The Adirondack Almanack -

Thursday, January 5, 2023

SUNY ESF: Adirondack Interpretive Center announces roundup of winter events

The Adirondack Interpretive Center at SUNY ESF’s Newcomb Campus has recently announced a lineup of winter activities such as guided snowshoeing excursions, bird walks, a winter tracking workshop, a Cross-Country Ski to Forestry Demonstration Cuts activity, and more. Please see below for details on each event. Interested parties may register for an event by clicking on the provided links.

Winter Bird Walk
Saturday January 7th, 10:00 am – 12:30 pm
Guest birder, Miok Salz, will start the morning identifying the winter finches visiting the AIC feeders. This will be followed by and easy snowshoe on the trails to look for more birds.
Snowshoes provided. Preregistration required – click here to register via email.

Thursday, January 5, 2023

Recreation Highlight: Camp Sagamore Trail System

by NYS DEC

2 Comments

Within the 47,000-acre Blue Ridge Wilderness lies the Camp Sagamore Trail System. Located near and around the grounds of Great Camp Sagamore, a registered National Historic Landmark and one of few Adirondack Great Camps still in existence today, this trail system provides an immersive nature experience.

The system consists of four interconnected trails. At 3.8 miles, the Sagamore Lake Trail is the longest, looping around the shores of Sagamore Lake and briefly passing the camp itself. Though the trails are not part of the historic Great Camp Sagamore complex, reminders of the Gilded Age can still be found in the surrounding woods. Along the Powerhouse Trail lies the remnants of an old gatehouse and a powerhouse that once used natural water energy to create electricity for Great Camp Sagamore. Please use caution around these historic sites and help preserve these landmarks by leaving what you find for others to enjoy.

Trailhead Locations:
All trailheads can be found on Sagamore Road in Inlet, NY. Turn onto Sagamore Road off Route 28 in Raquette Lake. The first trailhead will be for the Cascades Trail, the next for the Powerhouse Trail; you can find parking for the Sagamore Lake Trail just before the Great Camp itself. (N 43.771987°; W 74.637854°).

DEC photo

Wednesday, January 4, 2023

DEC Lands and Forests – Should It Still Do More with Less?

by David Gibson

8 Comments

Governor Kathy Hochul has signed the “30:30 by 2030” state legislation whose objective is, in line with national goals, to bring New York State’s percentage of protected lands and waters up to 30 percent by 2030.

The eminent, late biologist and ecologist E.O. Wilson urged that the nations of the world protect 50% of the lands, freshwaters and oceans under their jurisdiction in order to slow the loss of habitats and species dependent on them, including humans whose livelihoods completely depend on the health of fisheries, forest products and other natural ecosystems. At the same time, E.O. Wilson’s goal would accelerate carbon sequestration within the rich, but shrinking carbon sinks of coastal eelgrass beds, mangrove swamps, ocean surfaces and inland forests. Habitat protection and climate mitigation are inextricably linked, he taught us.

Wednesday, January 4, 2023

Tupper Arts Center: Winter speaker series on music, visual arts set for January 6 & 28

TUPPER LAKE: Two distinguished guest speakers, Dr. Harold Rosenbaum and Dr. William Tortolano, will be giving talks on January 6 and 28 that feature the history of classical music and the group of Canadian artists known as the Group of Seven in a Winter Speaker Series co-hosted by Tupper Arts and the Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts. Both talks will be held at the Tupper Arts Center, 106 Park Street. These talks are free and open to the public, with a suggested donation of $10 to benefit the programming by both arts centers.

On Friday, Jan. 6 at 7 p.m., Dr. Harold Rosenbaum, founder of The New York Virtuoso Singers and part-year resident of Tupper Lake, will present a talk he is calling “A Concise History of Classical Music,” an hour and a half lecture and demonstration at the piano on the development of classical music from the medieval period to the present. This talk will be followed by a Q & A session.

Wednesday, January 4, 2023

High Tunnel Winter Greens webinar set for January 9

Plattsburgh, NY – With increasing consumer interest in local foods, growers in northern climates want to learn how to extend their sales opportunities through high tunnel production of greens in the winter season. Winter greens marketing tips developed from high tunnel research trials funded by the farmer-driven Northern New York Agricultural Development Program (NNYADP) will be provided in a January 9, 2023 High Tunnel Winter Greens webinar. Speakers for the 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. webinar will also address pest and disease management for winter greens production.

Pre-registration is required; for details and cost, see https://enych.cce.cornell.edu/events.php, or call 518-569-3073. The webinar is organized by the Eastern New York Commercial Horticulture Program; DEC credits are available.

Wednesday, January 4, 2023

Rangers rescue hiker on Johns Brook Trail, conduct flat ice rescue training

by NYS DEC

Town of Stratford
Fulton County
Snowmobile Safety Education: On Dec.28, Forest Rangers Thompson and Hamm assisted the Stratford Snowdrifters Snowmobile Club and Hamilton County Snowmobile Patrol Officer Arena with the New York State Snowmobile Safety Course. Rangers instructed 28 participants at the Oppenheim Trailblazers Snowmobile Club. The course allows youth ages 14 to 17 to operate a snowmobile on lands where snowmobiling is allowed, and youth ages 10 to 13 to ride where permitted while accompanied by an adult. The course includes the basics of snowmobile operation and navigation, New York State laws and regulations, and trail preparedness. Other New York State snowmobile safety courses can be found at the NYS Parks website (leaves DEC website).

Tuesday, January 3, 2023

Carrying capacity goes to court

by Zachary Matson

10 Comments

I went to Albany recently for an Appellate Division hearing in the case of Thomas Jorling vs. Adirondack Park Agency.

Jorling, a former Department of Environmental Conservation commissioner, is challenging the APA’s approval of a proposed marina expansion on Lower Saranac Lake. The hearing was the first chance for Claudia Braymer, Jorling’s attorney, to argue before judges that the state’s failure to study the capacity of Lower Saranac should invalidate the marina’s permit.

“The argument that they can just divorce the review of a private project from the review of the water resources of the Adirondack Park is wrong,” Braymer argued.

Tuesday, January 3, 2023

Poetry: For The New Year

by Annette Pisano-Higley

5 Comments

For The New Year

To those who gather family near,
Or are alone from year to year,
To those who give and who receive,
To those who may or not believe,
I send these words across the miles,
And right next door, where waits a child,
In hopes of better days ahead,
For peace, with no more tears to shed,
For love of earth and love of man,
For reaching out to all we can,
To stop wars here and in far lands,
To mute the guns and soothe the cries
Of innocents, make safe their lives.
Hope can rise when fear is gone,
Life is strong, free to go on.
When greed abounds, no good can grow,
Nor mercy thrive, nor justice flow.
New Year bells must righteous ring,
O’er everyone and everything,
Ring out the old, ring in the new,
And Happy New Year, is my wish for you

Tuesday, January 3, 2023

Old Forge Library receives $80,000 in grant funding from NYS Council on the Arts

2 Comments

Old Forge, NY – The Old Forge Library announced today a grant award totaling $80,000 over a 2-year period from the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) to support the recovery of the nonprofit arts and culture sector. Following New York State’s historic investment for the arts, NYSCA has awarded $90 million since Spring 2022 to a record number of artists and organizations across the state.

Monday, January 2, 2023

Great Sacandaga campground approved

by Gwendolyn Craig

1 Comment

The Adirondack Park Agency gave its stamp of approval for an RV campground in the town of Mayfield at is monthly meeting last week. It also sent out to public comment plans for an expanded boat launch and a beach closure in Broadalbin, about seven miles from where the campground is planned.

The two projects brought up some interesting questions about the park’s boundary, which does not include the southern tip of Great Sacandaga Lake. You can read more about the projects and the Blue Line discussion here.

Monday, January 2, 2023

Cascade Welcome Center: Free weekend programs to begin Jan. 6

January 2, 2023 — Lake Placid, NY — Starting this Friday, January 6, the Adirondack Mountain Club’s (ADK’s) Cascade Welcome Center will be hosting free weekend nature and recreation programs throughout the winter season. Led by ADK naturalists, each program is open to all ages and aims to connect locals and visitors to the natural wonders of the Adirondacks.

Snowshoe rentals can be provided free of charge for all programs. Participants should come prepared with warm layers to spend at least an hour outside in subfreezing temperatures. Details about each program are listed below.

Monday, January 2, 2023

Kelly Adirondack Center: Layers of Autumn exhibition on display Jan. 8 to June 4

The Kelly Adirondack Center and Union College Department of Visual Arts is pleased to present Layers of Autumn, an exhibition of paintings by Shriya Balaji ’23, Natalie Berg-Pappert ’23, Talia Coker ’23, Saliha Nazir ’23, Isabel Pacchiana ’24 and Emily Zucco ’23, students from Professor Laini Nemett’s Fall 2022 Plein Air Painting course at Union College. The exhibition opens on Sunday, January 8th, 2023, with a free public reception from 2 to 4 p.m., and will be on view through June 4th, 2023.
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Sunday, January 1, 2023

Inlet’s First Shop with a Cop Event Fosters Positive Relationships Between Police and Community

By Julie Meeks

What started out as reminiscing over coffee and planning for the future, quickly became a reality for Inlet Sergeant Toby Lindfield, thanks to the Inlet Youth Commission and the Fulton Chain Trifecta. During his previous time with the Oneida County Sheriff’s Department, Sergeant Lindfield participated in a “Shop with a Cop” program. His goal was to begin fundraising now in order to bring this type of program to Inlet in December of 2023. Mike Bartolotti of the Fulton Chain Trifecta and Adele Murdock Burnett of the Inlet Youth Commission quickly decided that Sergeant Lindfield didn’t need to wait until 2023 – he could make this a reality this year. And that he did.

Sunday, January 1, 2023

Tupper Lake: ADK Food Hub Awarded $500K Grant Through USDA

TUPPER LAKE, N.Y. — North Country farmers and food producers will soon be able to access shared regional processing facilities, distribution services and marketing opportunities, thanks to a successful grant proposal from The Hub, also known as the ADK Food Hub, in Tupper Lake, N.Y. The Adirondack North Country Association (ANCA) announced the small farm and food hub has been awarded nearly $500,000 in grant funding through the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Local Food Promotion Program.

Hub owner Cherie Whitten will use the $395,000 grant and $100,000 of largely in-kind matching funds to provide small-scale and low-income food producers with support for production, aggregation, distribution and marketing of local food. The project will ultimately bring more high-quality, nutritious food to rural and low-income consumers who currently have limited access to local farm products.