Tag Archive for "adirondack report" - The Adirondack Almanack

Posts Tagged ‘adirondack report’

Wednesday, April 7, 2021

The buzz around AMR hiker permits

Last Monday after this newsletter went out, the state Department of Environmental Conservation and the Ausable Club announced a new pilot reservation system at the Adirondack Mountain Reserve. The reserve, for those who may not know, is a gateway to nearly a dozen High Peaks and some very popular hikes like Indian Head and Rainbow Falls. It is also private property, accessible to the public through a foot traffic easement. The original press release left many questions, including whether or not this reservation system included a fee, or if it was free. The answer–it’s free to make a reservation.

It was also confusing because the state has called it a pilot parking reservation system, but it’s not. It is a full-on reservation system. You cannot be dropped off and walk in without a reservation. You cannot bike to the AMR and walk in without a reservation. The only way you are allowed to be on the AMR property without this permit is if you have a Greyhound or Trailways bus ticket from within 24 hours of your arrival to Keene Valley.

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Tuesday, March 30, 2021

Court hears tree-cutting lawsuit

by Gwendolyn Craig

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One of the stories I wrote for this past issue of Adirondack Explorer was about a “forever wild” case before the state Court of Appeals brought by Protect the Adirondacks against the state Department of Environmental Conservation. In case you missed it, last week the court heard oral arguments from both sides, which I wrote about here.

If you click on that link above, too, we embedded the YouTube clip of the hearing so you can watch it for yourself. No matter what side you might take, it is interesting to watch the judges ask so many good questions. This whole case can get very abstract when you’re looking at the question of what is a constitutionally protected tree. But I thought the judges also got to some very specific questions about constitutional amendments and work that has been impacted thus far from this litigation.

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Saturday, January 16, 2021

Adirondack Report: State of the State and other updates

by Gwendolyn Craig

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This week, I listened in on Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s four State of the State presentations (click here for article about Monday’s address). Next week, we’ll get Cuomo’s budget presentation for 2022. That doesn’t get passed until April, but it will be interesting to see how the state fills this $15 billion hole.

Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve had a few stories posted online for you. In case you missed them, one was about a new connector trail between the Town of Newcomb’s beautiful High Peaks Overlook park and Goodnow Mountain. The trail isn’t 100% finished, but the hope is it will be next year. Read more about that here.

There’s more news, too, about the Town of Lake Luzerne’s request for a map amendment to the Adirondack Park Agency. Through the public comments that I filed a Freedom of Information Law request for, we found some preliminary information about a homeowner looking to develop his property in the area. We also found a number of neighbors against the map amendment, but a few local business owners in favor. Read more on that here.

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Saturday, November 7, 2020

Adirondack Report: Good news for Lake George; historic mansion for sale in Newcomb

by Gwendolyn Craig

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Last week we had a couple of Lake George-area stories, in case you missed them.

One was about Dog Beach, a public area next to the state’s Million Dollar Beach at the southern end of the lake. If you’ve walked by there lately, you may have noticed the construction equipment. Dog Beach is getting turned into a stormwater filtration project. Some of it will go back to open, public space, but it will be smaller than before. The goal is to filter out nutrients, bacteria and sediment.

We also saw some benthic mats, once used to control Eurasian watermilfoil, removed from the lake. David Wick, director of the Lake George Park Commission, said this was the way the commission used to treat dense beds of milfoil, but these mats are now just trash sitting on the lake bottom. Divers helped remove them last month.

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