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Ever since the state announced that it had closed on its purchase of the Essex Chain of Lakes and sections of the Hudson River — part of the property formerly owned by Finch Pruyn — there has been much preliminary discussion for how these lands should be classified under the State Land Master Plan (SLMP). What you are about to read is one more such proposal. This one, though, is not from the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) or any conservation group. Rather, it is my own personal, independent proposal. » Continue Reading.
Backcountry: A New State Land Designation?
Outside Story: The Winter Life of Skunks
In summer, you always know when a striped skunk has been around. But in winter, these animals make themselves scarce, hunkering down to wait out the onslaught of ice and snow.
Unlike most rodents and birds, which hoard food for the cold months, the striped skunk will have spent the fall eating as much as possible so it can stay warm during mid-winter dormancy. This binge eating creates thick layers of fat underneath the skin– a winter jacket, of sorts. The skunk metabolizes this fat during its dormant rests, though at a much slower rate than in summer.
» Continue Reading.
‘Explorer’ Editor Wins Paddlers’ Rights Case
Adirondack Explorer Editor Phil Brown did not commit trespass in 2009 when he canoed over a waterway through private land, because that waterway was legally open to the public, a state Supreme Court justice ruled in a decision released today.
Justice Richard T. Aulisi dismissed or denied all complaints against Brown filed by the Friends of Thayer Lake and the Brandreth Park Association. He also issued a declaratory judgment that the waterway in question is “navigable in fact” and so open to all paddlers. He ordered the Friends of Thayer Lake and the Brandreth Park Association, owners of the land through which the water flows, to stop posting the route as closed to the public. The route in question includes Mud Pond, Mud Pond Outlet and a portion of Shingle Shanty Brook in the central Adirondacks. » Continue Reading.
Science Sundays at VIEW
Science on Sundays at VIEW in Old Forge is continuing March 3 with “Migration of Monarch butterflies in and beyond New York” with Ernest Williams, co-author of The Stokes Butterfly Book, author of The Nature Handbook: A Guide to Observing the Great Outdoors, as well as other books, journals and numerous articles.
Recently quoted in New Scientist magazine regarding the monarch butterfly migration, the Hamilton College Biology Professor stated that the Monarch butterfly species is not threatened, but rather its migration is endangered. Williams further states that if the climate alters, there are possibilities to consider such as a migratory shift further into Canada during summer or the monarchs may stop before reaching Mexico in the winter. » Continue Reading.
A Lake George Park: Enlisting Women to the Cause
Although many books are available about the “great and gracious” on Millionaire’s Row at Lake George, few authors have written about the social and political drama that unfolded there, starting around 1920, as automobiles and improved roads began to change the status quo, revealing the tension between commercial interests and those who wished to create a Lake George Park.
Among those in favor of creating a park were several millionaires, including William K. Bixby, who donated land on Tongue Mountain to the state, and George Foster Peabody, who gave land for a campground (Hearthstone) and a park, on Prospect Mountain. Another wealthy landowner, Mrs. Stephen Loines, a widow with three unmarried daughters, contributed significantly to the cause, not only through her gifts of land, but in her efforts to influence public opinion. » Continue Reading.
Adirondack Wildlife: Rambling Raccoons
There is a biological alarm clock within adult raccoons that is genetically programmed to go off during the final days of February and the first week or two of March. Despite a covering of snow on the ground that may hinder travel, these masked, ring-tailed marauders exit the comforts of their den following sunset for the next several weeks in an attempt to locate members of the opposite sex.
Late winter in the Adirondacks is when the breeding urge strikes this familiar forest dweller; and this period of activity can be quite extensive if the temperature remains in the 20’s at night, especially for males that want to engage in as many reproductive encounters as possible. » Continue Reading.
The Civil War: Neighbor Against Neighbor
A plethora of Civil War stories has flooded the media during this lengthy sesquicentennial. Folks whose roots are in the North often take comfort and perhaps pride that their ancestors were on the right side of the conflict. “Rightness” is still an issue in several former members of the Confederacy, but even if some in the South claims the issue was states’ rights, it was the right of a state to deprive certain humans of their own humanity. And if you’re wrong, you’re wrong. No amount of arguing will change that fact.
However, northern descendants may be a bit hasty in taking credit for the presumed correctness of their ancestors. While the record shows the country was split between North and South, we pay much less attention to the divisive effect the war had on individual towns and villages, even in the North Country. » Continue Reading.
Why PROTECT Is Going To Court Over Connector Trail
Why PROTECT is suing the state over its policy, design and construction of new road-like snowmobile trails
Protect the Adirondacks has started a new lawsuit against the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and Adirondack Park Agency (APA) to challenge recent snowmobile policy and trail construction practices in the Adirondack Forest Preserve. » Continue Reading.
“Odds and Ends” Lake Placid Winter Lecture Series
The Lake Placid-North Elba Historical Society has announced the second in its 2013 “Odds and Ends” Winter Lecture Series on Wednesday, February 27 at Howard Johnson’s Restaurant in Lake Placid. The lecture will begin at 7:00 pm with attendees encouraged to come for dinner at 6:00pm. The second program in the four-part series is titled “Small Town, Big Dreams – The Story Behind Lake Placid’s PBS Documentary”.
From a surprise discovery in a museum vault to a locker-room interview about the Miracle on Ice, learn the story behind the film that brought Lake Placid’s tale to a nationwide PBS audience. Join filmmaker Scott Carroll and former Lake Placid News reporter Marc Nathanson for an inside look at how they turned the history of Lake Placid into the award-winning documentary film “Small Town, Big Dreams: Lake Placid’s Olympic Story.” Listen to never-before-heard audio clips from the cutting room floor featuring the voices of some of Lake Placid’s most important historical figures. » Continue Reading.
Cabin Life: A Crank Radio Companion
Psychologically, I am ready for winter to be over. I like the snow and the skiing and the trips to the 
gym that I just can’t justify when it’s nice out, but I would really like some nice warm days to come our way. Maybe I’m not ready for winter to be completely done, but I could use a February or early March thaw.
I was sitting here reading the other night, when the radio suddenly turned off. This is a common occurrence, due to the fact that my radio is a “solar” radio. I put solar in quotes because this is what the radio was advertised as, but it is, in fact a crank/rechargeable radio that happens to have a small solar panel on it.
This past summer I spent a little bit of money getting solar lights and this radio. Last winter I had used an old digital alarm clock for my radio. That clock was the same one that’s been waking me up since I was a freshman in high school. It was a good, old-fashioned plug in clock radio that had a battery backup so that if the power went out, your alarm would still go off. I went through a lot of nine-volt batteries listening to NCPR last winter, so many that I had to repair the wire harness a few times. I took that clock radio to the campground last spring and decided to leave it there when I got my new solar radio. » Continue Reading.
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