Bolton Landing, NY – The public is invited to attend a hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA) field survey training on Saturday, March 11, from 10 am to noon, at Hearthstone Point Campground in Lake George.
Program leaders will give an overview of winter outing safety skills, while teaching how to identify hemlock trees, survey for hemlock woolly adelgid, and report findings using iMapInvasives.
Small farms. The name says it all. Modest. Practical. Connected to the earth and the local population. Small farms were once the backbone of this country.
Small-scale farmers grow a diversity of fresh produce; often using very few or no chemicals. They raise livestock avoiding added hormones and antibiotics. They sell their goods at local markets and directly to neighbors, friends, and other members of their community.
They’re a self-reliant lot; sometimes stubbornly independent. They love the outdoors. They’re not afraid to work 80 hours a week. And they’re content to reap fair and honest compensation for fair and honest work. They’re creative, resourceful, resilient agricultural entrepreneurs who love their land and the food they grow on it; food that’s the finest, the freshest, and the best that money can buy.
As consumers, we have a choice. We can buy our food from small, local, independent growers who sell their own home-grown produce and meat direct to the public and enjoy the freshest, highest-quality food possible, or we can buy food produced on industrial, corporate, factory farms; and support stockholders, middlemen, and a soulless, faceless, global, industrialized-food-system.
Little Bear Gets a Second Chance – Herkimer County
On Jan. 31, ECO Howe responded to a complaint of a black bear cub lingering around a residence in the town of Salisbury. The resident reported the young bear had been in the area for five days with no signs of its mother. The cub appeared malnourished and unlikely to survive on its own. Officer Howe safely captured the bear and transported it to Friends of the Feathered and Furry Wildlife Center in Hunter, a licensed wildlife rehabilitation center, where it will receive care and treatment until it can be released back into the wild.
Following the release of Gov. Kathy Hochul’s executive budget, a Forest Preserve group comprised of 32 organizations and municipalities is calling on the governor and legislature to provide funding for the Forest Preserve in the state budget. This comes after a key item from the 2023 budget—a dedicated line for the Forest Preserve—was not retained in the governor’s proposed 2024 budget, which threatens important progress made in the Forest Preserve over the last two years.
Everyone who recreates on New York’s State lands has a responsibility to adequately prepare themselves and protect natural resources for future generations. Following the Seven Principles of Leave No Trace™, set forth by the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics, is one-way visitors are encouraged to Love Our New York Lands.
Plan Ahead and Prepare
Proper planning is vital to a safe winter adventure. Know personal limits, set realistic goals, and choose an experience appropriate for everyone in the group. Research trails and routes before setting out and contact DEC or other knowledgeable parties with questions.
With its holidays and school breaks, February is a popular time of year for vacations. Luckily, you don’t need to leave New York to enjoy a fantastic green vacation. Whether it’s a day, a week or even longer, enjoy some of the great recreational activities the Adirondacks–and all of New York–has to offer. Need inspiration? Here are some ideas to get started:
The Herkimer County Soil and Water Conservation District is taking orders for trees and shrubs now through March 24. Available for planting this spring are low-cost bare root evergreen seedlings and transplants, deciduous trees, a variety of bushes and shrubs, semi-dwarf apple trees, and wildflower seeds. Also available are bluebird nest boxes and barley straw. Among the many planting accessories being offered are tree mats and tree shelters, hardwood stakes, fertilizer tablets and animal repellent.
RAY BROOK, NY – The Adirondack Park Agency is accepting public comment on projects currently under review. The public is encouraged to go to the Agency’s website found at www.apa.ny.gov and click the Public Comment and Hearing Opportunities link in the News & Activities information box.
The link will direct the public to the Requests for Public Comment page where more information is located. In addition, the public will find an option to electronically submit a comment for the posted projects.
Community Pride Day 2023 Shirt Design Contest – Deadline 2/17/23 Want to see your design be a part of this year’s Community Pride Day? Your challenge is to create a design/logo that illustrates what community pride means to you. One lucky winner will have their design be the logo for this year’s Community Pride Day, which will take place on Wednesday, May 3, 2023. *Community Pride
Day is a day when communities around us all take a moment to clean up our streets and get ready for summer.
You may not see as many birds in your woods in winter, but that doesn’t mean you can’t plan ahead. If you’d like to hear the sound of an Ovenbird calling “pizza! pizza! pizza!” while you hike your trails, or catch a glimpse of a Scarlet Tanager high in a tree canopy, there are actions you can take – for free or cheap, and mostly on your own – to increase the diversity of bird species in your forest.
Winter is a particularly great time to try these management activities, since it’s outside the nesting season.
RAY BROOK, NY – The Adirondack Park Agency is accepting public comment on projects currently under review. The public is encouraged to go to the Agency’s website found at www.apa.ny.gov and click the Public Comment and Hearing Opportunities link in the News & Activities information box.
The link will direct the public to the Request for Public Comment page where more information is located. In addition, the public will find an option to electronically submit a comment for the posted projects.
The governing boards of the Adirondack Lake Survey Corporation (ALSC) and the Ausable River Association (AsRA) announced that on January 1, 2023, the proposed merger between the two organizations had been finalized. Former ALSC Program Manager Phil Snyder has joined AsRA full-time, bringing extensive field science and laboratory experience to AsRA’s efforts in the Ausable watershed and to watershed throughout the Adirondack Park. Snyder serves as field research manager for the pilot of SCALE – the collaborative Survey of Climate Change in Adirondack Lake Ecosystems.
Sustainable clothing includes items which are produced in an environmentally friendly and socially responsible way from start to finish – from design, to materials/production, to store, to the consumer.
ADIRONDACKS – Forest Pest Hunter volunteer Bill Widrig has reported more than 300 forest pest survey observations, and he isn’t done yet. Widrig was among the first to join the Adirondack Park Invasive Plant Program’s Forest Pest Hunters effort when it began in 2021.
“Our property on the lake has old growth hemlock, some over 200 years old, that are very special to us,” Widrig said. “As hemlock woolly adelgid is a threat to these trees and all other hemlocks in the Northeast, I felt that I could not in good conscience just stand by and do nothing to help stop the spread of this pest.”
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Follow that Quacking: Observing 75 Mallards and one Black Duck in Inlet
Things at Eight Acre Wood look about the same as they did last week, with only an inch of new snow to make the landscape white. That shows the critters who have been wandering around the yard. [Some of these include] several deer, a coyote, a fisher, a mink, an otter, a snowshoe hare, one turkey, several varieties of mice, a pine marten, a couple red squirrels, a flying squirrel, ravens, crows, and a Bald Eagle stopped by for a snack on the dam. Most of them also got caught on one of my trail cameras, as many of them are night travelers. In all my hikes, I thought I might even see a bear track, but I guess they are smarter than that. There is nothing for them to eat right now, so they better stay napping.
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