Holocaust survivor Murray Jaros is set to give a talk at the Hadley-Luzerne Public Library, 19 Main Street, Lake Luzerne, on Thursday, July 12th at 7 pm.
The talk – “My Story from Nazi Germany to the Solace of Lake Luzerne” – looks at Jaros’s days as a young boy in Nazi Germany, his family’s trials and tribulations, escaping the Nazis, his survival during months of hiding and his eventual journey to Lake Luzerne. » Continue Reading.
The 2018 Bike the Barns, a one-day recreational bicycle tour that showcases the local food and agriculture movement in northern New York, has been set for Sunday, September 30th.
The third annual farm-by-bike event, hosted by the Adirondack North Country Association (ANCA), will begin and end at Asgaard Farm & Dairy in Au Sable Forks. » Continue Reading.
When I was little and tagging along when my dad tended his vegetables, I would sometimes find large black and yellow garden spiders. They were beautiful, and I noticed they had a curious trait: they often added a bright white decorative zigzag to their webs. I always wondered why, if a spider web is meant to catch insects unawares, these spiders would go to such effort to make their webs more visible?
To answer this question, I recently spoke with Dr. Todd Blackledge, who researches spider silk and the web decorations of garden spiders. » Continue Reading.
The Adirondack Center for Loon Conservation will present its 2018 Loon Recognition Award to naturalist Gary Lee at the View Arts Center in Old Forge on Friday, July 6, from 5 to 7 pm.
The reception will feature a presentation showcasing Gary Lee’s extensive contributions to the conservation of loons in the Adirondacks, as well as live music, hors d’oeuvres, and beverages. The proceeds will benefit the Center’s loon research, rescues, and conservation projects throughout the Park. » Continue Reading.
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has adopted a rulemaking package that will make the first major update to State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) regulations in more than two decades.
The updates to SEQR will take effect on January 1, 2019. According to DEC, the new rules will “expand the number of actions not subject to further review, known as Type II actions, modify thresholds for actions deemed more likely to require the preparation of an environmental impact statement (EIS), and require scoping of an EIS. Additional highlights regarding content of a draft EIS, are the consideration of measures to avoid or reduce an action’s impacts on climate change-induced conditions such as sea level rise and flooding, as well as enhancements to make acceptance procedures for EIS more consistent. ” » Continue Reading.
I don’t actually remember the first time I saw single-serving bottles of water for sale. But I do remember thinking that it was crazy! Who would pay for water?
Was I ever wrong! According to the Beverage Marketing Corporation, which provides management consulting, research, and advisory services to the global beverage, food, and consumer packaged goods industries, worldwide bottled water volume in 2016 was 12.8 billion gallons. That’s more than 246,000,000 gallons a week and an increase of nearly 9% over 2015 volume. Around the world, we now drink as much bottled water as we do packaged milk. Or beer. And bottled water now surpasses carbonated soft drinks as the largest beverage category in the United States; a major milestone; with all but 1% of it sourced domestically. » Continue Reading.
The Adirondack Mountain Club (ADK) has announced their Summer Naturalist Series is now underway.
Visitors can explore the natural world of the Adirondacks through hands-on activities by attending one or all of the following naturalist led interpretive programs, which will continue to run through August. All programs are free and open to the public. » Continue Reading.
The accessible Grandmother Tree Trail is located at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry’s Pack Demonstration Forest in Warrensburg, Warren County.
The moderately level mile long trail is completely accessible to those using wheelchairs. The trail traverses a 50-acre natural area and old-growth hemlock-white pine forest including the historic Grandmother Tree. The enormous white pine is about 175 feet tall and over 300 years old. » Continue Reading.
The first time I went up Azure Mountain, it was because I’d read about it in a trail guide – it was only a mile hike so I thought it would be pretty easy. The trail started out very gradually, passing a small clearing with an old stone fire place and a picnic table. (I would later learn that’s where the fire observer’s cabin was located.) But after that, the trail became steep. Only a few switchbacks, then practically straight up the mountain – a 900+ foot elevation gain in a pretty short distance. On one stretch there were even a couple of bare poles, leaning at rakish angles, with insulators on the top. (They once held the telephone wire that went up to the fire tower). » Continue Reading.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced the completion of $214,000 improvements to the Ausable Point Campground and the Santa Clara Conservation Easement Tract.
DEC staff installed a new playground and paved the entrance road at the Ausable Point Campground in the town of Peru, Clinton County. The new natural wood “Bears” playground is designed for children ages 5-12. The main structure includes slides, bridges, climbing wall, sliding poles and more surrounded by a soft, woodchip covered surface. Nearby bouncy rides and a swing set have sand surfaces. The new pavement begins at the bridge approximately 200 yards from NYS Route 9N and ends at the entrance booth to the campground.
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Forest Rangers respond to search and rescue incidents in the Adirondacks. Working with other state agencies, local emergency response organizations and volunteer search and rescue groups, Forest Rangers locate and extract lost, injured or distressed people from the Adirondack backcountry.
What follows is a report, prepared by DEC, of recent missions carried out by Forest Rangers in the Adirondacks. » Continue Reading.
Artistry — in terms of painting, drawing, sketching, etc. — escapes me. While I admire and enjoy it, the combination of vision, creativity, and especially ability seems foreign, even though I lived with it while growing up. Through learning to read and constantly employing skills in that area, I gradually developed a certain comfort in the world of words, but none of it came to me magically, which is how I viewed the artistic capabilities of two of my siblings: without any lessons or instructions, they could just do it. » Continue Reading.
This spring, trout and trout anglers have benefited from abundant rainfall and cool weather conditions that promote the growth and survival of trout and salmon. However, with the forecast for high temperatures this weekend through next week, it is important to remember that trout and salmon are coldwater sportfish that can experience serious physical stress whenever water temperatures climb above 70° Fahrenheit. Heat stressed fish often seek pockets of cold water created by upwelling groundwater, small feeder streams, or water released from deep reservoirs. These refuges allow trout to avoid or recover from potentially fatal levels of heat stress. » Continue Reading.
We just received our July/August issue in the Adirondack Explorer office. It’s our twentieth anniversary issue and packed with good stuff, including a timeline featuring milestones in the history of the Explorer.
Carl Heilman II took the cover photo, an aerial shot of the old titanium mine in Tahawus. The Explorer partnered with Lighthawk, a nonprofit organization, to fly over the High Peaks and the mine. The photos illustrate an in-depth story by our new watchdog reporter, Michael Virtanen, on the history and future of the mine. Incidentally, the flight confirmed that the controversial tanker cars have been removed from the railroad tracks leading to the mine. » Continue Reading.
General inquiries about the Adirondack Almanack should be directed to Almanack founder and editor John Warren.
To advertise on the Adirondack Almanack, or to receive information on rates and design, please click here. 
Help us keep bringing you the Adirondack information you value.
Email
Twitter
RSS
Facebook
Recent Almanack Comments