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At their recent 2018 Annual Meeting, The FUND for Lake George announced $443,000 in grant awards across each of The FUND’s “four portals to protection” — Science of Solutions, Invasive Species Prevention and Treatment, Salt Reduction, and Water Quality and Clarity Protection. » Continue Reading.
FUND for Lake George Announces Grant Recipients
Star Lake Steel Company Clean-Up Meeting Set For July 20
The State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), St. Lawrence County, and the Development Authority of the North Country (DANC) have announced a public meeting has been set for Friday, July 20, 2018, to provide the public with a comprehensive presentation of cleanup efforts at the former Jones and Laughlin (J&L) Steel Company site (Benson Mines) at Star Lake.
The Magnetic Iron Company began developing the area on top of what they believed would be a valuable ore body in the late 1880s. The Benson Mines Company started open pit mining operations at the site and produced magnetite and non-magnetite ore intermittently until the mine closed from 1919 to 1941.
APA Chair Sherman Craig Retiring
At the July 2018 Agency meeting, Chair Sherman Craig announced his retirement from the Adirondack Park Agency (APA) Board.
Craig led the APA through the 2016/17 Classification Package involving the Boreas Ponds Tract, numerous unit management plans, the redesign of the APA’s large-scale subdivision and variance applications, and passage of the Health and Safety Land Account Amendment in November 2017. » Continue Reading.
Paul Hetzler: More Blissful Ignorance, Please
It’s a rare blessing to have a job I absolutely love, but it’s not all roses. Although some of it is, literally, roses. All too often it is my dubious honor to bring to public awareness a new invasive pest or disease, and history has not always been kind to the bearers of bad news.
There is an old saying that knowledge is power, but there is another one that ignorance is bliss, and some days I’d be happy to trade some alleged power for a little bliss. » Continue Reading.
Ensuring Even Greater Success at Camp Santanoni
We appreciate Dave Gibson taking an interest in the future of Camp Santanoni (“Bill Would Wrest Away Santanoni Success”) and there’s much about his piece we agree with.
There are also a few significant errors that should be addressed and, most importantly, we’d like to try to answer the question posed by the recent, proposed Santanoni legislation – why might OPRHP be a better state steward than DEC? » Continue Reading.
DEC Adopts Major Update to SEQR Regulations
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has adopted a rulemaking package that will make the first major update to State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) regulations in more than two decades.
The updates to SEQR will take effect on January 1, 2019. According to DEC, the new rules will “expand the number of actions not subject to further review, known as Type II actions, modify thresholds for actions deemed more likely to require the preparation of an environmental impact statement (EIS), and require scoping of an EIS. Additional highlights regarding content of a draft EIS, are the consideration of measures to avoid or reduce an action’s impacts on climate change-induced conditions such as sea level rise and flooding, as well as enhancements to make acceptance procedures for EIS more consistent. ” » Continue Reading.
Why We Should Stop Buying Bottled Water
I don’t actually remember the first time I saw single-serving bottles of water for sale. But I do remember thinking that it was crazy! Who would pay for water?
Was I ever wrong! According to the Beverage Marketing Corporation, which provides management consulting, research, and advisory services to the global beverage, food, and consumer packaged goods industries, worldwide bottled water volume in 2016 was 12.8 billion gallons. That’s more than 246,000,000 gallons a week and an increase of nearly 9% over 2015 volume. Around the world, we now drink as much bottled water as we do packaged milk. Or beer. And bottled water now surpasses carbonated soft drinks as the largest beverage category in the United States; a major milestone; with all but 1% of it sourced domestically. » Continue Reading.
Adirondack Wild Calls For Wilderness Permit Systems
Adirondack Wild: Friends of the Forest Preserve is calling on the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and NYS Adirondack Park Agency (APA) to institute wilderness permit systems for the Eastern High Peaks and the new Boreas Ponds gateway to the Wilderness “in order to reduce and prevent human recreational overuse of a highly vulnerable and limited Wilderness resource.”
A press release issued by Adirondack Wild follows: » Continue Reading.
Lake Champlain’s 2018 State of the Lake Report Issued
The Lake Champlain Basin Program has released the 2018 State of the Lake and Ecosystem Indicators Report. The report, produced every three years, provides an assessment of the condition of Lake Champlain. The report also serves to provide the public and resource managers with a better understanding of threats to the lake’s health, as well as opportunities to meet the challenges ahead.
The 2018 report emphasizes the importance of community engagement and recreation opportunities to help stakeholders connect with the Lake, and understand the importance of protecting this resource. The report highlights the success of the LCBP Boat Launch Steward program, in which over ten thousand boaters at public launches each year are informed about the importance of properly decontaminating their gear before entering the Lake, and when leaving. The report also highlights a lack of change in phosphorus conditions across the Lake, and describes changes in the amount of phosphorus delivered to the lake each year. » Continue Reading.
Comments On Saranac Lake Wild Forest Management Sought
The Adirondack Park Agency (APA) has announced they are now accepting public comment for the Saranac Lakes Wild Forest (SLWF) Unit Management Plan.
The APA will accept public comments until July 13, 2018 regarding Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan conformance for the proposed management. » Continue Reading.
Public Input Sought On Warren, Saratoga Co State Lands
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced they are seeking public input to improve recreational opportunities and natural resource protection in the Boreal South Management Unit and to inform DEC’s development of a management plan for the unit.
Located in the southeastern foothills of the Adirondacks, just outside the Blue Line of the Adirondack Park, the Boreal South Management Unit consists of six State Forest units totaling 4,096 acres in Warren and Saratoga counties. » Continue Reading.
Adirondack Watershed Institute Gets $9.3M State Contract
The Paul Smith’s College Adirondack Watershed Institute (AWI) has been awarded a five-year, $9.3 million contract by New York State to implement the Adirondack Park Aquatic Invasive Species Prevention Program.
The contract calls for the AWI to implement a region-wide watercraft inspection and decontamination program to stop the introduction, spread, and transport of aquatic invasive species such as Eurasian watermilfoil, zebra mussels, and spiny waterflea. Through it, 58 stewards will be funded at dozens of locations across the park. Public-facing efforts are seen as key as recreational watercraft susceptible to spreading invasive species move about the park in the coming months. » Continue Reading.
Comments Sought On Gore Mountain Plans
The Adirondack Park Agency (APA) and the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) have announced they are accepting public comments for two associated actions related to proposed improvements at the Gore Mountain Intensive Use Ski Area.
The public comment period on the proposed changes ends July 13, 2018. » Continue Reading.
Public Comment Sought On Grass River Area Management
The Adirondack Park Agency (APA) has announced they are now accepting public comment for the Grass River Wild Forest Unit Management Plan.
The APA will accept public comments until July 13, 2018 regarding Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan conformance for the proposed management actions. » Continue Reading.
50K Grant For Upgrades to Bolton Wastewater Plant
The FUND for Lake George has presented a Water Quality and Clarity Protection Grant of $50,000 to the Town of Bolton. This funding is expected to be applied toward upgrading the Bolton Wastewater Treatment Plant, specifically for the installation of a Woodchip Bioreactor that will reduce the levels of nitrates entering Lake George.
This measure was a recommendation of the Lake George Waterkeeper’s report “Bolton Bay (Lake George, Warren County) Water Quality Assessment – a Monitoring Program to Evaluate Current Water Quality Issues.” The grant award is among the investments being made by The FUND to complete The Model for Enduring Protection of Lake George. » Continue Reading.
Latest Adirondack News
- Man Critically Injured In Parasail Accident
- Second Brawl At Clinton Correctional
- Judge Halts Cedar River Bridge Construction
- Cuts, Newspapers Closing in Northern NY
- Big Tupper Resort On Hold, Indebted
- Plan Floated for Lake Placid Fiber
- Short-Term Vacation Rentals Discussion
- Climbers Push Back On New Parking Regs
- 51,000 Acres, Rights Acquired in Boreal Area
- Clinton Co History Conference Planned
Latest Adirondack News
- Man Critically Injured In Parasail Accident
- Second Brawl At Clinton Correctional
- Judge Halts Cedar River Bridge Construction
- Cuts, Newspapers Closing in Northern NY
- Big Tupper Resort On Hold, Indebted
- Plan Floated for Lake Placid Fiber
- Short-Term Vacation Rentals Discussion
- Climbers Push Back On New Parking Regs
- 51,000 Acres, Rights Acquired in Boreal Area
- Clinton Co History Conference Planned
The Adirondack Almanack
The Adirondack Almanack's contributors include veteran local writers, historians, naturalists, and outdoor enthusiasts from around the Adirondack region. The Almanack is the online news journal of Adirondack Explorer. Both are nonprofits supported by contributors, readers, and advertisers, and devoted to exploring, protecting, and unifying the Adirondack Park.
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