Almanack Contributor Caitlin Stewart

Caitlin Stewart manages the Hamilton County Soil and Water Conservation District. The District's mission is to manage and promote the wise use of Natural Resources in Hamilton County. Caitlin will be sharing the District's conservation-focused services, programs, and events. She’s been a full time resident of Hamilton County since 2008 and is an avid hiker, skier, paddler, and biker. She is obsessed with adventuring with her dog Artemis.


Monday, June 7, 2021

Kids hike and journal at Auger Falls

It doesn’t get any better than educating kids on a hike, bringing in some creativity with a journaling activity, and appreciating the wild energy of a waterfall.

I teamed up with staff from the Hamilton County Family First Program and Trail Blazers to host a hike and outdoor journaling adventure to Auger Falls for students from Wells, Lake Pleasant, and Indian Lake.

Our pack of fourteen had an epically glorious afternoon on April 8 for a jaunt to the falls situated on the Sacandaga River.  The weather was unseasonably warm and sunny, with the additional bonus of being blissfully free of biting bugs.

» Continue Reading.


Friday, May 7, 2021

Conservation contests rewards students’ knowledge

poster contestThe Hamilton County Soil and Water Conservation District held our 41st annual and first virtual Conservation Field Day event last fall where students learned about natural resource conservation from the experts and entered the fifth-grade essay and sixth-grade poster contests.  I scheduled virtual and in-person awards ceremonies this winter with all participating schools to reward students’ knowledge and creativity.

Conservation Field Day was too important to cancel due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and I was excited to rethink the platform.  I warmly thank our fifth and sixth grade teachers for facilitating the virtual event with their students.

(Pictured here: Wheelerville Union Free School’s Joleen Rivera placed overall third place for the Conservation Field Day fifth grade poster contest.)

» Continue Reading.


Saturday, April 17, 2021

Emergency Stream Intervention training for highway departments, planners

A virtual Emergency Stream Intervention (ESI) training designed for highway departments, planners, supervisors, and engineers will be held Wed. April 28, 2021, 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM on Zoom.  Participants will learn how streams function, the historical perspective of the causes of stream instability, and an overview of an ESI project.

This program is a tool to assist communities to better understand how streams function, why flooding occurs, and how to begin addressing impacts to communities.  Program support comes from the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation and the Soil and Water Conservation Districts in New York State.

This ESI event is part of the Community Resiliency Training Program sponsored by the Champlain Watershed Improvement Coalition of New York, LLC and the Upper Hudson River Watershed  Coalition, with funding provided by New York State through the Soil and Water Conservation Committee.

Those interested must register by April 27, 2:00 PM by going to https://forms.gle/TkeJ15iThMpJQ5Dm9

For more information, contact Warren County Soil and Water Conservation District Manager Jim Lieberum at 518-623-3119 or jim99@nycap.rr.com.


Sunday, April 4, 2021

Forest Pest Symposium will Highlight Bad Bugs

The Hamilton County Soil and Water Conservation District (District) will host a Forest Pest Symposium to highlight bad bugs that are invasive to the Adirondacks on April 22, 8:30 AM – 1:15 PM.  Landowners, supervisors, and outdoor enthusiasts are encouraged to attend, and will learn identification, impacts, and how partners are slowing the spread of emerald ash borer, hemlock woolly adelgid, and spotted lanternfly.

Experts will share their work, success stories, and detail simple steps that anyone can take to combat emerald ash borer, hemlock woolly adelgid, and spotted lanternfly.  These invasive insects threaten the Adirondacks’ natural resources and tourism industry.  Early detection and rapid response are crucial to stopping the spread of these invaders that can harm forests, stream corridors, hiking trails, and agriculture.

» Continue Reading.


Monday, February 15, 2021

Progress made in Hamilton County following 2019 Halloween Storm

Since the Halloween Storm raged through Hamilton County on October 31, 2019, excellent progress has been made to mitigate damage.  In the wake of the storm, departments worked unceasingly to make roads passable.  Then, they spent the spring, summer, and fall repairing infrastructure and stabilizing streams.  Work continues, with more projects on tap for 2021.

Greg Boyer, Hamilton County Department of Public Works Road Supervisor II, reported that when the storm first hit, crew members spent countless hours making the roads passable.

“Crews were fabulous as far as getting together to get the work done, and making roads accessible for people to get in and out of their houses,” Boyer said.  “Everyone worked together really well.”

The Hamilton County DPW completed the following flood mitigation projects:

» Continue Reading.


Sunday, November 8, 2020

Kids take part in invasives control with release of leaf-munching beetles

An adult beetle feeding on a plant

An adult Galerucella beetle feeds on a potted purple loosestrife plant inside a hatchery.

Hamilton County students got a first-hand look at controlling the spread of invasive plants, thanks to the Hamilton County Soil and Water Conservation District’s Leaf Munchers project. As part of the program, kids reared and released leaf-munching beetles to keep the invasive wetland plant purple loosestrife in check.

» Continue Reading.


Thursday, February 9, 2017

A Moffitt Beach Campground Invasive Species Survey

Tom Colarusso and I teamed up for an invasive insect forest survey on a sunny, warm January day.  Tom is a Plant Protection and Quarantine Officer for the United States Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.  We survey one campground a year for invasive insects, and his expertise has fueled my understanding of these hungry bugs.

We headed to Moffitt Beach Campground to check trees for hungry bugs like Asian longhorned beetle (ALB), emerald ash borer (EAB), and hemlock woolly Adelgid (HWA). » Continue Reading.


Thursday, March 24, 2016

9th Graders Become Beetle Busters

The Beetle Busters of Indian Lake Central School learned how to check trees for invasive Asian longhorned beetle and emerald ash borer. During National Invasive Species Awareness Week, I had the good fortune to teach Indian Lake Central School’s 9th graders how to become beetle busters. On February 22, they discovered how invasive insects can cause economic, ecologic, and societal harm. For this lesson, we zeroed in on emerald ash borer and Asian longhorned beetle.

The class already had a solid understanding of what invasive species are because their teacher Sandra Bureau had been incorporating invasive species curriculum into their studies since September. Hands shot up when I asked for a definition. I detailed that Asian longhorned beetle and emerald ash borer probably hitched a ride from Asia to the United States in wood packing crates. Without the ecological checks and balances found on their home turf, they reproduce rapidly. » Continue Reading.


Monday, November 23, 2015

Lake Pleasant Green Infrastructure Demonstration Projects

This rain garden is a landscaped depression that captures and absorbs stormwater from the Hamilton County Soil and Water Conservation District’s driveway and roof. My coworkers and I completed the installation of green infrastructure demonstration projects at the Hamilton County Soil and Water Conservation District office in Lake Pleasant including a rain garden, a bioswale and two rain barrels.

Local homeowners and municipalities have the opportunity to see the benefits of stormwater pollution prevention practices. The projects are designed to protect and preserve water quality as essential aspects of public health, a vibrant local economy and a flourishing ecosystem. » Continue Reading.


Wednesday, October 21, 2015

On The Search For Invasive Species At Limekiln Lake

Limekiln LakeHydrilla. Eurasian watermilfoil. Parrot feather. Yellow floating heart. I listened to the captivating and often funny Scott Kishbaugh of the Department Environmental Conservation go through 14 aquatic invasive plants at the Adirondack Park Invasive Plant Program’s Aquatic Invasive Plant Identification and Survey Techniques training. This past June, the Speculator Pavilion was packed with eager volunteers excited to survey their lakes for invasive plants that cause economic, ecologic, and societal harm. The four-hour workshop gave us the education we need to scope out invaders in ponds, rivers, and lakes. » Continue Reading.


Friday, March 20, 2015

Forest Pest Surveying: The Next Generation

Tom and Lenny use binoculars to scan tree bark for invasive insect exit holes. Emerald ash borer exit holes are shaped like a D while Asian longhorned beetle exit holes are round and the size of a dime. Forests, the final frontier. These are the voyages of forest pest surveyors. They’re lifelong mission: to explore strange new woodlands, to seek out invasive insects and pests that harm trees, to boldly go where no pest surveyor has gone before.

Invasive insects are to conservationists like Romulans are to Vulcans. Emerald ash borer, Asian longhorned beetle, hemlock woolly adelgid, and balsam woolly adelgid threaten the economy with costly tree removal, environment with adverse impacts to forest health, and public safety with dead limbs that fall on cars and homes. They found their way from their Eurasian home range to the United States in nursery stock and wood packing materials. Without the natural checks and balances found on their home turf, they reproduce as fast as tribbles. Forest pest surveys are important because early detection leads to rapid response and better management options. » Continue Reading.


Monday, December 15, 2014

On The Lookout For Invasive Species

Eurasian watermilfoil is an aquatic invasive plant that spreads by fragmentation to form dense populations. This summer and fall, by land and by water, I was on the lookout for invasive insects at the Sacandaga Campground and invasive plants in Lake Algonquin.  Surveys are one component of a suite of tools that help protect the Adirondacks’ natural resources.  When infestations are detected in their early stages, fast action can be taken for management or even eradication.

Invasive species cost the United States billions of dollars each year.  Without the checks and balances found on their home turf, they can rapidly reproduce to outcompete native species.  Invasive insects can threaten maple syrup and baseball bat production, nurseries, agriculture, and forest health.  Infested trees are costly to remove and limbs may fall on power lines, homes, or cars.  Aquatic invasive plants can degrade water quality, inhibit boating, and overrun fish habitat. » Continue Reading.


Monday, September 8, 2014

Caitlin Stewart: Making a Dent in Purple Loosestrife

Purple LoosestrifeSince 2003, I have been battling purple loosestrife, an invasive plant that may be gorgeous but overruns wetlands, and outcompetes native plants that wildlife and waterfowl depend on for food, shelter, and nesting grounds. After 11 years of manual management, populations along the Route 8 and Route 30 corridors in Hamilton County have decreased. This is good news for native plants that fill in areas where invasive purple loosestrife used to grow.

This August I focused on rights-of-way along Routes 8 and 30 in the Town of Lake Pleasant and the Village of Speculator. I snipped each flower with garden clippers before plants went to seed for reproduction. All plant material was bagged and allowed to liquefy in the sun before being delivered to a transfer station.

It is exciting to fight invasive plants for over a decade and see promising results like this. Manual management is tedious, but persistent efforts have helped stop the spread of purple loosestrife and remove these invaders from the environment. » Continue Reading.


Wednesday, June 25, 2014

In Hamilton County, A Giant Hogweed Alert

Giant hogweed has white, umbrella-shaped flowers. Photo courtesy of the Adirondack Park Invasive Plant Program. It was a hot August day and Lenny and I had the truck windows rolled down as we hunted for a home address in Speculator. We were following up on the identification of a poisonous invasive plant.

“I bet it’s cow parsnip,” said Lenny.

“That’s the house number. Turn here,” I pointed.

I hopped out and gaped at the plant. It towered above my height of 5 feet 9 inches. The leaves were enormous. I walked up to take a closer look saw hairy stems blotched with purple.

“It’s giant hogweed,” frowned Lenny. » Continue Reading.


Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Forest Management Plans: A Win-Win

Adirondack Forest and FieldGot Woods? If so, there may be a way for you to maximize your woodlot and maybe even your wallet. Funds are available through the Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP) to help landowners with the development of a Forest Management Plan for their properties.

Zack Hanan of the Town of Hope, Hamilton County, recently applied for a Forest Management Plan and described the application process as quite easy with guidance from Tom Bielli, District Conservationist, United Stated Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).  Zack provided Tom the goals for his property and they worked together to develop a management plan. Meaningful information was provided about Zack’s woodlands that he was not aware of and he learned about numerous opportunities for improvements. » Continue Reading.



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