without any tilling: I layered tons of newspapers on the lawn and covered them with compost and manure. I was expecting the soil this year to be hard - that preparing the bed would have me digging down through the hard lawn under the papers (hence my initial attempt at using the tiller). As it turned out, the layers had successfully (for once) smothered the lawn underneath and all was cool, moist and soft - the easiest veg bed I have ever prepared.

Maybe the tiller will go in my next yard sale.

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The Late Richard "Dick" Merrill Wins 2009 Hochschild Award

The late Richard "Dick" Merrill of Queensbury has been selected by the Adirondack Museum Board of Trustees to be the recipient of the 2009 Harold K. Hochschild Award. According to a press release issued by the museum:

The Harold K. Hochschild Award is dedicated to the memory of the museum's founder, whose passion for the Adirondacks, its people, and environment inspired the creation of the Adirondack Museum. Since 1990 the museum has presented the award to a wide range of intellectual and community leaders throughout the Adirondack Park, highlighting their contributions to the region's culture and quality of life.

Although Dick Merrill made his living as an engineer for the General Electric Company, he lived his life by giving time and talent to his community.

Merrill was President of the Southern Adirondack Library System and President of the Crandall Public Library - successfully completing an $18 million LEED certified expansion project that opened in December 2008 during his tenure.

He was President of the Chapman House Historical Museum and served as a member of the Adirondack Community College Foundation as well as the Warren Country Historical Association.

In addition, Merrill was elected to the Queensbury Town Board and served as deputy chairman. He was a member of the Queensbury Land Use Planning Board, the Indian Lake Association, and President of the Warren County Planning Board.

Dick played bagpipes for Adirondack Pipes and Drums, Inc. and served as the group's treasurer.

Nicholas K. Burns Publishing published Dick Merrill's book, Log Marks of the Hudson --a meticulously researched and comprehensive cross-referenced guide to a cornerstone of Adirondack history -- in 2008.

In the company of his wife of fifty years Mary Merrill, Dick was also a valued member of the Adirondack Museum family. For many years, they organized a corps of volunteers in support of the No-Octane Regatta. The couple developed lively history-based programs for children and families that enriched the experience of thousands of museum visitors each year. They also originated hands-on classroom programs for students in grades K - 8. With son Dean Merrill, the Merrill's delighted crowds at the museum's annual Harvest Festival with their vintage steam-powered cider press.

The Adirondack Museum will formally present the Harold K. Hochschild Award posthumously to Dick Merrill on August 6, 2009. The event will begin at 3:00 p.m.

Photo caption: Dick Merrill with former U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton during her visit to the Adirondack Museum at Blue Mountain Lake, NY in 2006.

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The Great Sunflower Project – Another Family Activity

Last summer I grew some amazing sunflowers – they must’ve reached ten or more feet in height and over a foot across the blossom! I also grew some smaller sunflowers, in all shades from a chocolaty red to a brilliant yellow. My sunflower bed became one of my favorite gardens, especially last fall when the chickadees came to steal the seeds (afterall, I planted the flowers to provide food for the birds).

Then I discovered The Great Sunflower Project (http://www.greatsunflower.org). This outfit’s goal is to sign up folks around the country to plant sunflowers and monitor them for bee activity. It’s kind of like the Lost Ladybug Project I wrote about earlier, except this time it’s bees that are in the spotlight. (The photo is from their website, by the way, taken by Ginny Stibolt.)

Most of us have heard about the crashing honeybee populations, better known as Colony Collapse. There are many theories out there as to why it’s happening, but I don’t think anyone has nailed down THE reason yet. Honeybees, however, are non-native insects, brought over to this part of the world for their honey-making skills and pollination efforts. That said, North America is home to many native bees (over 4,500 species of bees, according to the Great Sunflower Project’s website), most of which are important pollinators in their own right.

But even many our native bees are having some difficulty surviving these days. One reason, according to the website http://nature.berkely.edu/urbanbeegardens, is how we are gardening. The latest gardening fad is mulching, either with natural materials like wood chips or with synthetics like plastic or landscaping cloth. Mulching is touted for its weed-suppressing, water-conserving qualities, something every gardener appreciates. These ground covers, however, make it nearly impossible for ground nesting bees to find ground in which to nest. And in urban areas, which already have a surplus of impenetrable ground, thanks to roads, driveways, parking lots, lawns, etc., this can spell doom for some species of bees.

So, the Great Sunflower Project is recruiting gardeners, students, teachers and general nature nuts like me to survey our gardens for bees. If you sign up early enough, they send you a free packet of seeds (this year it was Lemon Queen Sunflower seeds). It’s too late now for the freebie seeds, but you can find Lemon Queens at many seed shops or catalogues. You plant your seeds, they grow and bloom, and then you watch for bees, timing how long it takes for five bees to show up at your plant(s). You send your data to them and that’s about it. But they aren’t looking for just any ol’ bee. Specifically, the sunflower folks want to know about bumble bees, carpenter bees, honey bees and green metallic bees. A quick buzz through their website will provide you with ID info for these species – it doesn’t get much easier than this!

Perhaps you don’t have sunflowers, or maybe you aren’t a sunflower fan. Not to worry – you can also monitor bee balm (if you need some, see me – I have a surplus of the stuff), cosmos (great companion plant for your veg garden, by the way, because it attracts these important pollinators), rosemary, tickseed and purple coneflower.

Maybe you are hesitant because you are afraid of getting stung. Did you know that bees are really quite shy and mostly are just too busy going about their own business to worry about you? About the only time most bees “attack” is if their nests are threatened (and by the by, male bees lack stingers). So if you are just puttering around your garden, taking notes on bees, they will happily ignore you and continue collecting pollen, sipping nectar, or looking for mates.

Need more reasons to participate? The Urban Bee Garden website has some great tips for bee watching, including interesting bee behaviors you can witness. For example, some male bees actually sleep overnight inside flowers; if you get up early enough you can catch them snoozing in their blossom bowers. Other males are very territorial, protecting “their” flowers from other males. In truth, they are on the lookout for females and spend most of their time driving away potential rivals.

This weekend I will probably plant my sunflower seeds and brace myself for the influx of bees. I’ve already noticed bees of many stripes about my gardens, some at the flowering shrubs, others hovering over bare ground, no doubt testing its potential for a nest site. I know that my yard is a great bee haven, thanks to the many flowering companion plants I scatter among the veg, but also thanks to my lax gardening standards: mulch is spotty at best these days. Watching the flowers for specific bees will give me just one more excuse to stay outside and learn something new about my fellow earthlings; the vacuuming and dishes will have to wait for another day.

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Adirondack Weekly Blogging Round-Up

• Adirondack Lifestyle Blog: Trail Run Provokes Savage Aggression
• The Zen Birdfeeder: My Day as a Crown Point Bird Banding Helper
• Association for Protection of the Adks: Time for Transformation and Renewal
• Great Lives In History: "the pelting of this pitiless storm"
• Adirondack Base Camp: The Ruffed Grouse
• Adirondack Forum: Cougars Revisted...
• PlanetAlbany: Cancel the Times Union
• Small Pines: The Big Blue Whale

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This Week's Top Adirondack News Stories

• DEC Exempts Brush From Burn Ban
• Placid Hopes For Hydro-Power
• ACC to Raise Tuition 4 Percent
• New APA Boathouse Regs Opposition
• Local Brown Guradrails Need Replacing
• Saranac Plans For A Smart-Growth Future
• Tupper, Saranac to Get Surveillance Cameras
• Camp Gabriels Inmates All Moved Out
• $5B Environmental Bond Act Proposed
• DEC Expects Ash Borer Has Arrived
• Fort Montgomery For Sale on eBay

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ADK Music Scene: Ambient Tea Party, Elvis and Bluegrass!

What more could you want? Well, how about starting tonight with an open mic held from 7 to 10 pm at P2's in Tupper Lake. Bring your instruments and enjoy the pub atmosphere in this friendly establishment.

The Elvis festival returns to Lake George and Lake Luzerne today and runs through Sunday. There are shows and attractions at several venues around Lake George and Lake Luzerne, but the event is based at the Painted Pony festival grounds in Lake Luzerne -- seats are covered but it might be chilly so bring a jacket.

Friday night JEMS in Jay is having what looks to be a very interesting event: DJ Peanutbutterbreath Ambient Tea Party. This is a multi-age non-alcoholic gathering. Here's what they say about it: "You can chill to artsy classical and soft soundscapes or jump up to bouncy party beats in the same mix"! I'm intrigued. The party kicks off at 7 pm. Admission is $5 with no charge for children under 12. Teas, coffees and pastry will be available. This new spinner hails from Plattsburgh.

Also this Friday Aiseiri will provide Irish music at O'Reillly's Pub in Saranac Lake. The music starts between 8:30 and 9 pm. O'Reilly's is located at 33 Broadway below Morgans 11 (which, by the way, has very good pizza). For more information call (518) 897-1111.

This weekend is the last chance to see Fiddler on the Roof at LPCA. I highly recommend this great production. Everyone does a spectacular job. Jason Brill is wonderful as Tevye and Sunny Rozakis's gorgeous voice deserves extra kudos.

The Adirondack Bluegrass League's 2009 Round-Up is this weekend, May 29th & 30th. The Siver Family of Crown Point will take the stage at 8 pm Saturday. They will be playing songs from their new CD Almost Home. The festival is happening at McConchies Campground in Galway. If you play an instrument, put it in the car and bring it along . . . plenty of jamming all weekend.

At P2's in Tupper Lake Steve Borst is playing 7-9 pm Sunday. Steve is a popular local musician who's at home singing all sorts of requests in the rock/pop/folk arena. P2's is looking to create a Sunday night music scene so they welcome any input you can give them. For more information e-mail P2sPub@aol.com

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Adirondack Museum Introduces More Quilt Exhibits

The Adirondack Museum has launched a new online exhibit, "Common Threads: 150 Year of Adirondack Quilts and Comforters" that will share quilts and Adirondack quilting history. The online exhibit includes quilts, text, and historic photographs and is a companion piece to a special exhibition, also named "Common Threads" that will open to the public at the Blue Mountain Lake museum on May 22, 2009.

The exhibit will include more than forty quilts: historic pieces from the Adirondack Museum's textile collection, as well as contemporary quilts, comforters, and pieced wall hangings on loan from quilters in communities throughout the region. Demonstrations of handwork will accompany the exhibit throughout the summer. According to an Adirondack Museum announcement:

The Adirondack region has supported an active pieced-textile tradition for over a century and a half. From bedcovers, plain or fancy, meant to keep families warm through long Adirondack winters, to stunning art quilts of the twenty-first century, the quilts and comforters of the North Country mirror national trends and also tell a unique story of life in the mountains. "Common Threads: 150 Years of Adirondack Quilts and Comforters" explores the themes of women's work, domestic life, social networks in a rural area, generational continuity among women, and women's artistic response to life in the Adirondacks.

"Common Threads" will include a family-friendly discovery area where kids can explore pattern and design, try simple stitching on child-sized quilt frames, or enjoy illustrated quilt-themed children's books. The Adirondack Museum has also developed a special "Toddler Tour" of the quilt exhibit "that will lead the smallest visitors on a fun (and fast) search for color, shapes, and animals among the quilts on display."

Museum Curator Hallie Bond will offer an illustrated Monday Evening Lecture on July, 27, 2009 entitled "Common Threads - Adirondack Quilts Tell Their Stories." The program will begin at 7:30 p.m. and will be held in the Auditorium.

The Adirondack Fabric and Fiber Arts Festival will be held on September 12, 2009. A celebration of traditional and contemporary fiber arts, the Festival will include demonstrations, a juried artisan's market, and hands-on activities. In addition, folksinger, song writer Peggy Lynn will offer a special musical presentation, "A Stitch in Time: Songs Celebrating the Art and Heritage of Quilting."

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More: Yesterday's 2009 Environmental Bond Act Hearing

We've received a little better sense of what the organizers of the green jobs bond act are looking to accomplish. It comes in testimony of Scott Lorey, Legislative Director for The Adirondack Council, at the Assembly Committee on Environmental Conservation Public Hearing on the Enactment of a New Environmental Bond Act yesterday morning. Since this statement details the state of environmental financing and offers a focus on watershed protection and clean water infrastructure (something the Adirondack Council has been working on), and it's all we know so far, I'm reprinting most of it here:

Thank you for the opportunity to speak about the need for the Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Bond Act of 2009. Funding for environmental programs is one of the most pressing issues facing the organizations here today. A lot of great work has been accomplished over the years by the State and many of the groups testifying. However, more remains to be done and could be accomplished quickly, if additional funding was made available.

While the Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) has been, and continues to be, a tremendous success story, it can only go so far. Since its creation in 1993, the EPF has appropriated over $2.2 billion to worthy environmental projects such as landfill closures, agricultural non-point source pollution control and local waterfront revitalization. However, spending has often moved slower than appropriations, allowing for nearly $500 million to be swept out of the Fund balance in the last seven years.

The environmental community has demonstrated over $1 billion in annual funding needs. Since this year’s budget has locked the EPF in at a funding level of $222 million for the next four years, it is imperative that an additional funding source be secured immediately. Collectively, environmental organizations, and other advocates have sought $500 in environmental appropriations. Unfortunately, with only $222 million, we are funding these and other programs at less than ¼ of the need.

An environmental bond act is the best option for funding in these difficult economic times as environmental bond acts have a 90 percent success rate. The previous bond acts have authorized about $6.35 billion (or about $18.5 billion in today’s dollars when adjusted for inflation) for parks, sewage treatment facilities, solid waste management, water quality and air quality. Since 1965, there have been five successful environmental bond acts, with at least one in every decade. Since most of the funding for the 1996 Clean Water/ Clean Air Bond Act has been exhausted, it is time to once again ask the voter’s approval for additional, but very necessary, funding.

The Adirondack Council, while supportive of the entire proposal would like to focus on two of the five proposed categories: watershed protection and clean water infrastructure.

Clean Water/Watershed Protection

In 2006, the New York State Open Space Conservation Plan listed the average yearly need for open space conservation at $137 million. This includes money for State acquisition, farmland protection, working forest easements, State land stewardship and municipal parks grants. In the 2009 EPF, roughly $111 million was appropriated for these categories. While the State’s efforts here are laudable, being $26 million short on an annual basis creates a major shortfall which quickly adds up after several years.

Currently in the Adirondacks, there are over 20 priority project on the Open Space Plan. These projects have been identified by local committees as important areas to protect either through fee purchase or acquisition of a conservation easement. The types of projects range from wetlands and working forests to shorelines and scenic trails. Some are designed to protect rare plant and animal habitat and may only be visited by a few research scientists while others offer recreational opportunities that will be enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of tourists.

Adirondack open space protection projects also vary greatly in size and price. They run the gamut from $50,000 for a few hundred acres adjacent to existing Forest Preserve to $100 million for the entire holdings of a timber company. In terms of total dollar amounts, there is close to $200 million in projects that DEC and land saving organizations are currently working on in the Adirondacks. A significant portion of the $1 billion should be directed to land preservation.

Clean Water (Green) Infrastructure

According to the 2009 Final Clean Water State Revolving Fund (SRF) Intended Use Plan, there are over $75 million in projects currently on the list in the Adirondack Park. As with most upstate communities, the expense of upgrades or replacing a system is often a tremendous burden on the limited number of residents that the systems serve. An example from a few years ago—the Village of Lake Placid had a water treatment plant that dated from 1972. It was reaching capacity and being stretched beyond that at certain times of the year. In 1999, the village began the process to replace the plant. By 2002, the Town of Wilmington, a few miles downstream along the West Branch of the Ausable River was forced to close its beach due to unacceptable levels of coliform bacteria. This happened for two years until the new plant was finally completed in 2004, at a cost of $15 million, which included a UV Disinfection system, to sterilize outgoing water with radiation to ensure that there would be no future problems with Wilmington’s beach and the nationally recognized trout fishing would continue without negative publicity. The cost of the new treatment plant was borne by the 2,700 or so residents of Lake Placid.

In addition to the needs for clean wastewater systems, drinking water needs are also a major concern in the Adirondacks. While the Adirondacks are world renowned for their abundance of clean water, it is a dirty little secret that many places in the Park have water unfit to drink. Just a month ago, DEC was forced to close the King Phillip’s Spring, located near Exit 30 of the Northway, due to high levels of coliform bacteria over the last 6 months. The spring, popular with residents and visitors alike, was considered a surface water source and therefore must be treated if it were to continue as a water source. Since it is located on the State land, treatment equipment could not be installed on the Forest Preserve.

Some towns are also out of compliance with current Department of Health standards because they are still using untreated surface reservoirs as their main drinking supply. One of the best examples of this is located in the Town of Long Lake. The hamlet of Raquette Lake within its borders was forced to abandon its surface reservoir because filtration to meet current standards was not practical and chlorination of the water mixed with the organic material in the water and produced a known carcinogen. Instead, the voters of the State approved a Constitutional Amendment in 2007 to allow to the Town to drill wells on State land near the existing reservoir in exchange for more lands elsewhere in the county to be added to the Forest Preserve.

Several Park communities have also been forced to seek new drinking water sources after it was discovered that their wells were contaminated and contained unacceptable levels of sodium. It is presumed that road salt was the main cause for at least some of the contaminations.

In the Town of Keene, three wells had to be drilled in 2004 in order to find a new water source. The old supply was found to be contaminated from a salt storage site and contained sodium at more than 200 parts per million, about 8 times the maximum acceptable level. Even then, the water from the new source had to be piped over a river to be used by the 300 people it serves.

We appreciate all of the work done by the Environmental Facilities Corporation to administer the SRF programs. However, Long-Term Subsidized Financing can only do so much for many of the small Adirondack communities struggling just to maintain current, traditional services. Hardship Financing and Drinking Water SRF grants should be expanded for economically distressed areas of the state like the Adirondacks. This component will be crucial to the North Country and the bond act would be able to relieve some of the burden which is facing many Park communities that need updated water and sewer sytems.

With additional SRF funding provided by the federal government in the stimulus package and an increase proposed in the FY 2010 budget, the state should be able to stretch these dollars further. By adding an additional $1 billion to EFC’s portfolio, they can use this money to leverage another $5 billion in federal dollars.

Finally, in 1996, the Adirondack Council was heavily involved in the Clean Air/Clean Water Bond Act. This year, the commitment will be much the same. We have already begun our media outreach and that will continue through Election Day. From Buffalo to Babylon and Oneonta to Plattsburgh, we will work to educate the public about the benefits of the Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Bond Act. In 1996, several Adirondack Council staff members even went so far defending the Bond Act as to file a lawsuit against CHANGE-NY and its front group, A Bunch of New Yorkers Who Like the Environment But Know This Bond Act is a Big Waste of Money. This group has vigorously campaigned against the bond act, but had gone a step further and ran outlandishly false ads, including a dancing pig to describe the bond act as nothing but pork. Hopefully this year no lawsuits will be necessary, but we will strongly support this proposal and make sure voters are aware of its tremendous benefits.

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2009 Environmental Bond Act Pitch From Adk Council

I'm reprinting below a press release issued on the proposed $5 billion 2009 Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Bond Act by John Sheehan, Director of Communications for the Adirondack Council. The bond act is also being pushed by businesses like Caterpillar and Nova Bus, and the American Cancer Society, Audubon New York, Citizen’s Campaign for the Environment, New York League of Conservation Voters, New York Public Transit Association, New York State Laborers, Scenic Hudson, and The Nature Conservancy. The hope is that the targeted spending in this time of economic crises will encourage a green economy and provide more jobs. Projects include wastewater infrastructure, energy efficiency, transit, public health protection and economic development projects. Although details are scarce (bond act organizers are waiting for the Legislature to suggest projects), I have a copy of a slightly more detailed pdf fact sheet outlining the bond act, if anyone is interested. More later today.

State Government Urged to Protect Pure Water and to Provide 100,000 New, Green Jobs for New Yorkers

Albany, New York – A broad coalition spanning business, economic development, labor, and environmental groups called on the state to place a $5 billion Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Bond Act on the November 2009 ballot. New York State Assembly Environmental Conservation Committee Chair Robert Sweeney convened a hearing in Albany to consider the merits of draft legislation that would place the measure on the November ballot.

Members of the coalition and the public testified today in support of the measure that will invest in long-term improvements to wastewater infrastructure, energy efficiency, transit, public health protection and economic development projects; it will also vastly expand opportunities for “green-collar” jobs and accelerate the pace of infrastructure projects to protect our water and air.

Bond act supporters noted the multiplier effect of investing bonding funds: a recent study shows that a $1 billion investment in water and wastewater infrastructure creates $3 billion in economic activity and supports up to 26,000 new jobs with an average salary of $50,000. Each $1 billion invested generates $82.4 million in state and local tax revenue. The Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Bond Act should generate over 100,000 jobs with parallel benefits to state and local economies.

“Even a conservative view of this bond act suggests that it would create over 100,000 new jobs for New Yorkers. These would be good-paying jobs in management, construction, and innovative industries,” said Jim Melius, administrator NYS Laborers Tri Funds. “These new jobs would put New York firmly on the track to becoming a leader in green technology at the cost of less than $4.00 a month per household.”

“Nothing is more important in the current economic climate than putting New Yorkers back to work. With the Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Bond Act, we have the opportunity to build on the federal stimulus strategy by creating well-paying, career track jobs that contribute directly to preserving and enhancing our state’s environmental quality. Green jobs that contribute to energy efficiency, renewable energy, brownfield clean-ups and community revitalization help working families and protect the environment. This proposed bond act will pay back the investment it represents many times over,” commented Jeff Jones, director, New York State Apollo Alliance.

“We support the 2009 Clean Water, Clean Air & Green Jobs Bond Act because it will allow New York State transit providers the capital to improve transit service and air quality by putting more hybrid and other low emission buses on our roads,” said Ray Melleady, the president of the New York Public Transit Association. “Investing in transit will not only improve our environment, but it will drive our economic recovery. Public transportation creates jobs in the hundreds of New York businesses that supply the equipment and services we need to provide public mobility.”

“The last Clean Water and Clean Air Bond Act, which passed in 1996, has been spent down yet the challenges of climate change continue to grow,” said Marcia Bystryn, president of the New York League of Conservation Voters. “The Clean Water, Clean Air & Green Jobs Bond Act of 2009 will help meet those challenges, while putting New Yorkers back to work and creating permanent taxpayer savings.”

“New York State is falling behind in meeting its obligations to protect our environment. This year the state legislature appropriated $222 million for environmental purposes, far short of the $1 billion a year that is needed, according to the coalition. The Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Bond Act will bridge that gap and get New York State on the right track to be an environmental leader in the region and the nation,” Leslie Wright, NY state director with The Trust for Public Land.

“Across New York the lands and forests that help purify and maintain our pure drinking water are at risk,” said Bill Ulfelder, executive director of The Nature Conservancy in New York. Water sources for millions of New Yorkers, including the Catskills, which provide clean, pure drinking water to more than eight million New York City residents, face an uncertain future. Every New Yorker has a right to clean drinking water and the best way to ensure that right is to conserve the watersheds that provide it. We have a choice -- invest now in a sustainable way to protect our drinking water sources or spend billions to build the infrastructure necessary to treat drinking water. The Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Bond Act would provide New Yorkers the opportunity to generate the resources necessary to protect our drinking water sources.”

“Funds from this bond act can provide critical upgrades to failing and sub-standard sewer treatment plants from our Great Lakes to Long Island’s shoreline – helping protect water quality in our lakes, rivers, bays and harbors while stimulating jobs,” said Adrienne Esposito, executive director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment. “From the water we drink from the water we swim in to the fish that we eat, investing in infrastructure that will keep our waters safe and healthy is a long-term investment for not just now but for future generations.”

“As the health of our communities, and the prospects for future economic growth are all linked to the availability of clean water and a restored environment, New York state must now step up and make the needed investments in our water and energy infrastructure to protect the quality of life of all New Yorkers, and keep New Yorkers working,” said Albert E. Caccese, executive director of Audubon New York. “Audubon New York strongly urges the state to quickly enact the 2009 Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Bond Act, because the longer we wait to make these investments in our water and open space resources, the more costly they become.”

"Targeting resources to reclaim and redevelop downtown brownfield sites will provide environmental benefits, while at the same time maximizing limited funds to create jobs, leverage private investment, and increase tax revenue," said John Fleming of New Partners for Community Revitalization. "Studies show that every dollar of public investment spent on brownfields development leverages up to $8 in total investment through wages, job creation and taxes, while property values increase up to 15 percent and public investments are recouped within three years. As an organization dedicated to the cleanup and reuse of contaminated urban properties, we support the Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Bond Act and encourage our elected representatives to allow the proposal to go before the voters this November."

“New York State has a long and proud tradition of being a leader in environmental protection and our state parks system is second to none,” said Robin Dropkin, executive director of Parks & Trails New York. “But, our parks and environmental infrastructure is in serious need of revitalization, and the current level of funding can’t begin to address the capital projects backlog. Providing much needed environmental funding through the bond act is an investment in our future, and it will be a significant boost to the economy –it’s a win-win scenario.”

“Ducks Unlimited has conserved nearly 40,000 acres of wetlands and other waterfowl habitat in the Empire State. With new funding from the Bond Act, DU will increase our conservation efforts in New York to protect the wetlands that provide habitat for waterfowl and cleaner water for citizens of this state,” said Bernie Marczyk, governmental affairs representative for Ducks Unlimited. “The funds produced from the New York Clean Water, Clean Air, and Green Jobs Bond Act will provide much-needed funding for habitat restoration from Montauk to Buffalo to Plattsburg.”

“New York must act now,” said Brian L. Houseal, executive director of the Adirondack Council. “With hundreds of millions of dollars needed in water infrastructure and open space protection in the Adirondacks alone, the Environment Protection Fund and other existing sources are not adequate to keep up with the current demands. A Bond Act must be passed this year to help the state meet its environmental obligations.”

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Adirondack Rain Brings Little Reflief From Drought

As I sit here this morning contemplating my Wednesday post, the rain seems to be at a temporary lull. During the night I awoke to the steady beat of the rain and even as I let the dog out (and later toweled him off), I smiled: we need this rain and it is very welcome.

Rain has always been something we took for granted here in the Northeast. Some years might have been rainier than others, but overall, our rain could be considered moderate. We had no really bad floods and no real droughts.

Until lately.

Since I’ve been living in the Adirondacks (I moved here in 2000), we have been in drought conditions. According to the government hydrologist person who came through the VIC a couple years ago, we’d been in a drought since the late 1990s. Hard to believe! But looking at the precipitation numbers this year, the reality is there to see.

This winter we had an average amount of snow, but it was below average in the amount of moisture in it. As a matter of fact, three of the last four months had the lowest liquid levels in the six years we’ve been a National Weather Service Co-op Station. May seems to be making up for it (closing in on six inches for the month), but one month of rain does not make up for an entire winter’s deficit.

Feast or famine – that’s the phrase that seems to describe the precipitation patterns these days. When it does rain, it often comes in buckets, sometimes up to several inches at a time. And while some people think this signals an end to droughty conditions, in fact it is usually very little help. This is because sudden heavy rains tend to become runoff – the dry ground cannot absorb it and it all heads downhill, filling ditches, streams, ponds, lakes. Flooding happens. Even my hometown, which has NEVER had a flood, found itself 1-2 feet under water a couple years ago – the flood of the century. People were fishing in the streets. Amazing.

So when we get gentle soaking rain, like last night (over half an inch), it is something to rejoice. I spent the last three days working in my vegetable garden and conditions were dry. Even with my dripper lines on four times a day, fifteen minutes at a time, the soil was rather dusty. With all my newly planted seeds, rain was needed, and it arrived just in time.

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Old Mountain Road: A Short History

Given the Grannis Decision's potential to open Old Mountain Road between North Elba and Keene to automobile, ATV, and snowmobile traffic, here is a look at the old road's history.

Originally the only road between Keene and North Elba, Old Mountain Road was built in the early in 1800s and travels behind Pitchoff Mountain. The road is part of the a route that was authorized by the NYS Legislature in 1810 and completed around 1816. The longer road went from Westport on Lake Champlain to Hopkinton in St. Lawrence County by way of the Keene Valley, Saranac Lake and Paul Smith’s – parts of the original road are still in use today.

In 1858 construction of the "Cascade Route" (now Route 73) was begun. When completed it supplanted Old Mountain Road as the main thoroughfare, although it's said that in December 1859, when John Brown's body was returned to "moulder in his grave" in North Elba, it traveled Old Mountain Road. For the next thirty years, the road fell into disuse and disrepair.

Topographic maps produced from surveys in 1893 and 1894 show the road had already been largely abandoned by then.

In 1922, Essex County authorized money for repair of Old Mountain Road from the North Elba side to the town line; in 1923 the county authorized repair funds for the Keene end. The road was graded and culverts laid and repaired, probably the last time the road was officially maintained.

In 1930, Old Mountain Road was already being used for cross-country skiing. During the 1932 Olympics, part of the road was used for Nordic ski events. Several abandoned trails back to Lake Placid can still be found. Herman "Jackrabbit" Smith-Johannsen served as the coach of the Canadian team.

In 1968, North Elba passes the first snowmobile ordinance in New York State. It was replaced in 1972 with a law that opened Old Mountain Road to snowmobiles. That law was rescinded in 2002.

In 1974, Old Mountain Road, considered abandoned, was included in the Sentinel Range Wilderness Area UMP as closed to motorized traffic.

In 1986 Tony Goodwin of Keene founded the Adirondack Ski Touring Council (ASTC) with the express plan to maintain Old Mountain Road as a ski trail. The Town of North Elba pledges its support for the new trail system, including the Old Mountain Road section. Over the next year the road is cleared to serve as a cross-country ski trail.

The following year the Jackrabbit Trail is officially opened including the Old Mountain Road to Keene. The ski network connects Lake Placid with the Cascade and Mt. Van Hoevenberg cross-country ski centers, the Adirondack Loj and the High Peaks, and Keene. The trail was named for Jackrabbit Smith-Johannsen who skied the Lake Placid area in 1915, including the Lake Placid Club-Mount Marcy-Adirondck Loj route. The ASTC has maintained the trail for the past 23 years.

In 1991, the Town of Keene passes a resolution declaring Old Mountain Road open for snowmobiles.

In 2002, a regional snowmobile map showed Old Mountain Road (and several other roads considered closed by DEC) as part of the local snowmobile trail network.

March 2003 James McCaulley rode his snowmobile down Old Mountain Road and then sought out a DEC Forest Ranger and demanded he be ticketed. His later conviction (he was fined $50) was overturned on appeal on grounds that the state had not properly closed the road.

May 2005, McCulley drives his truck down the trail and is again ticketed, setting off a legal battle that ends with last week's Grannis Decision.

Rock and ice-climbers currently use the road as a hiking access to climbs on Pitchoff Mountain.

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Discussion: Reopening Historic Adirondack Roads

A week ago today, state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Pete Grannis effectively reopened Old Mountain Road between North Elba (Route 73) and Keene (Shackett Road / Route 40) in Essex County. According to surveys made in 1893-1894 (here, and here), the road had been abandoned since the 19th century; it was believed to have been officially closed when the Sentinel Wilderness Area UMP was ratified in 1974. Beginning in 1986 part of the road has been maintained as the popular 35-mile long Jackrabbit Trail by the Adirondack Ski Touring Council.

The Grannis decision was forced by Lake Placid Snowmobile Club President James McCulley who drove his truck down the trail in May of 2005 and was ticketed (he previously beat a 2003 ticket for doing the same thing with his snowmobile). An agency administrative judge later found that the road had never been closed properly (it required public hearings).

Last week's ruling pits hikers and cross-country skiers against motorists and snowmobile enthusiasts. McCulley's goal, announced publicly in 2002, is to connect snowmobile trails around Lake Placid with Keene and Wilmington using old roadways that pass through the Sentinel Wilderness and the Wilmington Wild Forest.

More generally speaking, local environmental organizations are arguing that the Grannis decision will set a precedent that will re-open numerous roads through the Adirondack back-country. That's something apparently borne out by a comment by McCulley, who told the Albany Times Union that: "This gives people here the legal avenue to reopen roads throughout the Adirondacks that the state illegally closed." McCulley said, "Word is getting around already," and indicated that he was already getting calls from around the Adirondack Park by those interested in reopening old roads.

The whole matter may just be a legal bump in the road based on a technicality. According to local environmental organizations the DEC has the absolute authority to close roads through state lands using NYS Highway Law Section 212:

§ 212. Changing location of highways over certain lands owned and occupied by the state. If a highway passes over or through lands wholly owned and occupied by the state, the location of such portion of such highway as passes through such lands may be altered and changed, or the same may be abandoned or the use thereof as a highway discontinued with the consent and approval of the state authority having jurisdiction or control over such lands by an order directing such change in location, abandonment or discontinuance. Such order shall contain a description of that portion of the highway the location of which has been changed, abandoned or discontinued, and a description of the new location thereof, if any, and shall be filed in the office of the state authority having control of such lands

What's more, is that the Grannis decision also has legal implications for the towns of North Elba and Keene. "Simply stated, this gravel and dirt road that runs through the forest preserve does not conform to current highway standards, Grannis wrote. "To the extent that automobiles or pickup trucks attempt to drive on it, the towns may be liable for any adverse consequences to drivers, to their vehicles, and of course to other users of the road." I'll be glad to send a pdf of the decision to those who are interested.

Frequent APA critics Sen. Betty Little and Assemblywoman Teresa Sayward introduced in January bills that would “remove the ability of the state to modify, abandon or close roads within the Adirondack Park,” and which say that road closure by the state “disrupts local transportation without compensation to the local community.”

For additional context, I'll be posting a short history of Old Mountain Road at noon today. But for now, what do you think? It the reopening of Old Mountain Road a real threat? McCulley also seeks to open a second road, the Old Wilmington Road, as well. Portions of Old Mountain Road have deteriorated to six or seven feet wide, certainly not big enough to safely accommodate cross-country skiers and snowmobiles without widening - should it be widened? Should DEC act immediately to close the road legally? If it does, will local opposition keep the road open? Another lawsuit recently opened 48 miles of roads in wilderness areas to use by disabled persons. Is this part of a important trend?

What now?

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Adirondack Almanack Staff Summer Event Picks

Summer in the Adirondacks can be magic, and it can also be manic. It is always fleeting.

During the calm of the other seasons our neighbors plan events for almost every day of the calendar between Memorial Day and Labor Day. It’s impossible to list every single happening, but all day today Almanack staff will be sharing a few things we’ll be sure NOT to miss this summer.

You can see our picks and also all the Adirondack events we announce here at the Almanack by clicking our event listing at the right - you may want to bookmark the events page.

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Moose and Bear Pick Essex Co. Fair, Blueberries, and Rustic Furniture

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ADK Music Scene: Farmers Markets, An Irish Fest, and Childstock

One of my favorite things to do during the summer is go to farmers' markets. I'm especially connected with the one held on Wednesdays at LPCA in Lake Placid (between 11 am and 1 pm). I see so many people I really enjoy - visitors and vendors alike. You can listen to live music while shopping for veggies, flowers, plants, meats, cheese, smoothies, coffee and beautiful crafts. There are so many farmers markets in the park that I'm going to defer to Adirondack Harvest which gives details and times for all of them.

Another won't miss for me is the 2nd annual Irish Festival to be held at the Olympic Jumping Complex in Lake Placid. Shane O'Neil and John Joe Reilly are the founders and they have so much energy and love for the traditions in Irish culture that I'm sure with each year the event will grow. Great music provided by internationally known piper Micheal Cooney who, by the way, happens to live locally and Pat Egan, one of my favorite guitarists. Many other musicians and dancers will be contributing to the continuous sound. I even heard a rumor that The Dust Bunnies will be there - they'd better learn an Irish tune or two. The music combined with games (like tug of war and tossing a bale), good food and beer all make for an enjoyable two-day event. A perfect way to celebrate the end of summer.

A new for me event I'm very excited about is Childstock on July 18th in Malone, NY. This is a rain or shine grassroots festival started by two guys talkin' over a beer - one had a band, the other land. Now in it's fourth year Childstock has grown. There will be live music from 1 pm until at least 11 pm. The first half of the day is acoustic, including Eddy and Kim Lawrence, then electric, including headliner Raisonhead, to take you into the night.

With free camping, local food vender Shawn Glazier on the premises, a safe site (there will be underage wristbands given out as ID's are checked) and coolers and grills allowed, there is everything you need to have a phenomenal Saturday.

Started by founders Ralph Child and Micheal Lamitie, Childstock is named for the farm that hosts the event. It's located off of Route 30 as you head into Malone from the south. You turn onto Cosgrove Road (at Carla's Greenery and there will be a sign) follow it to the end and make a right onto Child Road just for a moment before turning left onto Royce Road - parking will be on your left.

Here's the acoustic line up though not necessarily in this order. There are a few acts from Malone: Liz Hathaway, a folk singer who does all of her own originals, Nick Poupore, a high school student who is reminiscent of Neil Young and Micheal Lamitie and Micheal Werhrich calling themselves Tadd Ruff, Saul Good and The Lou Daques, this band performs folk rock covers and originals. Eddy and Kim Lawrence from Moira and Mike Shepherd from Lake Placid.

Electric rock to keep you dancing into the night: Headliner Raisonhead is doing two full sets with these local acts in between, From Malone; Save The Humans and The Nebulons .

Families are asked to donate $25, individuals $10 and children under 12 are free. There is plenty of parking and there is a large tent and canopies if it rains.

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Ellen Rathbone:Must-do Nature Events for Summer '09

Summer. The word conjures up images of the outdoors: sunshine, trees, beaches, birds, flowers. It is THE time to go beyond your door and explore the natural world. There are so many options that, as Calvin noted in the Calvin and Hobbes comic strip, “The days are just packed.” Here are three summer activities on my “to-do” list this year.

1. Orchid Hunting. Orchids are wonderfully strange wildflowers that hide out in many Adirondack wetlands. Some are in bogs (Ferd’s Bog, near Inlet, is famous for its white-fringed orchids), some are in roadside ditches (like the smaller purple fringed orchids I found last year near home and the green wood orchid I tracked down along the road to Tahawus). But I’ve also found ladies tresses on a dry roadside bank! The best time to go orchid hunting (and this is visual “hunting” – orchids are all protected by law, so do not collect or pick them) is mid-July through early August. Visit a wetland or roadside ditch near you, or go for a drive to a public wetland, like the Boreal Life Trail at the Paul Smiths VIC (white fringed orchids, rose pogonia, and grass pinks await you there, although the latter two are at their best late June into early July). I recommend taking along Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide to help you identify your discoveries.

2. Dragonfly Watching. Dragonflies are the latest thing for folks with binoculars to pursue. First it was birds, then butterflies, but dragonflies are coming up strong these last couple of years. Thanks to this interest, there are now a number of good beginner’s ID books for these delightful insects. And the really great thing is that you can find dragonflies almost anywhere! Squadrons patrol my yard every summer, and many can be found scoping out insect prey in parking lots, but the very best places to find the most variety are near water. It could be a pond or a lake, a stream or a marsh. You’ll want to bring your binocs, your field guide(s), and something comfortable to sit on. Be prepared to be stationary as you watch the aerial acrobatics of these colorful predators. Soon you’ll start to see patterns in their behavior. Watch for territory patrols. Check out which species are perchers. And be on the lookout for tandem fliers – here you’ll bear witness to the creation of the next generation.

3. Insect Patrolling. I know . . . insects are icky. But, as a first-class insect avoider for most of my life, I am confident in my claim that even those most turned off by insects can change their tune after spending some time skulking around a garden. There, in the tangle of flowers, a whole host of insect life is just waiting for your perusal, and most of it has no intention of harming you! Take a milkweed plant in bloom, for example, or yarrow. You will find it hosts a vast assortment of insects, all of which are more intent on getting a meal than worrying about you. What changed my tune about insects was the stunning colors and patterns they sport, like the lovely Virginia Ctenuchid moth at the top of this blog. I challenge you all, therefore, to spend a day in your nearest flower garden – you might be pleasantly surprised by what you find.

So, what are you waiting for? This summer leave the cell phone and laptop at home. Grab the binocs, a hand lens, a mirror (great for looking underneath things, like mushrooms), some field guides, and just go. Nature is calling – are you willing to answer?

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John Warren: This Summer's Great Local History Events

Summer is the time for great history events in our region, and I love local history. So here are three events that I won't miss this season:

Fort Ticonderoga French and Indian War and American Revolution encampments - 2009 marks the 250th Anniversary of the British victory over the French at Fort Ticonderoga (known then as Fort Carillon). To mark the occasion the Fort is planning the Grand Encampment of the French & Indian War (June 27 & 28). Recreated battles and military life are just one aspect of the event, which includes a large period encampment, the smell of black powder, the roar of cannon, and period music.

The American Revolutionary War encampment (September 12 and 13th) includes American and British units and a contingent of Native American interpreters. The 2d New York, the Lexington Training Band, three British Regiments of Foot, the King’s Rangers, the Royal Irish Artillery, and more will all be there. These are the area's premiere history events for all ages. A tip: the best parking is in the back by the King's Garden.

Fort William Henry Lecture Series - Serious students of local history will want to attend this series of lectures offered each year at Fort William Henry. This year features noted historian Laurence Hauptman on the Munsee and Mahican (Mohican) at the time of Henry Hudson (August 6). Glenn Williams of the National Museum of the U.S. Army will give a talk on "Irregular Warfare on the Revolutionary Frontier” (August 13). There will also be lectures on the Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) influence on Women’s Rights and the Hudson-Champlain Quadricentennial. Most of the lectures (which are free and start at 7 pm) are held at the Fort William Henry Conference Center (behind the fort) on Canada Street in Lake George.

Gokey's Auctions in North Hudson (occasional Saturday nights) - Yes, it belongs on a list of great Adirondack summertime history opportunities. Gokey's Auctions are staple good clean Saturday night fun in our part of the park. Located in North Hudson (check the Frontier Town ruins while you are there), John Gokey's Trading Post offers food and a well-run auction staffed and attended mostly by locals. The previews start at 2 pm and the auctions at 5 pm, but check the complete schedule for dates and announcements of their on-site auctions around the North Country. Don't bid against me.

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Summer Reading, Rugby and Mushrooms

Only weddings have kept me from watching the Can-Am Rugby tournament in Saranac Lake, held this year Friday July 31 to Sunday August 2. It’s so huge it spills into Lake Placid. Both towns are overrun with happy jock energy as a hundred teams of serious amateur ruggers from all over the Northeast and Canada converge in one of the largest rugby gatherings in the world.

It’s a bracketed tournament culminating in a championship match watched by as many as 3,000 people. There are men’s and women’s divisions, and this summer for the first time in the event's 35-year history kids will have their own scrums. It’s a fantastic game, and the teams play hard. The best way to watch is to pack cold drinks, put on sunscreen and bicycle among the half-dozen fields in either town. Look for the black-and-red jerseys of the Saranac Lake Mountaineers.

I’ll miss the last day of rugby this year because on Sunday August 2 my friend Kelly and I will attend mushroom class at the Adirondack Mountain Club’s Adirondak Loj near Lake Placid. First, experts teach us which fungi are safe to eat, then we go into the woods to find them, then we have them for dinner. The Loj offers a series of educational programs all summer.

This is also the season for slipping silently into the woods. The man who wrote the book on slipping silently into the woods is James Fenimore Cooper. His Last of the Mohicans, set in the French-and-Indian War southeastern Adirondacks, is my choice for a summer re-reading assignment. North Country Public Radio holds an annual summer reading call-in program, scheduled for 7-9 p.m. Thursday July 9. Readers are welcome to send titles to station manager Ellen Rocco beforehand at ellen@ncpr.org. She’ll include them on a list on the station’s Web site.

Artwork: Uncas, Hawkeye and Chingachgook, an N.C. Wyeth illustration for The Last of the Mohicans

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Companion Plantings for the Vegetable Garden

Picture a vegetable garden full of bright flowers and variable foliage. Instead of a giant garden with straight rows of vegetables, you have many smaller beds, each a jumble of vegetables, herbs and flowers. A waste of space? Not at all! It turns out that vegetable gardens that exult in variety are inclined to be the most productive. Companion planting, folks - that's the name of the game.

A classic book in the lexicon of gardeners is Carrots Love Tomatoes. Since this book came out, however, many others have joined the bookshelf, and one of my favorites is Great Garden Companions by Sally Jean Cunningham. This book has almost become my garden bible because it is not only chocked full of great gardening advice, but it is immensely readable!

The key to a successful garden really is variety. You want to avoid the monoculture. When you plant expanses of just one type of plant (be it trees, flowers, or vegetables), you increase the odds that some disease or insect pest will find it and destroy it. If, on the other hand, you mix things up, garden survival rates soar!

But you don't just want to chuck plants/seeds haphazardly into your garden; you need to follow a plan, you need to mix and match appropriately. For example, carrots and onions/chives are great companions. Carrots can be susceptible to carrot rust flies and onions/chives deter them. Onions are great for companions for many plants, actually, because of their pest-repellent qualities. Carrots also like caraway/coriander, calendulas and chamomile.

Beans and potatoes - these are a classic combo because the beans will help deter Colorado potato beetles. Here's my two cents worth on this: bush beans yes, pole beans no. Make sure you use the right beans! Beets and onions are another good pair - alternate these root vegetables in your garden plots (I'll discuss garden plots vs garden rows in another post). Your cabbage family plants (like broccoli) do well with aster family plants (like zinnias, dill and marigolds). Growing corn? Then you might want to try the traditional corn-beans-squash trio that many of our native people used (and still use). Plant your greens among your garlic, or under your cucumbers, or under broccoli and cauliflower, where the leaves will shade the tender greens from the harsh summer sun. Tomatoes do well with basil and peppers - all your pizza ingredients in one bed!

Nasturtiums, cosmos, calendulas and marigolds all feature prominantly in my veg garden - they provide wonderful spots of color, but also attract pollinators and other beneficial insects. Buckwheat is another great attractant for pollinators, and it's also a great green manure when turned into the soil.

So break away from the boring vegetable garden. Turn it instead into a riot of color and textures. Mix and match your herbs and flowers and vegetables, and then see if your produce doesn't do better for the effort.

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Red Efts - Nifty Adirondack Salamanders

Earlier this spring, after our first few bouts of significant rain, the red efts were on the move. They were tiny, measuring just a bit over an inch from the tip of the snout to the tip of the tail, but their bright orange skin made them stand out brilliantly against the dark gray pavement of the road, and each one that I found got a lift as I carried it to a safer location off the road and into the woods.

Red efts are the terrestrial form of the eastern (or red-spotted) newt, Notophthalmus viridescens. More than just larvae, but not quite adults yet, red efts can be considered the teenager stage in the eastern newt's life.

New York is home to eighteen species of salamanders, ranging from the gigantic hellbender (which, like the moose, is on my wish list of critters to see some day) to the small red-backed salamander. Of these eighteen species, only one is considered a newt. What is the difference? If you look at a salamander, two things are likely to stand out. One, it's slick and slimy, and two, it has rib-like ridges along its sides (these are folds of skin called costal grooves). If the salamander in your hand does not have these grooves, and its skin is rather rough, then you are holding a newt. Just to confuse things, the newts are in the family Salmandridae. Go figure.

Most amphibians (frogs and salamanders) follow the typical metamorphic life cycle of egg, larva, adult. There are some notable exceptions. The common red-backed salamander (and some other members of the lungless salamander family) hatches from its terrestrial egg directly into a juvenile form - no larval stage for this salamander. The eastern newt is another exception.

Like most salamanders, the adult newt lays her eggs in the water, where they hatch into larvae, or tadpoles. These larvae spend the summer swimming around their home pool, eating just about every aquatic critter they can shove into their mouths; they are notorious for consuming mosquito larvae (hooray for newts). After two or three months of this lifestyle, the tadpoles metamorphose into efts - teenage newts. As efts they roam the land, wandering moist woods anywhere from two to seven years! Then they undergo one last transformation, this time becoming the mostly aquatic adult, a rather olive-drab salamander with a finned tail. About the only characteristic the adult shares with the eft is the series of red spots on the back, each outlined in black. Back in the water, the adults mate and the cycle begins once more.

All summer long visitors come into the VIC sharing tales of bright orange lizards discovered in the woods. We share with them the story of the efts, and encourage them to keep their eyes open when driving on rainy days and nights, for even though they are small, red efts show up well on the roads and can be avoided by driving carefully.

One last thing to note: handling amphibians. Hardly a one of us can claim to have never picked up a frog or salamander. It's the child in each of us that insists we do this. Well, now is the time to listen to the adult in each of us. If you must pick up a frog or salamander, please do one thing first: coat your hands in mud, or at least in moist dirt. This is because your skin is acidic, and most amphibians have wonderful slimy skin that not only protects them from drying out, but in many cases helps them with breathing. The acidic nature of our skin can harm the vital mucus coating on their skin. By putting a protective layer of mud (or wet dirt) between your skin and theirs, you make the trauma of being seized a little less harmful for your amphibian friend. And once you've taken a good close look, be sure to put the animal back where you found it so it can continue its life ridding the world of insect pests like mosquitoes.

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Adirondack Weekly Blogging Round-Up

• The Uncataloged Museum: Inside TR's Brain
• Small Pines: Stories From The Road
• Fault Lines: Twenty-Two Point Six
• Along the Ausable: Furniture Ball?
• Adirondack Adventures and More: Mt. Skylight Solo - 5/13/2009
• Suite 101: The Evolution Of Kirsten Gillibrand
• Small Pines: A New Deal for the Adirondacks, at 4,810 feet
• Adirondack Lifestyle Blog: Adirondack Snowy Spring Surprise
• Round Robin: 2009 World Series of Birding Results
• Lake Stewardship Blog: Loss of Peat Bogs Affects Climate Change

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Town of Keene Getting Wired for Broadband

Five years ago only a third of the 1,000 households in the town of Keene had broadband Internet service. By the end of this year John LaFountaine, lineman for Keene Valley Video (KVVI), the town’s locally owned Internet service provider, expects to string high-speed fiber-optic cable to 90 percent of the homes in the hamlets of Keene, Keene Valley and St. Huberts.

If you live inside the broadband bubble it can be hard to grasp that there are still people out there whose service disconnects or grinds on for ten minutes if someone tries to e-mail them a photograph. But a lot of Adirondackers are still in a dial-up world (there is no parkwide estimate of the number).

A few years ago a coalition of Keene residents, school officials, parents and KVVI teamed up to try to figure out how to keep school enrollment strong, how to keep KVVI in business despite a small customer base, and how to wire the town. Their thinking was that with broadband access, more families with school-age children would be able to move to Keene and work from home, and that their own kids wouldn't have to leave to find work.

Senator Betty Little helped obtain a $100,000 state economic development grant to purchase equipment, and yesterday townspeople and a selected handful of Keene Central School students thanked her in a little ceremony at the Keene Town Hall.

Because of its mountainous topography Keene chose to run state-of-the-art fiber-optic cable house to house, and some other Adirondack towns are looking at using towers to beam wireless signals to far-flung homes. Keene organizers hope their project might serve as an example for other mountain communities trying to expand network access. “We’re ahead of the curve on this,” volunteer Jim Herman said. “This is Keene at its finest. So many people worked together to make this possible.” The first phase of the project will cost about $300,000; $200,000 of that amount has been raised privately, much of it from seasonal residents, and KVVI has donated labor.

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This Week's Top Adirondack News Stories

• Loophole Opens Roads in Wilderness
• VA May Cut Elizabethtown Clinic
• DEC: Leave Your Firewood Home
• Recovery Dollars For Ticonderoga Airport
• School Budget Voting Tues.
• Forcast: More Campers, Longer Stays
• Warren County To Cut 24 Jobs
• DOT To Begin Major Route 30 Project
• APA OKs Ephratah Mine Expansion
• Adk Timber Sales Taking Tumble
• DEC Proposes Sacandaga Access Changes
• APA OKs Keeseville Wood-Pellet Plant

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ADK Music Scene: "Fiddler," Geoff Muldaur, and More

First off: don't forget the open minded mic tonight at BluSeed in Saranac Lake. The show starts at 7:30 pm admission is $3.

Too Human and Karen Glass are at the Amos and Julia Ward Theater in Jay at 7 p.m. Friday. Too Human gets raves where ever they play and from what I've heard online they deserve it. Jazz and R&B make up the majority of their high energy repertoire. Karen Glass is a storyteller with two CDs to her credit. This is a JEMS production.

Friday is opening night of Fiddler on the Roof at the Lake Placid Center For The Arts (LPCA). This is a classic musical about a dairy farmer trying to raise his five daughters with traditional values in a time of rising anti-Semitism. Many of our local voices can be enjoyed throughout a show filled with humor and heart. Performances are 8 p.m. this Friday and Saturday and on Sunday at 2 pm. Tickets are $14 at night and $12 for the matinee.

The last English Country Dance of the season will be held between 7:30 and 9:30 pm at the Saranac Elementary School (that's Saranac not Saranac Lake) on Friday the 22nd of May. A donation of $5 is appreciated. No prior experience is required. Music provided by the Waickman Ensemble.

Here's a fun Saturday event: The Siver Family will perform at the Crown Point Veterans Park on Rte 9N/22. Joining them on stage will be the 2003 National Dobro Champion Dave Bevins. Check out his new CD - what I've heard so far is stellar. Bring your lawn chair and from 6 - 9 pm you can enjoy some fine bluegrass this Saturday, May 23rd.

Also on Saturday, May 23rd at The Edwards Opera House in Edwards, NY, Traditional Arts in Upstate New York (TAUNY) presents an evening of Old Time Adirondack music. The show starts at 7 pm. Tickets are $8 for TAUNY members, $10 in advance for non-members and $12 at the door.

At P2's in Tupper Lake Steve Borst is playing - Sunday from 7 - 9 pm. Steve is a popular local musician who is at home singing all sorts of requests in the rock/pop/folk arena. He will also be playing next Sunday as well. P2's is looking to create a Sunday night music scene so they welcome any input you can give them as to how this time works for you.

Finally, I highly recommend the accomplished singer songwriter Geoff Muldaur at BluSeed at 7:30 pm on Sunday the 24th. He has collaborated with so many great musicians: Bonnie Raitt and Jerry Garcia to name just two. He's a composer with an Emmy under his belt and Martin Guitar has a signature guitar named after him! Most recently he's been touring the world with stops that included Lincoln Center in New York City and Royal Festival Hall in London. It is amazing that he will be gracing our wonderful though small BluSeed studios. Reserve your tickets. At $18 for non-members and $15 for members they're a steal.

Photo: Geoff Muldaur

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