Wednesday, September 6, 2023

DEC Announces Rehab Project for the Upper Locks on the Saranac Chain of Lakes

dec logoRehabilitation Work Will Begin September 18 and Will Close the Upper Locks

On Tuesday, September 5, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) announced the $1.6 million rehabilitation project for the Upper Locks on the Saranac Chain of Lakes in the Adirondacks. The project is funded by NY Works and will include necessary maintenance and repairs.

» Continue Reading.


Tuesday, September 5, 2023

Small Earth Catalog

Eastern North American Destroying Angel

When he thinks I’m not looking, my husband indulges in a little eye-rolling. For the fourth or fifth time along this stretch, I stop, point, squat and aim my phone’s camera into some weedy roadside patch. He has only himself to blame. He’s the one who introduced me to my wildlife-identification app [Seek by iNaturalist], and our morning walks haven’t been the same. As my world has shrunk with the pandemic, so has my area of focus. My app is a fitting tool. I have found 141 plant species—and counting!—between our house and the turnaround point, a round trip of 2.2 miles. There’s always something new or transformed to look at, whether it’s the ephemerals in early spring, the berried possumhaw in winter, the swamp rose mallow in late summer or flowering snakeroot in fall.

» Continue Reading.


Tuesday, September 5, 2023

The case of the missing management plans

UMP map

The September/October issue of our magazine is out, and in it you can read about unit management plans. It is difficult to make any sentence sound exciting with the phrase “unit management plans” in it, but here’s why they are important. “UMP’s,” as they’re often called, are inventories of physical and natural resources in an area of the park. They also include a list of projects the state Department of Environmental Conservation wishes to accomplish. No UMP? No project. This includes hiking trails, campsites, water body studies, ski trails, parking lots—any variety of recreation or natural resource protection projects.

We found that hundreds of thousands of acres in the Adirondack Park are without UMPs. That includes Lake George Wild Forest, one of the most accessible places in the park. That means the eroded trail up Prospect Mountain cannot be rerouted. A designated trail up Rogers Rock cannot be made. The William C. Whitney Wilderness, dubbed by the state the “crown jewel of the Adirondacks,” is without a UMP, too. The state is relying on a stewardship management plan from the ‘90s, which some say isn’t protective enough.

If you aren’t already subscriber, you can sign up for our bimonthly magazine here: https://www.adirondackexplorer.org/subscribe. The article includes the map below, provided by the DEC, which shows the status of these plans across the park.

This first appeared in Gwen’s weekly “Adirondack Report” newsletter. Click here to sign up.

 


Tuesday, September 5, 2023

Navy Band Northeast to perform Sept. 7 in Plattsburgh

Navy Band Northeast's Ceremonial Band performs a public concert at Washington Square Park in New York City in one of many public concerts supporting Fleet Week New York, 2018.

Navy Band Northeast will bring its public concert series to Plattsburgh, New York on Thursday, September 7, at the Strand Center Theater at 7:30 p.m. This concert is free and open to the public. Led by its Director, Lieutenant David Harbuziuk, the Pops Ensemble performs traditional concert band repertoire while raising public awareness of the Navy and the importance of naval service. The Pops Ensemble regularly features vocalists who perform patriotic classics and jazz standards. The ensemble seeks to delight and unite audiences of children, students, adults, and especially U.S. Military Veterans.

» Continue Reading.


Tuesday, September 5, 2023

DEC: Help monarch butterflies on their long migration south 

Monarch butterfly after it emerged from a chrysalis.

Monarch butterflies  (Danaus plexippus) begin their annual fall migration around mid-August. These butterflies are the great-great-grandchildren of the monarchs that migrated to Mexico last fall.   You can help monarchs by providing food (nectar) and keeping those areas protected:

  • Turn a portion of your lawn into a wildflower meadow—plant milkweed or other native wildflowers.
  • Delay mowing areas with milkweed until later in the fall.
  • Avoid using herbicides—they kill all life-stages of monarchs (egg, caterpillar, pupa, and adult).
  • Report sightings of adults online. View a map of the sightings so far this year.

» Continue Reading.


Monday, September 4, 2023

Repairs planned for Indian Lake dam

indian lake dam

The Hudson River-Black River Regulating District has announced repairs to an aging stone dam that holds back the massive waters of Indian Lake, an impoundment that spans more than 4,000 acres.

The Explorer’s Gwendolyn Craig reports the cost is $11 million, with repairs to the leaking, “high hazard” dam to begin in October and take about two years to complete.

A high-hazard dam is one in which, according to the state, “failure may result in widespread or serious damage to home(s); damage to main highways, industrial or commercial buildings, railroads, and/or important utilities, including water supply, sewage treatment, fuel, power, cable or telephone infrastructure; or substantial environmental damage; such that the loss of human life or widespread substantial economic loss is likely.”

» Continue Reading.


Monday, September 4, 2023

40th running of the 90-Miler slated for Sept. 8-10

Racers ready for the day 1 start during a previous Adirondack Canoe Classic.

The Adirondack Canoe Classic — more commonly known as the 90-Miler — will celebrate its 40th anniversary Sept. 8-10, with over 250 boats and more than 700 paddlers.

The race is hosted by the Northern Forest Canoe Trail (NFCT) with support from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, dozens of businesses, nonprofits and communities, as well as countless volunteers. It takes paddlers on a three-day journey from Old Forge to Saranac Lake — the first 90 miles of the 740-mile Northern Forest Canoe Trail.

This event includes a full contingent of solo, tandem, four-person, and eight-person canoes as well as solo and tandem kayaks, one- and two-person guideboats, and stand-up paddle boards.

» Continue Reading.


Monday, September 4, 2023

Recipients Selected for Lake Placid Film Festival Student Summit Scholarship

 

Lake Placid, NY – Adirondack Film is proud to announce this year’s recipients of the Lake Placid Film Festival Student Summit Scholarship. College students and recent graduates from across the United States and Canada applied for entry to the 2023 Inaugural program.

As part of the scholarship, recipients will attend the 2023 Lake Placid Film Festival (October 26-29) in a highly specialized program of educational panels and exclusive film screenings. Recipients will also receive complimentary room, board, and festival passes courtesy of Adirondack Film and its sponsors. » Continue Reading.


Sunday, September 3, 2023

The Adirondacks –Spectacular, Historic, and Geographically Unique 

The Great Forest – The Proposed Adirondack Park – 1891

Vast and Varied  

The Adirondack Park is the largest wilderness east of the Mississippi River. At more than 6-million acres, it’s the size of Yosemite, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Glacier, and Great Smoky Mountains National Parks combined. Within the Park’s boundary (commonly referred to as the ‘blue line’), are more than 3,000 lakes, 30,000 miles of rivers and streams, hundreds of mountain summits (two that exceed 5000 feet (1,500 m) in height (Mount Marcy and Algonquin Peak), and an exceptional variety of eastern hardwood and boreal forest habitats, including rare, old growth forests and freshwater wetlands (marshes, peatlands (bogs and fens), swamps, and open river corridors).

» Continue Reading.


Sunday, September 3, 2023

Whitehall’s annual Sasquatch Festival set for Sept. 30

Whitehall Sasquatch Festival ad for 2023

Whitehall, NY – Every year, a special festival gathers in the Washington County village of Whitehall. More than 2,000 people come to town for a chance to call and talk about the folklore-favorite Sasquatch. This month, they’ll do it again. Whitehall’s annual Sasquatch Festival & Calling Contest returns to town from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, September 30. The calling contest is split into kids’ and adult categories, with pre-registration open now. In addition to competing for the title of “Best Sasquatch Caller,” visitors can expect an array of vendors, Sasquatch-centric authors, games, food, and a full beer garden. » Continue Reading.


Sunday, September 3, 2023

Weekly news round up

A collection of interesting reads:

» Continue Reading.


Saturday, September 2, 2023

New York State fire tower lighting happening tonight

Woodhull Tower lighting in 2022

Tropical Storm Idalia is crossing the tip of Cuba right now, and it will become a hurricane as it crosses the Gulf of Mexico heading for the west coast of Florida. It is scheduled to hit at high tide on Wednesday, [August 30] with a 7-to-11-foot storm surge in an area that isn’t that much above sea level. People still claim there is no climate change, and that this is just a normal weather pattern. There are three more storms out in the Atlantic. The first one looks like it will stay out to sea, [however] where the other two [will] go hasn’t been determined yet.

» Continue Reading.


Saturday, September 2, 2023

John Brown Farm to present living history performance of Harriet Tubman, Sept. 9

Charmaine Crowell-White will portray Harriet Tubman in a performance at the John Brown Farm State Historic Site.

On Saturday, September 9 at 2 p.m., the John Brown Farm State Historic Site will present a living history performance based on the life of Harriet Tubman. This program offers a close look into the life and achievements of Harriet Tubman (known also as General Moses), whose life was a monument to courage and determination that continues to stand out in American history. This event is free and open to the public, and will take place outdoors under the tent in the picnic area.

» Continue Reading.


Saturday, September 2, 2023

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 2022, Environmental Conservation Police Officers (ECOs) and Investigators across the state responded to more than 25,600 calls and worked on cases that resulted in nearly 13,800 tickets or arrests for violations ranging from deer poaching to solid waste dumping, illegal mining, the illegal pet trade, and excessive emissions violations.

Injured Eagle – Essex County
On Aug. 17, ECO Nicols received a report of a downed bald eagle at a private residence in the town of Westport. The officer met with the property owners (who were keeping a watchful eye on the bird prior to the ECO’s arrival) and set out to try and catch it.

» Continue Reading.


Friday, September 1, 2023

Tales of the Adirondacks, Past & Present: Why Advocacy is Important for the Adirondack Park by Diane Fish

Our next OurStoryBridge Inc. story share is called Why Advocacy is Important for the Adirondack Park by Diane Fish. This story is about being an advocate for protected areas that are a blend of people and wilderness. Listen to this story in its entirety at the following link: https://app.memria.org/stories/public-story-view/2fb1eef1e4894995b7c3d070e1659717/

» Continue Reading.



Wait! Before you go:

Catch up on all your Adirondack
news, delivered weekly to your inbox