Jack Drury’s recent essay promoting the use of E-bikes opens with the challenge facing an older but reasonably well conditioned body attempting to keep up with younger bicycle riders.
Jack articulates well what many of us baby boomers are feeling as we take up a ski, paddle, hike, or bike with younger friends and colleagues. We think we are reasonably fit, but how to keep up? Especially, as Jack wondered, on the uphill sections? » Continue Reading.
“It’s Debatable” appears in each issue of the Adirondack Explorer. This essay by Adirondack North Country Association’s Sean Connin is a companion piece to “Debatable: Should Renewable Energy Be An APA Priority? No” by John Droz Jr., physicist and environmental advocate at Brantingham Lakes.
Locally sourced renewable energy — whether from wood, water, wind, sun, geothermal, or plant and animal waste — is important to the park’s future. It provides a multiplier for local economies, builds on traditions of self-reliance, and can provide environmental and social benefits. The trick is to design these renewable projects and practices to fit the local landscape and to provide value to communities. Such convergence can emerge through bottom-up strategies that optimize wealth retention at the local level and that benefit from equitable frameworks for land-use and energy policy at regional and state levels. The Adirondack Park Agency must lend its capacity to these outcomes and secure a best fit for resource use, protection, and quality of life within the park. » Continue Reading.
“It’s Debatable” appears in each issue of the Adirondack Explorer. This essay by John Droz Jr., physicist and environmental advocate at Brantingham Lakes, is a companion piece to “Debatable: Should Renewable Energy Be An APA Priority? Yes” by Adirondack North Country Association’s Sean Connin.
It’s very appropriate that the Adirondack Park Agency periodically review regional issues to decide what items should be added, deleted or re-prioritized, to best meet its mission.
Recently, the APA released a proposed renewable energy policy. » Continue Reading.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced an upcoming series of public meetings to provide stakeholders with the opportunity to offer input on the Forest Tax Law Program’s Section 480a.
The purpose of these meetings is to discuss areas of the program that could be improved including increasing compliance, reducing administrative burdens, and improving forestry outcomes. » Continue Reading.
The Adirondack Park Agency Board (APA) has recommended approval for the Saranac Lakes Wild Forest (SLWF) Unit Management Plan (UMP).
Its recommendation will be forwarded to the Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) for their concurrence. » Continue Reading.
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced a new Trees for Tribs Program initiative, “Buffer in a Bag,” designed to help increase riparian buffers throughout New York State.
Qualifying public and private landowners may apply for a free bag of 25 tree and shrub seedlings for planting along streams, rivers, or lakes to help stabilize banks, decrease erosion, protect water quality, and improve wildlife habitat. » Continue Reading.
250 acres of the south face of Moxham Mountain have been protected by private sale to the Adirondack Land Trust. There is no recreational access presently. The Land Trust and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation are working to transfer the land to the Adirondack Forest Preserve, at which time it will become public.
Moxham Mountain is located between Minerva and North Creek and is part of the Vanderwhacker Wild Forest. It’s lofty cliffs have been eyed by climbers, although no public access to the face of Moxham was possible.
Perhaps the most significant energy question in the North Country in the coming year will be the potential long-term advantages and/or disadvantages of advancing industrial-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) project development in the region.
Solar power represents a significant opportunity for economic development and job creation in North Country communities. And PV energy production is playing an increasingly important role in how states meet their (renewable) energy needs. » Continue Reading.
As their name suggests, microplastics are small – very small. They can measure up to 1/5 of an inch, but most are microscopic. These plastic fragments, beads, and fibers originate from the breakdown of every-day products we use and wear, such as water bottles, plastic bags, sponges, and clothing.
Some make their way into our environment as trash that has degraded over time due to wind or wave action – others enter directly via our drains. Wastewater treatment plants do trap some microplastics, but many are too small to be filtered so they are discharged back into our lakes and streams. » Continue Reading.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced they are holding a public information session on Habitat Management Plans (HMPs) for three Jefferson County Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) from 6 to 8 pm, on Tuesday, March 19, at the Dulles State Office Building, Watertown.
The HMPs cover the Lakeview, Black Pond, and Honeyville WMAs, just outside the Adirodnacks. » Continue Reading.
The Adirondack Council has reviewed the agenda for the upcoming February 14-15 Adirondack Park Agency Board meeting. We offer the following comments and suggestions: » Continue Reading.
The Adirondack Park Agency will hold its monthly meeting at its headquarters in Ray Brook on Thursday, February 14th and Friday February 15th, 2019. Thursday’s meeting will begin at 1 pm and Friday’s session will commence at 9 am.
The meeting will include discussion on the Frontier Town Campground, Equestrian and Day Use Area in the Town of North Hudson; a presentation on climate change in the Adirondacks; consideration of Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan conformance for the Saranac Lakes Wild Forest Unit Management Plan; and more. What follows is the agenda issued by the APA: » Continue Reading.
Adirondack Almanack readers may recall that in 2018 Governor Andrew Cuomo’s budget office introduced legislation which would have changed the way the state pays taxes on the public’s Forest Preserve. It was proposed to change the ad valorem system, in place since 1886, to a payment in lieu of taxes.
Local school districts and supervisors were alarmed by the negative consequences of the proposed change, as were Forest Preserve advocates. In response, legislative staff sought background information about how the Real Property Tax Law applied to the Adirondack Park, historically speaking. » Continue Reading.
Lake George Waterkeeper Chris Navitsky has been selected as the recipient of a statewide award for his work using the study of algae near the shore of the Lake to identify and prioritize potential sources of pollutants.
Navitsky will be formally presented with the Linn H. Enslow Memorial Award from the non-profit New York Water Environment Association (NYWEA), a statewide organization of leaders in water quality management, at the Association’s annual meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 6, in New York City. » Continue Reading.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is seeking public for input prior to developing a revision to the Pepperbox Wilderness Unit Management Plan (UMP). A public meeting will be held on February 27, in Lowville, Lewis County. » Continue Reading.
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