Monday, May 1, 2017

Conservancy Supports Adirondack Land Trust with Grant

The Nature Conservancy is making a grant to the Adirondack Land Trust (ALT) to provide $498,000 in funding to increase ALT’s capacity and scope of operations.

For over 25 years, The Nature Conservancy and ALT have worked closely together on land conservation projects in the Adirondacks, with the Conservancy providing staffing services to ALT. This grant represents a new phase in their partnership while helping to expand and diversify conservation capacity in the Adirondacks. The funding will strengthen ALT’s work as it establishes a new office and builds staff capacity. » Continue Reading.


Monday, April 24, 2017

Mirror Lake Water Quality Report Issued

mirror lakeThe Ausable River Association (AsRA) in partnership with Paul Smith’s College Adirondack Watershed Institute (AWI) have released the Mirror Lake 2016 Water Quality Report. Over the last two years AsRA has worked with AWI to collect baseline information on the lake. They compiled this information, along with historical water quality data dating back to 1971.

Mirror Lake has been enrolled in a variety of water quality monitoring programs over the past 45 years. These range from citizen volunteer water quality monitoring programs to studies conducted by a variety of contractors and researchers. The purpose of this report is to summarize all the available water quality data on Mirror Lake to develop a comprehensive understanding of the current state of the lake. » Continue Reading.


Monday, April 24, 2017

Adirondack Park At A Crossroad Program in Saratoga Thursday

A report about the Adirondack Park by Adirondack Wild: Friends of the Forest Preserve will be the subject of a presentation at the Saratoga Springs Public Library on Thursday, April 27. The presentation will be held at noon in the Library’s H. Dutcher Community Room is free and open to the public. » Continue Reading.


Saturday, April 22, 2017

Home Owners Encouraged to Practice Sustainable Lawn Care

To protect water quality this spring, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is urging New Yorkers to practice sustainable lawn care by going phosphorus free, using native plants and grasses, and reducing fertilizer use. DEC has launched the “Look for the Zero” campaign to encourage New Yorkers to purchase phosphorus-free lawn fertilizer, as more than 100 water bodies in New York State cannot be used or enjoyed as a result of too much phosphorus.

New York’s nutrient runoff law prohibits the use of phosphorus lawn fertilizers unless a new lawn is being established or a soil test shows that the lawn does not have enough phosphorus. » Continue Reading.


Thursday, April 20, 2017

David Gibson: A World Class Park And The North Hudson Gateway

How many times can we use the phrase “world class” and have it mean much?

Governor Cuomo has used that term to describe the $32 million Gateway to the Adirondacks around Northway Exit 29 in North Hudson. This “world class recreational experience will be realized through the establishment of state, local and private partnerships,” said the Governor’s State of the State report. “Transforming this site into an attractive destination will link local and regional resources and provide year round recreation opportunities and services for multiple uses, users and businesses… Drawing  visitors to North Hudson to connect with premier opportunities for hiking, biking, horseback riding, snowmobiling and boating. This, coupled with commercial business development, will revitalize communities and help transform this region.”

I join others in certainly wishing this Gateway project well. But in a sense every I-87 Northway exit is a kind of gateway for visitors and residents who seek what the Adirondack Park has to offer – not just recreation but re-creation of ourselves in some cases, not just adventure but transformative experience in some cases, not just an automotive gateway but a gateway to the mind, the emotions and the senses that highly contrasts with our response to populous, pressure packed, polluted places and imagery not far away. When you drive into the Park you immediately realize this is not anyplace USA. That’s not an accident but a result of policies to protect the Park. » Continue Reading.


Thursday, April 20, 2017

New Analysis: Freshwater Lakes Getting Saltier

lake mononaNorth America’s freshwater lakes are getting saltier due to development and exposure to road salt. A study of 371 lakes published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reports that many Midwestern and Northeastern lakes are experiencing increasing chloride trends, with some 44% of lakes sampled in these regions undergoing long-term salinization.

The study is the first large-scale analysis of chloride trends in freshwater lakes. It was conducted by a team of fifteen researchers as part of the Global Lake Ecological Observatory Network (GLEON) Fellowship Program, an initiative that seeks to train the next generation of freshwater scientists and practitioners. » Continue Reading.


Monday, April 17, 2017

Grant Funding For Mohawk River Watershed Projects

Mohawk River Watershed and Adirondack Park The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced that approximately $200,000 in grant funding is available to municipalities and not-for-profit organizations to implement the Mohawk River Basin Action Agenda. The funding is provided by the state’s Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) and administered under DEC’s Mohawk River Watershed Grants Program.

To be eligible for this funding opportunity, proposed projects must be located within the Mohawk River watershed (which includes portions of the Adirondack Park in the towns of Russia, Norway, Salisbury, Stratford, Caroga, Bleecker, Arietta, Morehouse and Ohio), as well as further the objectives of the Mohawk River Basin Action Agenda.

» Continue Reading.


Monday, April 17, 2017

Changes Underway For Caroga, Piseco Lake Campgrounds

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has released for public review and comment draft Unit Management Plans (UMPs) for two DEC campgrounds in the Adirondacks.

The UMPs for Caroga Lake and Piseco Lake campgrounds identify proposed upgrades and replacements for facilities and infrastructure during the next five years. » Continue Reading.


Thursday, April 13, 2017

Public Input Sought on Mohawk Vista Unit Management Plan

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is requesting public input on a draft Unit Management Plan (UMP) for the Mohawk Vista. The area is made up of five state forests: A. J. Woodford Memorial State Forest, Steuben Hill State Forest, Mt. Hunger State Forest, Ohissa State Forest, and Otsquago State Forest, as well as five detached parcels of forest preserve in southern Oneida and Herkimer counties just outside the Adirondack Park.

The UMP is expected to guide management of these state lands. The proposed plan calls for major road improvements to provide for increased access to Mt. Hunger State Forest and mapping of 13 miles of mountain bike trails, as well as refurbishing two shallow ponds that serve as fishing spots on A. J. Woodford State Forest. » Continue Reading.


Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Siena Poll: NY Voters Favor Wilderness for Boreas Ponds

Photo by Phil Brown 2016. View of Gothics from Boreas Ponds.An overwhelming majority of New York voters want Gov. Andrew Cuomo to protect the newly purchased Boreas Ponds tract in the Adirondack Park by classifying it as a Wilderness Area where motorized vehicles and bicycles are prohibited, according to a poll by the Siena College Research Institute.

Those who favor a wilderness classification for Boreas Ponds outnumbered opponents of wilderness by 4.5-to-1 (67 percent to 15 percent), the poll found. Support came from all geographic areas and from across the entire political spectrum.

These are extremely positive results for wilderness advocates. They look even better when you consider that the state didn’t hold a single public hearing south of the Catskills on the classification of Boreas Ponds. Everyone in New York City, the lower Hudson Valley and Long Island had to make a special effort to learn about this issue. » Continue Reading.


Tuesday, April 11, 2017

DEC Changing Wildlife Habitat Management Documents

DEC has released a Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS), which will update the current “Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) on Habitat Management Activities of the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Division of Fish and Wildlife.”

The draft SEIS describes and evaluates habitat management methods used on nearly 234,000 acres of state land – mostly Wildlife Management Areas managed for wildlife production and for recreation. The PEIS has not been updated since it was adopted in 1979, according to DEC’s press announcement. » Continue Reading.


Monday, April 10, 2017

Remote Healthcare Monitoring in the Adirondacks

Adirondack Health and Health Recovery Solutions (HRS) have partnered to provide remote monitoring and videoconferencing services throughout the North Country region of New York State. Adirondack Health plans to have HRS integrated with Hixny’s health information exchange to serve patients in their homes. The exchange provides electronic access to patients’ records.

HRS uses a 4G-enabled tablet equipped with their software and integrated with Bluetooth devices to capture vital signs and provide high risk-alerts. It also provides educational videos, two-way videoconferencing for family members and clinicians, and assistance with medication management. » Continue Reading.


Monday, April 10, 2017

Residential Brush Burning Prohibited Through May 14

Residential brush burning is prohibited through May 14 across New York State.

Due to the lack of snow cover over much of the state and with rising temperatures forecast for the coming weeks, conditions for wildfires could be heightened. » Continue Reading.


Sunday, April 9, 2017

Younger Adirondackers Find A Place To Call Home

Tyler Socash on Wright PeakIn 2015, Old Forge native Tyler Socash decided to take the money he had been saving for a car and spend it on something more experiential: three long-distance hiking trips.

Starting in August, he ended up hiking seven thousand miles as he finished the Pacific Crest Trail, Te-araroa (Long Pathway) in New Zealand, and the Appalachian Trail. After the yearlong trip, the thirty-year-old came home to the Adirondacks, where he returned to a former employer, the Adirondack Mountain Club, as a wilderness trip leader. » Continue Reading.


Tuesday, April 4, 2017

Dan Plumley: EPA Cuts, Deregulation Imperil the Adirondack Park

EPA and Trump BudgetThe current crisis of anti-environmental leadership at the federal level under the Trump Administration has potentially far reaching implications here at home for New York’s Adirondack Park. Taken as a whole, these threats to New York State and the Adirondack Park could degrade or imperil natural resource integrity and environmental sustainability over the long-term.

Threats include:

o proposed draconian cuts to the budget and professional staffing of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and elimination of climate research under various agencies;

o proposed weakening or elimination of regulations facing coal burning, “tall stack” polluting industries and degraded water quality protections. » Continue Reading.



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The Adirondack Almanack is a public forum dedicated to promoting and discussing current events, history, arts, nature and outdoor recreation and other topics of interest to the Adirondacks and its communities

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