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NYS Climate Action Council Finalizes Scoping Plan to Advance Nation-Leading Climate Law
New York State’s Climate Action Council (Council) Co-Chairs, Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Basil Seggos and New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) President and CEO Doreen M. Harris, today announced the approval and adoption of the New York State Climate Action Council Scoping Plan (leaves DEC website), which outlines recommended policies and actions to help meet the goals and requirements of the nation-leading Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (Climate Act). After a 19-3 vote by the Council during a meeting on Dec. 19, 2022, the Scoping Plan is available to the public and will be submitted to the Governor and the State Legislature by Jan. 1, 2023. This critical milestone represents the culmination of over three years of collaboration, including contributions from the Council’s Advisory Panels and Working Groups, since the enactment of the Climate Act in 2019.
Schumer, Gillibrand announce $1,000,000 for Akwesasne Boys & Girls Club to support Mohawk Youth
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand are announcing that they secured $1,000,000 for the Boys & Girls Club in Akwesasne for children of the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe in the FY2023 spending bill. The Boys & Girls Club of America provides safe community gathering centers nationwide and empowers young students with educational programs designed to help them succeed in school. The federal dollars Gillibrand and Schumer fought for will help construct a new “Great Futures Start Here” Clubhouse in Akwesasne to serve this purpose for Mohawk youth. The new Clubhouse will enable the Akwesasne Boys & Girls Club to continue offering its vital afterschool, summer, athletic, and meal programs in a safe, modern, and accessible space.
Feeding the ground on the farm
The human labors here at the Farm consist largely of moving Sheep and Cows from one paddock to another. Before domestication and fences, this work—keeping the herds of hungry ruminants bunched together and always on the move—was the responsibility of those with gleaming incisors. The top predators. And the ground was the beneficiary. Think Bison herds thousands strong thundering across the Prairie, building legendary meters-deep topsoil. The herd acts like a paintbrush in the hands of a master landscape painter. In simplified terms, they use their remarkably-adapted mouths, tongues and digestive systems to transform the standing Grasses into urine and manure, with which they paint the ground. You could say that their job is to feed the ground back to itself. They beget a greening of riotous fecundity. Tragically, after just a few hundred years under the lash of the plow hitched to an economy of extraction, the remarkable capacity of those Prairie soils to sustain life has largely been reduced to rumor, to legend.
Free webinar on NYS Medicaid Waiver set for Jan. 17
Adirondack Foundation and AdkAction have teamed up to offer a webinar on New York State’s 1115 Medicaid Waiver. The free webinar, “A 101 on New York State’s 1115 Waiver: An Opportunity to Support
Adirondack Communities,” will be led by Scott Emery of MS Hall + Associates. It is scheduled for 11 a.m. Tuesday, January 17. The waiver helps provide expanded coverage to patients beyond traditional healthcare settings. Organizations making impacts across food, housing and transportation security as well as toxic stress reduction can potentially leverage new resources through the Medicaid waiver. To register, visit bit.ly/NYS1115ADK.
Photo at top: Stethoscope. Wikimedia Commons photo.
Outdoor Conditions (1/13): Goodnow Mountain Trail closed through March 15 due to on-going timber harvest
The following are only the most recent notices pertaining to public lands in the Adirondacks. Please check the Adirondack Backcountry webpages for a full list of notices, including seasonal road statuses, rock climbing closures, specific trail conditions, and other pertinent information
NEW THIS WEEK
High Peaks Wilderness: Snow Report (01/12): The following report describes conditions as of Thursday, 01/12. Changing weather may affect conditions. There is 33cm of snow at the Colden Caretaker Cabin. Snow levels vary at higher elevations. Conditions now require snowshoes to be worn in the Eastern High Peaks Wilderness where snow depths exceed 8 inches. Microspikes and crampons are needed.
Kushaqua Conservation Easement: Logging is in progress in the vicinity of the Mountain Pond Road. The road is being used as a haul road and is closed to ALL motorized use for the duration of the operation. Non-motorized users of the road should use extreme caution and expect to encounter log trucks.
Russell Banks And The Frozen North
The news of Russell Banks’s death reached me through a text from a friend. I then read his obituary in The New York Times. I knew Russell Banks a little bit, but I had been a fan of his books since the 1980s when I was living in New York City, and a friend lent me a review copy of Continental Drift. I was blown away by the book but could not finish it before leaving for a trip west. I remember finding Continental Drift in a bookstore in Boston a few months later and read the last few chapters there. Continental Drift was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for fiction but lost to Larry McMurtry’s Lonesome Dove.
2023 Food Justice Summit set for March 2, Call For Presenters Forms Due Jan. 16
The Adirondack Food System Network, an inter-agency collaborative effort, is pleased to announce that the annual Food Justice Summit will return to The Wild Center in Tupper Lake, NY on March 2, 2023. Over the last five years, the annual Food Justice Summit has brought together activists, farmers, agencies, consumers, educators, students, and many more to explore the facets and components of our regional food system. Since 2020, our communities have faced an unprecedented concerns and challenges related to the food system. From the farm to the exam room, our roots of the food system run deep.
Building a resilient food system rests on a foundation of healthy communities, one that supports our local and regional producers and offers choice and options for the food on one’s plate. Our goal is to bring together local initiatives, showcase and celebrate the work being done, and to build a collaborative effort to tackle some of these intractable issues. How do we move our region toward healthier, stronger, and more resilient food system? How do we create inclusive, healthier, and more accessible institutions?
ADK receives grant to protect Heart Lake water quality
Lake Placid, NY — ADK (Adirondack Mountain Club) has been awarded a $80,709 Lake Champlain Basin Program (LCBP) grant for septic system replacements at the Adirondak Loj.
Hosting the busiest trailhead in New York State, the Adirondak Loj is an important focal point for over 100,000 annual visitors as they come to experience the Heart Lake Program Center and explore the surrounding High Peaks Wilderness. For over 90 years, ADK has provided overnight accommodations, information, and other services at the Loj that have helped create a welcoming experience for visitors to the Adirondack Park.
21st Long Lake Winter Carnival set for Jan. 14, Winter Wonderland Bingo is Back
The 21st annual Long Lake Winter Carnival will be held on Saturday, January 14 beginning at noon at Mt. Sabattis Recreation Center in Long Lake, NY. Events kick off with a coronation of the King and Queen of the Moonlighter’s Snowmobile Club followed by a slate of fun family friendly events. The Cardboard Sled Races start at 1 p.m., with prizes awarded for speed and overall award for Best in Show. Sleds can be made with cardboard, paint, wax and tape. Racing categories are for individuals and for teams. There will be a bonfire as well as ice skating and sledding available all day.
Other events throughout the day include a Fashion Competition. Don your best and most outlandish winter outfits. Team themes are encouraged. Other events include: Town-Wide Photo, Kids Balloon Chase, Goalie’s Day Off, Men’s Feats of Strength, the Ladies Frying Pan Toss, and fireworks at 6 p.m. All events are free. The Ice Farm will be installing an ice sculpture garden. Local businesses and organizations are encouraged to sign up with Long Lake Parks and Recreation to be included.
Tannery Pond Center announces roundup of events
North Creek, NY- The Tannery Pond Center has recently announced a roundup of winter activities that will suit a variety of ages and interests, including an American Red Cross Blood Drive community event, Winter Coffeehouse Series concerts, a Local Talent Night which showcases area musicians, a Ski Movie Night, a new Widlund Gallery exhibit called Daring Descents: Images of Mountain Sports, a yoga session, and a Kids’ Valentine’s Themed Art Workshop. See below for more details about these events.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Celebration set for Jan. 16 in Plattsburgh
Ausable Chasm, N.Y. – For the first time in two years, the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Celebration will take place in-person at 1:30 p.m. on Monday, January 16, 2023 at the Newman Center in Plattsburgh, NY. The annual program is free and open to the public. In 2020 and 2021, the celebrations were held virtually, and the Martin Luther King Jr. Committee is looking forward to welcoming attendees back in person.
This year’s celebration will feature speaker Allison Heard, SUNY Plattsburgh Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Allison is a native of Chicago, Illinois. She earned both her bachelors and masters degrees from the University of Vermont in Burlington. Event organizers said Allison will certainly bring a profound and memorable message to recognize this important day. Martin Luther King Jr. promoted nonviolence to seek equality for all people. In her role as the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Vice President, Allison will promote and emphasize the importance of recognizing everyone equally.
Photo at top: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Wikimedia Commons photo.
A wrap up of 2022 policy news
The end of 2022 was busy with policy news as Gov. Kathy Hochul signed and vetoed remaining bills. On the afternoon of Dec. 23 she signed the 30-by-30 bill setting a conservation goal for the state to protect 30% of its lands and waters by 2030. You can read more on that here.
Latest News Headlines
- Mental health advocates in the Adirondacks look to fix gaps
- Ask a Scientist: Climate research
- Lake George Park Commission tries new bid for milfoil herbicide
- 27 Fun & Beautiful Hikes in the Adirondacks to Explore
- Ski by night in Tupper Lake
- Pine grosbeaks: A favorite winter finch
- Adirondacks see spike in property values
- Adirondack Foundation celebrates 25 years of philanthropic impact
- Small towns in St. Lawrence and Lewis counties are finally getting high-speed internet
- DEC releases draft plan to guide future Adirondack trail work
Latest News Headlines
- Mental health advocates in the Adirondacks look to fix gaps
- Ask a Scientist: Climate research
- Lake George Park Commission tries new bid for milfoil herbicide
- 27 Fun & Beautiful Hikes in the Adirondacks to Explore
- Ski by night in Tupper Lake
- Pine grosbeaks: A favorite winter finch
- Adirondacks see spike in property values
- Adirondack Foundation celebrates 25 years of philanthropic impact
- Small towns in St. Lawrence and Lewis counties are finally getting high-speed internet
- DEC releases draft plan to guide future Adirondack trail work
The Adirondack Almanack
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
We publish commentary and opinion pieces from voluntary contributors, as well as news updates and event notices from area organizations. Contributors include veteran local writers, historians, naturalists, and outdoor enthusiasts from around the Adirondack region. The information, views and opinions expressed by these various authors are not necessarily those of the Adirondack Almanack or its publisher, the Adirondack Explorer.
General inquiries about the Adirondack Almanack should be directed to editor Melissa Hart.
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Bizarre weather, clearing debris from trails, and banding over 175 Evening Grosbeaks
Still no winter weather in sight. [There is a] combination of rain and snow in the forecast during the next week, so the snow dancers better get back in action. Out west, California is getting hammered for the last two weeks and more [is] coming today (January 9). Five inches of rain [is] forecast across most of the state, with four to five feet of snow in the mountains…they just can’t get a break. They had lots of flooding from the first two storms, and now this one on top will cause mudslides from areas bare from the forest fires.
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