Saturday, July 30, 2022

Banding and testing loons for pollutants with the Adirondack Center for Loon Conservation

It took a whole week with temperatures in the high eighties before the thunderstorms made it here. The storms dumped almost two inches of rain at Eight Acre Wood overnight, so again I don’t have to water the garden. I did have to water my tomato trees that are in pots almost everyday during that hot time. I’ve picked a few cherry tomatoes which are a tasty bite. The larger tomatoes are growing daily after I pruned off the leaves that had no flowers on them, and now I can even see tomatoes growing.

 

Most of my loons have hatched their young, but I still have one sitting on eggs. The male was glued to the nest yesterday while the female was at a neighboring lake fishing. If the eggs are going to hatch it should happen this week. Sometimes the eggs get chilled in high water and the eggs are not going to hatch. However, the adults sit on them sometimes for over forty days before giving up. Locally, most of the nests have been successful this year, and there are chicks on many of the local lakes. If you come upon them in your travels, give them some space. Don’t force them out into open water when they are hugging the shoreline fishing and keeping out of boat traffic.

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Wednesday, July 27, 2022

Stewardship projects enhance access to Franklin, Union Falls ponds

FRANKLIN, NY — The Northern Forest Canoe Trail (NFCT) has completed a series of stewardship projects that improve access to Franklin Falls Pond and Union Falls Pond and mitigate negative environmental impacts to both water bodies.

“These projects are the latest in a long string of work by the NFCT in this area,” said Noah Pollock, NFCT’s stewardship director. “Franklin and Union Falls ponds are two jewels along the Saranac River — they don’t see the same crowds or traffic as other Adirondack lakes, but are equally beautiful. Our crew worked to formalize an access at the northern end of Franklin Falls Pond long used by paddlers to access the lake. It was a steep, eroding bank that led folks to access the water from a variety of different places, which created a lot of impacts on the shoreline vegetation. We built an 8-foot-wide set of timber stairs that are attractive and easy to use, and installed rocks at other informal access points to discourage use.”

Tuesday, July 26, 2022

Raquette Lake: Great Camp Sagamore offers guided history hikes

Hiking enthusiasts of all ages and abilities are encouraged to take advantage of a unique opportunity to embark on an educational guided hike where participants will venture into the great outdoors at Great Camp Sagamore and learn about the area’s rich history.

Great Camp Sagamore once had a farm, a 100,000-gallon covered reservoir, and a hydroelectric powerhouse, all hidden away in the surrounding forest. These historic structures were located conveniently close by for the workers who operated them, but hidden from view for the Vanderbilt’s distinguished guests.

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Monday, July 25, 2022

Pondering An Old Friend

serviceberry

By D.C. Rohleder

As I sit on a West-facing porch on a humid mid-July morning drinking strong black coffee, my attention  is drawn to an ailing old Friend. This Friend has been a rock for me and others in the 20+ years I have lived here – providing entertainment, respite, and nourishment for myself and numerous species of wildlife. No other organism on my property is more magnanimous.

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Monday, July 25, 2022

DEC Proposes Improvements to State’s Forest Tax Law Program

dec logo

Public Comment Period on Proposed New and Improved Regulations Now through September 19; Two Virtual Public Comment Hearings Scheduled for September 13

On July 13, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Basil Seggos announced proposed changes to the implementing regulations for Real Property Tax Law Section 480a, also known as the Forest Tax Law. The comprehensive overhaul of these nearly 50-year-old regulations will lessen the administrative burden on participating forest landowners, help DEC promote compliance with requirements in place, and maintain and improve sustainable timber management on enrolled lands.

“The Forest Tax Law Program provides private forest landowners a significant real property tax reduction on enrolled forest lands in exchange for managing their timber resource for the long-term with the support of professional foresters,” said Commissioner Seggos. “Privately owned forests make up to 74 percent of the total forest land area in New York, and healthy, well-managed forests are essential for supporting our economy, protecting water and air quality, providing wildlife habitat, and improving forest carbon storage and sequestration, supporting the State’s climate efforts.”

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Monday, July 25, 2022

ADK, The Nature Conservancy improve access at Silver Lake Bog Preserve

 

July 25, 2022 — Black Brook, NY — The Nature Conservancy’s Silver Lake Bog Preserve’s nature trail is now more safe, sustainable, and accessible after a month of work by ADK’s professional trail crew. Part of a multi-year effort to make the Silver Lake Bog Preserve more accessible to all, The Nature Conservancy in the Adirondacks contracted with ADK to rebuild a bridge, reroute unsustainable trail sections, and establish a formal trail to the bluff viewpoint, which includes wooden ladders to increase safety.

The Silver Lake Bog Preserve is a publicly accessible 98-acre property that features a boardwalk that winds through an ancient peatland bog, the unsung hero of carbon capture, hardwood forests, and spectacular views of the surrounding landscape. The improved trail travels 1.5 miles through the Preserve and features a 200-foot bluff overlooking Silver Lake and Whiteface Mountain.

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Monday, July 25, 2022

DEC seeks public’s help reporting Asian Longhorned Beetle sightings

Adult Asian Longhorned Beetles (ALB) are active from late July through September. The ALB (Anoplophora glabripennis) is an invasive wood-boring insect that feeds on a variety of hardwoods including maple, birch, elm, ash, poplar, horsechestnut, and willow, among others.

Native to China and Korea, the beetles are approximately 1.5 inches long and shiny black, with white spots on their wing cases. They have black and white antennae that can be up to twice as long as their body. (They should not be confused with the native white-spotted pine sawyer, which has a distinctive white spot on their back, below their head.)

If they are in your neighborhood, it’s possible one will end up in your pool. The more “eyes” we have looking for infestations, the better chance of finding new ones early and eliminating them. ALB attacks and kills hardwoods, and they emerge from infested trees in the late summer to find a new host.

The DEC invites pool owners to check filters for the invasive insect regularly and submit a report if any are found. YOU are the key to keeping our forests free of ALB.

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Saturday, July 23, 2022

Loon Census 2022, observing hummingbirds, bears and deer from front porch

A little rain kept my garden growing and flowers blooming. My bee balm has come out, giving the hummers a new place to eat in both the front and back yards. Karen and I sat on the front porch
yesterday (July 17) and the hummer feeders were a beehive of activity all afternoon. In the morning we had a mother bear come through with two of last year’s cubs checking out the bird feeders. The mother and one cub walked around the electric fence. The other cub got confused as to where the others went. It tried to go through the fence, but took a shot and backed off. Then it circled around looking for mom and hit the fence again. It left in a hurry that time, and probably will not try that again.

A few minutes later, there was a doe with twin fawns who were nursing together out in front of the house. It would have made a great picture as they were right in a sunshine spot, but the camera was in the truck. Many birds have been bringing their young ones to the feeders for a snack. Several Blue Jays with young have been coming every day. I set the Potter traps yesterday and caught five of the young ones. I also caught an older Jay that I had banded as a juvenile in July of 2014 which made that bird 8 years and two months old. That is one of the oldest returns I’ve had of a Jay. They usually eat and run never to be seen again, but not this one. I also caught some juvenile Slate-Colored Juncos who were still sporting some pin feathers.

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Friday, July 22, 2022

The Giant Joro Spider

First your car catches fire, and then your house. Worse yet, your date kills you and devours your flesh without so much as an apology. Yeah, spiders are creepy (I’ll explain). Arachnophobia, the fear of spiders, reportedly affects from three to six percent of us worldwide. In fact, it’s the most common phobia among humans (I assume the fear of humans is the most prevalent phobia among other animals, spiders included). Experts aren’t sure why we’re so scared of web-spinning arachnids, although evolutionary selection and family genetics are likely involved.

Cultural conditioning plays a role as well. In the US, for example, up to 15% of the population have some degree of arachnophobia, more than twice the global average. And a 1991 study in the UK found that 78% of Londoners surveyed expressed a general dislike of spiders. Here in the northern latitudes, we currently have no resident species of venomous spider, although that may eventually change as the climate warms. On rare occasions, the northern black widow (Latrodectus variolus) has been found as far north as southern Ontario and Québec. But the northern black widow is not aggressive, and its bite, while unpleasant, is not deadly.

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Thursday, July 21, 2022

ADK Park: Environmental Conservation Police News

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s (DEC) Division of Law Enforcement enforces the 71 chapters of New York State’s Environmental Conservation Law (ECL), protecting fish and wildlife and preserving environmental quality across New York.

In 1880, the first eight Game Protectors proudly began serving to protect the natural resources and people of New York State.

In 2021, 282 Environmental Conservation Police Officers (ECOs) and Investigators across the state responded to 26,207 calls and worked on cases that resulted in 11,562 tickets or arrests for violations ranging from deer poaching to solid waste dumping, illegal mining, the black market pet trade, and excessive emissions violations.

All Hooked Up – St. Lawrence County
On July 4, ECO Atwood responded to a call about a small goose with a fishing lure stuck in its foot in the town of Colton.

 

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Wednesday, July 20, 2022

Controlling an Invasive Plant Without Herbicides

Invasive species are plants, animals, fungi, or microorganisms that spread rapidly and cause harm to other species. They are introduced species that can thrive in areas beyond their natural range of dispersal.

     Characteristically, invasive plant species are adaptable, aggressive, and usually lacking natural enemies that can limit their growth and populations. They have a high reproductive capability; growing rapidly in short life cycles and producing abundant amounts of seed. They aggressively compete with native plants and plant communities and often displace them, thereby disrupting the normal functioning of ecosystems and threatening biodiversity and already endangered native plant species.
     Purple loosestrife is a perfect example of an introduced plant species that has become a serious and widespread threat to native species, natural communities, and ecosystem processes. It was brought to North America by the European colonists as an herbal remedy for dysentery, diarrhea, and other digestive ailments and introduced in the 1800s as an ornamental. It was well-established in New England by the 1830s, and spread along canals and other waterways. Supposedly sterile species were offered for sale for many years, but researchers later found that those cultivars were fully capable of cross-pollinating with plants growing in the wild.

Wednesday, July 20, 2022

DEC Seeks Citizen Scientists to Help Monitor Turkey Productivity

wild turkey - femaleNew York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Basil Seggos today encouraged New Yorkers to take part in the State’s annual survey of wild turkeys, a valuable tool that helps DEC determine the productivity of turkey populations statewide.

“Citizen scientists provide important data that helps our biologists examine how factors such as weather, predation, and habitat conditions during the breeding and brood-rearing seasons impact turkey survival,” Commissioner Seggos said. “Without the assistance of our volunteers, the task of monitoring turkey populations statewide would be far more difficult, and we encourage participation this summer to help enhance our knowledge of turkeys in New York.”

» Continue Reading.


Monday, July 18, 2022

Nature’s Dental Plan

The vast majority of people have no dental coverage, or at best have a less-than-stellar plan which only pays if you use their provider in the Outer Hebrides who works on alternate Tuesdays in April, although you’re still on the hook for a $5,000 deductible. Given a few recent discoveries, however, it looks like insurers could give us perfect teeth and yet save piles of money in the long run by taking cues from nature.

With a single up-front procedure, we could get self-replacing or unbreakable teeth like those found in certain animals. Of course, this would require the use of a gene-editing tool such as “Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats,” or CRISPR. The acronym is fitting: one of its first miracles was an apple that stays crisper even if sliced and left out for ages. Nature’s answer to the Twinkie, I suppose.

» Continue Reading.


Monday, July 18, 2022

DEC: Public Encouraged to Report Potential Beech Leaf Disease Infections

On July 15, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) announced that Beech Leaf Disease (BLD), which affects all species of beech trees, was identified in 35 counties in New York State to date. The DEC began tracking BLD in 2018 after it was confirmed in Chautauqua County. Fourteen of the counties with BLD were confirmed in 2022, and more are likely to be identified.

“Many American beech trees are already heavily impacted by beech bark disease, but Beech Leaf Disease appears to be an even bigger threat,” said DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos. “The decline of beech in New York could have far-reaching consequences, including significant changes to the composition of our northern hardwood forests and the loss of a valuable food source for wildlife. Beech Leaf Disease affects all beech, so the impacts would also be felt in our urban forests where ornamental beech trees, including the popular copper beech cultivar, are widely used for landscaping and street trees.”

Much is still unknown about BLD, including how it spreads, but it can kill mature beech trees in six to 10 years and saplings in as little as two years. There is no known treatment for infected trees. BLD symptoms are associated with the nematode Litylenchus crenatae mccannii. It is unknown whether the nematode causes all of the damage, or if it is in association with another pathogen such as a virus, bacteria, or fungus.

» Continue Reading.


Sunday, July 17, 2022

ADKX Benefit Gala set for July 30, Dr. Ross S. Whaley honored as Harold K. Hochschild Awardee

Blue Mountain Lake, N.Y.  – The Adirondack Experience, The Museum on Blue Mountain Lake (ADKX) will be celebrating their annual Benefit Gala & Harold K. Hochschild Award ceremony on Saturday, July 30 from 6 to 9 pm, under the stars at their museum in the heart of the Adirondacks. This yearly celebration and fundraiser highlights the organization’s accomplishments and achievements, as well as honors the yearly Harold K. Hochschild Award recipient.

This award, given annually to a different recipient, is dedicated to the memory of the museum’s founder, whose passion for the Adirondacks, its people, and environment inspired him to create the museum and establish the Adirondack Park Agency (APA). The 2022 award recipient is Dr. Ross S. Whaley, President Emeritus of the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY ESF) in Syracuse, NY.

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