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The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced ‘I Love My Park Day’ stewardship events have been set for Saturday, May 5 at five locations across the Adirondacks.
Locations include: » Continue Reading.
‘I Love My Park Day’ Events Across The Adirondacks
Work Begins On Nine Adirondack Northway Bridges
A two-year, $5.1 million project to rehabilitate nine bridges along the Interstate 87 (the Adirondack Northway) in Essex, Warren, and Saratoga counties has begun.
The project will replace bridge joints, approach slabs, and bearings, as well as repair concrete and steel. The nine bridges, which are on or over the Northway, include: » Continue Reading.
DEC Seeks River and Stream Monitor Volunteers
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced they are recruiting participants for the 2018 summer sampling season to conduct water quality assessments in streams and rivers as part of the State’s Water Assessments by Volunteer Evaluators (WAVE) project. » Continue Reading.
Littering Season is Upon Us
For any movie buffs out there, here’s a trivia question: what single substance is mentioned during memorable conversations in the films It’s A Wonderful Life and The Graduate? Hints, if you need them: in It’s A Wonderful Life, the word is mentioned by Sam Wainwright during a famous and subtly steamy telephone conversation with George Bailey and Mary Hatch (Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed) together on the other end of the line. In The Graduate, the word is uttered at a graduation party, and is part of an often-repeated line that was offered as confidential advice by Mr. McGuire to the college graduate himself, Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman).
For me the word also comes to mind each spring, a season that seems to bring out the worst in some drivers. The winter cold apparently discourages littering — people who toss garbage out of their cars tend to do so much less from November through March. Apparently disposing of their trash in alternate fashion (maybe a garbage can or recycling container, god forbid) is more attractive than opening the car window during the cold season. » Continue Reading.
Hudson River Source to Sea Clean-Up May 5th
In a massive, one-day effort stretching from New York Harbor to the Adirondacks, some 2,000 volunteers will help clean-up the shorelines at more than 100 locations along the Hudson River and its tributaries during the 7th Annual Riverkeeper Sweep on Saturday, May 5.
With 112 projects scheduled, this effort is the largest in the event’s history. Teams of volunteers, organized by local schools, businesses, scout troops, paddling groups, park staff and others, will remove trash and plant trees and native grasses. » Continue Reading.
Mute Swans: An Adorable Invasive Species
The big white birds paddling gracefully across a Massachusetts pond last November surprised me. I’d grown up in the town I was visiting and had never seen swans there, although my friend assured me they were resident birds. The only mute swans I’d seen before, years ago, were floating along the River Thames between Eton College and Windsor Castle.
Swans in England have a long history, and the mute swans along the Thames are, by law, the property of the queen. Mute swans on our side of the Atlantic are a more modern phenomenon and have no such protection. In fact, wildlife managers have been working for years to reduce the population of this species in order to protect native habitat and waterfowl. » Continue Reading.
Opinion: New York State’s Plastic Carrying Bag Ban
My family has always spent Earth Day cleaning up a trailhead parking area. We’ve managed to gather plenty of disgusting items throughout the years, but the one thing we’ve never seen is a smaller amount of garbage.
There is always plenty of styrofoam containers, to-go cups, plastic straws, and plastic bags tucked into trees or buried in streams. We find paper, personal mail and crates of items that should be in a recycle bin. Cleaning the trailhead never seems to lessen the amount of plastic, or help people recycle. » Continue Reading.
Arbor Day: What Is An Arbor Anyway?
Muskrat Day. Velcro Appreciation Month. Hair Follicle Hygiene Week. Arbor Day. You know it’s an obscure event when the greeting-card trade hasn’t bothered to capitalize on it. I like to think the industry knows Arbor Day is worthy of a Hallmark line, but that they’ve decided to honor its spirit by conserving paper. (C’mon, it’s possible.) While not the best-known observance, Arbor Day has a respectable history, as well as a local connection.
Rooted in Jefferson County in New York’s northern tier, Arbor Day, which is observed on the last Friday in April, has become recognized around the world. Mr. J. Sterling Morton of Adams, NY germinated the concept of Arbor Day in 1872 to highlight the need to conserve topsoil and increase timber availability in his adopted state of Nebraska. Mr. Morton went on to a sterling career in business, founding the Morton Salt Company, still in existence today. Arbor Day went on to become a somewhat obscure, if virtuous, tradition. » Continue Reading.
Great Lakes Invasives Writer to Keynote FUND Meeting
Prize-winning reporter and The Death and Life of the Great Lakes author Dan Egan is set to deliver the keynote address at the 2018 FUND for Lake George Annual Meeting on Saturday, July 7, 2018, at the Sagamore Resort Conference Center.
An account of how invasive species have devastated the largest freshwater ecosystem on earth, Egan’s The Death and Life of the Great Lakes shows what the future could hold for Adirondack waterways if invasive species are not stopped. Only hours from the Adirondacks, the Great Lakes are among the main sources of invasive species directly threatening the region. » Continue Reading.
Adirondack Wild: Limit Motors at Boreas Ponds
What follows is a press release issued by Adirondack Wild: Friends of the Forest Preserve:
In a letter submitted today to the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, the nonprofit advocate Adirondack Wild: Friends of the Forest Preserve recommends that the Boreas Ponds tract be managed in ways that avoid damage to natural resources and enhance opportunities to experience solitude.
The highly controversial decision by the NYS Adirondack Park Agency in February, approved by Governor Cuomo, not to consider an all-Wilderness alternative, but to split the 20,000-acre Boreas Pond tract between Wilderness and Wild Forest classifications was opposed by Adirondack Wild, which offered many reasons why the entire tract should be managed as an addition to the High Peaks Wilderness area. » Continue Reading.
DEC Releases Draft Invasive Species Management Plan
The New York State Departments of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and Agriculture and Markets (DAM) has announced the release of the State’s draft Invasive Species Comprehensive Management Plan for public comment.
The proposed plan is designed to minimize the introduction, establishment, and spread of invasive species throughout New York. Comments will be accepted through June 1, 2018. » Continue Reading.
25th Annual Conference on the Adirondacks
The 25th Annual Conference on the Adirondacks has been set for May 22nd and 23rd at the Conference Center at Lake Placid.
Sherburne Abbott, Professor of Sustainability Science and Policy at Syracuse University and former Senior Science Advisor to President Barack Obama, is set to keynote the conference. Shere will discuss her research and teaching interests at the interface of science and society, principally on issues related to climate change, energy, and sustainability. » Continue Reading.
Monroe and Siy: Act Now To Stop Invasives
No place in the state or nation is more vulnerable to aquatic invasive species (AIS) than the pristine waters of the Adirondacks. New York already has the highest number of non-native forest pests in the country and is adjacent to the continent’s main gateway for the introduction and spread of aquatic invasives — the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway. As the map shows, the Adirondack Park is literally surrounded by waterways that harbor dozens of destructive species threatening the Park. » Continue Reading.
DEC Offers Plans For Black River Snowmobile Trails, National Scenic Trail
The Adirondack Park Agency (APA) is accepting public comment for a proposed amendment to the Black River Wild Forest Unit Management Plan. According to an announcement sent by DEC:
“The primary purpose of this UMP amendment is to classify snowmobile trails to conform to the trail classification system and guidelines set forth in the Management Guidance for Snowmobile Trail Siting, Construction, and Maintenance on Forest Preserve Lands in the Adirondack Park.” » Continue Reading.
Make A Simple Leopold Bench
One of the most memorable occasions I have had with my children is an afternoon workshop at the Adirondack Interpretive Center (AIC) in Newcomb.
The day was spent skiing the free AIC trails, sipping hot chocolate while counting birds at the window feeder, and building a Leopold bench. » Continue Reading.
Latest Adirondack News
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- 2020 NYS Canal Conference Set
- Cuomo Budget Prioritizes Climate Change
- Paul Smith's, SUNY Offer Discount Tuition
- Lake Placid DOT Project Criticized
- Indie Group Registers Students
- P'burgh Strand Plans for 2020
- Arrest Made In Lake Placid Trail Vandalism
- Work Begins on Saranac Lake Ice Palace
- Adk Wildlife Refuge Loses Permits
Latest Adirondack News
- Race and Real Estate in Lake Placid
- 2020 NYS Canal Conference Set
- Cuomo Budget Prioritizes Climate Change
- Paul Smith's, SUNY Offer Discount Tuition
- Lake Placid DOT Project Criticized
- Indie Group Registers Students
- P'burgh Strand Plans for 2020
- Arrest Made In Lake Placid Trail Vandalism
- Work Begins on Saranac Lake Ice Palace
- Adk Wildlife Refuge Loses Permits
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