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State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Basil Seggos has announced a call for citizen science volunteers to help in the development of a comprehensive, statewide survey that takes place every two decades to detail New York’s breeding bird distribution. Starting in 2020, five years of field surveys will be conducted by volunteers and project partners to provide the data that will be analyzed to create the third New York State Breeding Bird Atlas.
DEC Seeks Birdwatchers to Contribute to 2020 Breeding Bird Atlas
Your help needed in obtaining water quality reports
(Calling all citizen scientists! The following is from Water Line, a weekly newsletter by Adirondack Explorer water reporter Ry Rivard.)
Late last year, I began requesting documents from the state of New York to help me understand who around the Adirondacks may be drinking potentially unsafe water.
While larger communities in the state of New York post their annual drinking water quality reports online, not all smaller communities do this.
New York is notoriously slow in responding to requests for public records. To give state officials the benefit of the doubt, it’s a big state and a lot of people want to know things about it. The other explanation is that government officials like to control information, particularly information that might scare people or make themselves look bad.
Citizen scientists invited to take part in ‘Socially Distant’ BioBlitz
The Lake Placid Land Conservancy and Antioch University New England are cohosting a “Socially Distant BioBlitz” on Sunday, April 5.
The BioBlitz is a way of documenting biodiversity through recording plants, animals, fungi and other organisms within a 24 hour time period at a location of your choice. Any living organism can be included, just snap a photo and upload it using your Inaturalist account, a free app available through major phone platforms. There is no time commitment to this event, so take as many photos as you want and upload them any time, day or night, on the 5th. LPLC is cohosting this event with other conservation partners throughout New York and New England.
Learn more about the event and sign up by clicking here.
(Photo courtesy of the Lake Placid Land Conservancy)
LGLC Director Named To Land Trust Accreditor
The Lake George Land Conservancy (LGLC) has announced the appointment of Executive Director Jamie Brown to the Land Trust Accreditation Commission’s Executive Committee.
Brown had served as one of the eighteen commissioners on the Commission for the past six years before his recent appointment to the Executive Committee of the Commission, where he will help to lead its direction and to work closely with the Land Trust Alliance Board. » Continue Reading.
Mt Marcy, Influenza And Our Impulses To Protect Public Land
Whether we seek a wilderness, park, backyard, garden or streetscape, studies show we can expect an emotional, psychological, and physical benefit from regular outdoor activity, interactions with trees or woods, waters and views, however prosaic or sublime. The more we can focus on the natural world around us, the more our powers of awareness grow and the more our minds can grow quiet.
As the First World War slowly ended, another pandemic, influenza, was spreading around the world and killing tens of millions. The impact of losing so many young people so suddenly from that flu, coming on top of so many deaths and injuries resulting from the war itself, must been extremely profound. That time of death, threat and recovery motivated many to get outdoors and to push to acquire more public lands in which to literally “re-create” themselves. » Continue Reading.
LGLC Selected As Reusable Bag Program Beneficiary
The Lake George Land Conservancy (LGLC) has been selected as a beneficiary of the Hannaford Helps Reusable Bag Program for the month of March. » Continue Reading.
DEC Accepting Applications for Environmental Awards
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced they are now accepting applications for the 17th annual Environmental Excellence Awards program. The Environmental Excellence Awards recognize businesses, institutions, municipalities, and organizations for outstanding commitments to environmental sustainability, social responsibility, and economic viability. » Continue Reading.
Woodward Lake Proposal Tests Park Agency
The developers who want to turn the small, private Woodward Lake in the Town of Northampton into a housing subdivision have agreed to move a handful of lots away from the water and change some boundary lines. However, the overall plan still doesn’t conserve open space or protect wildlife habitat and should be rejected. » Continue Reading.
The Plastic Bag Ban: What It Means For You
A new analysis from the Rockefeller Institute of Government examines New York’s plastic bag ban – how the law rolls out, what is prohibited by the law and what is exempt; what it means for customers, retailers, and the environment; and how consumers can best adapt. » Continue Reading.
Viewpoint: State Facilitating Unlimited Access to High Peaks
It seems pretty clear at this point that the state agencies that manage the High Peaks Wilderness Area, and adjacent Wilderness areas, are not interested in limiting public use.
The state is investing in new parking areas, new hiking trails, and a new hiker transportation system that are all designed to facilitate ever-higher levels of public use in the High Peaks, not limit it.
Consider the change underway at Cascade Mountain.
Tim Rowland On The Plastic Bag Ban
I am a good boy when it comes to plastics, mainly.
I do own reusable totes, many of which were given to me as swag at the 2011 national auto show for some reason. Nor do I ask for a straw if the garçon does not bring me one. Sometimes I may even thank his establishment for not passing out straws, unless I am in a particularly crabby mood, which, come to think of it, I usually am. » Continue Reading.
Studies Examine Role of Boating In Invasives Spread
Paul Smith’s College Adirondack Watershed Institute (AWI) recently presented new research detailing the threat of aquatic invasive species in Adirondack lakes at the Northeast Aquatic Plant Management Society meeting in Lake Placid.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s Invasive Species Management Grant Program funded AWI to undertake two studies. » Continue Reading.
2020 Lake Stewardship Employment Opportunities
The Adirondack Watershed Institute has announced they have 100+ positions available for summer 2020. They are hiring paid watershed stewards, decontamination technicians, and supervisors to help safeguard against aquatic invasive species and protect Adirondack waterways. » Continue Reading.
Rome Fish Hatchery Contaminated With Zebra Mussels
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced that invasive zebra mussels were discovered in late January 2020 in Delta Lake, which supplies water to DEC’s Rome Fish Hatchery. Subsequent water testing at the hatchery confirmed the presence of zebra mussel veligers (larvae) in an outdoor raceway.
The Rome Hatchery is one of DEC’s largest hatcheries with annual production totaling nearly 160,000 pounds of brook, rainbow, and brown trout. » Continue Reading.
DEC Proposes More Recreation Access In Croghan Tract
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced the release of a draft Recreation Management Plan (RMP) for the Croghan Tract Conservation Easement in Lewis County in the Western Adirondacks.
DEC is now inviting the public to share comments and ask questions about the draft plan at a public meeting and/or to submit comments on the draft RMP during the 30-day public comment period. » Continue Reading.
Latest Adirondack News
- Officials urge feds to end jobless bonus
- Cuomo approves North Country for Phase 2
- St. Lawrence County admin: Phase 2 is pending 'review of the metrics'
- Essex Co. ranks low in census response
- Cuomo extends Phase 1, to much confusion
- Lake George Hike-A-Thon goes virtual
- Border towns suffer from lack of access
- Amid real estate turbulence, brokers see upswing
- Warren Co. advocates for taller cell towers
- Multiple fires lead officials to caution campers
Latest Adirondack News
- Officials urge feds to end jobless bonus
- Cuomo approves North Country for Phase 2
- St. Lawrence County admin: Phase 2 is pending 'review of the metrics'
- Essex Co. ranks low in census response
- Cuomo extends Phase 1, to much confusion
- Lake George Hike-A-Thon goes virtual
- Border towns suffer from lack of access
- Amid real estate turbulence, brokers see upswing
- Warren Co. advocates for taller cell towers
- Multiple fires lead officials to caution campers
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.
General inquiries about the Adirondack Almanack should be directed to editor Melissa Hart.
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