The Ausable River Association (AsRA), in partnership with One Tree Planted and NRS, is hosting a cleanup along the roadside of the West Branch, East Branch, and Main Stem Ausable River in the communities of Wilmington, Lake Placid, Keene, Upper Jay, and Jay. This cleanup event is slated for Earth Day, Saturday, April 22. All are encouraged to participate in this opportunity to give back to local communities by picking up and removing trash that’s built up throughout the winter.
If fruit is nature’s candy, the breakup of an ice jam is nature’s performance art. Half flood, half avalanche, they move with both a wild fury and a deceptive grace as they storm down Adirondack valleys, just looking for trouble.
In the Ausable River Valley, the phenomenon is a matter of pop culture, having given a name to an Upper Jay lodge and restaurant known as the Ice Jam Inn, and inspiring residents to jockey for the best vantage points along Rt. 9N as a one-mile procession of frozen blocks thunder by — the local version of the Running of the Bulls.
More than a year ago, my painting exhibition, Live Streaming, was postponed due to the pandemic shutdown of New York City galleries. On September 7th those painted waterways finally started flowing in the city. Thirty-five paintings and drawings can now be seen at the Blue Mountain Gallery on 27th Street through October 2. What a relief to finally be able to share them. Although the Delta variant is making art-lovers more cautious and vaccinations are required to enter all galleries, the New York art scene is reviving. At the reception I am pictured (above) with “In Suspension,” which was featured in a previous Almanack article, Art in the Pandemic – Distraction, Solace and Direction.
Sometimes it’s not enough to let nature take its course. At least, when humans have intervened and altered a wild river, it can take humans to help restore the river’s health.
That’s what’s happening now on the East Branch of the Ausable River, as Explorer correspondent Tim Rowland reports. It’s one of the most revered watersheds in the East, and its health, water quality and ability to shelter cool, deep pools could prove critical to the persistence of native brook trout as the climate warms.
The work builds on years of improvements by restoration partners including the Ausable River Association, whose work restoring “the Dream Mile” intern Ben Westcott profiled for us a couple of years ago.
Ausable River Association stream restoration associate Gary Henry, left, and executive director Kelley Tucker go over restoration plans on the shore of the East Branch of the Ausable River in Upper Jay. Photo by Mike Lynch
Editor’s note: This first appeared in Adirondack Explorer’s weekly “Water Line” newsletter. Click here to sign up.
Spring is a wonderful time to get out and hunt for the early signs of wildflower season in the Ausable and Boquet watersheds. In an article by Leanna Thalmann, a water quality associate for the Ausable River Association, various types of wildflowers are explained and shown in beautifully captured pictures.
The article acts as a small guide to going out to the watersheds yourself to begin locating these wildflowers, which grow in a variety of places: rich, moist areas, dry meadows, and mixed forests alike.
Leanna Thalmann has some advice, however for those who wish to hunt for flowers themselves: “As with any encounter with wild things, it’s important to look at and love these beautiful flowers but leave them for the next person to admire. Never pick a wildflower. Many are protected species in the state of New York. ”
To read the full article, visit this link at ausableriver.org.
The Ausable River Association (AsRA) has been awarded a $100,000 Best Management Practices for Pollution Reduction grant from the Lake Champlain Basin Program (LCBP).
The funding supports replacement of an undersized and failing culvert on Otis Brook in Jay, NY. This will be AsRA’s sixth installation of a Climate-Ready-Culvert and is part of their wider effort to restore stream health by reducing sedimentation of waterways, to improve wildlife habitat, and to create flood resilience for communities in the Ausable watershed. » Continue Reading.
The Lake Placid Land Conservancy (LPLC) has announced the hiring of its newest staff member, Carolyn Koestner.
She joins the organization as the Strategic Conservation Planner where she is expected to use her expertise in Geographic Information System (GIS) analysis and mapping to identify priority areas for conservation in the Ausable and Saranac River watersheds. » Continue Reading.
An effort is underway to spur economic growth in the town of Jay by growing its tourism sector and increasing the housing inventory. Members of a newly formed Jay Task Force have been meeting since March to investigate and identify initiatives. » Continue Reading.
Ausable River Association (AsRA) and Cycle Adirondacks (CycleADK) have announced the 8th Annual Ride for the River is set for Sunday, July 21st. The family-friendly event is a fully supported road cycling tour featuring four distance options, all showcasing the Ausable River watershed. » Continue Reading.
Fly fishermen from across the country and Canada are set to convene in Wilmington on May 16 – 18 for the Ausable Two-Fly Challenge.
This year’s catch and release tournament is celebrating twenty years of fishing, storytelling and raising money to preserve the West Branch of the Ausable River. Proceeds go to regional preservation non-profit groups and to stock the river. » Continue Reading.
The leaves are just starting to change colors, which always gets my family thinking about autumn activities and ways to share the Adirondacks with visitors, family, and friends. One of our favorite things about those cool nights and crisp days is making comfort food, which usually means cheese.
For the fifth year, three local cheese farms are welcoming cheese lovers, cheese likers, or even those (gasp) who have never tried cheese, for a self-guided local tour of the farmstead operations into the daily cheese.
The Ausable River Association (AsRA) and its partners will lead a $1.1 million effort to increase flood resilience and stream health in the East Branch of the Ausable River.
The East Branch team is expected to use field data, hydrologic and geomorphic models, guidance from the Town government, and input from Jay residents and business owners to develop a comprehensive plan for flood resilience for the East Branch in the Town of Jay.
The plan is expected to be completed by 2019 and include conceptual designs of all identified stream and floodplain projects and a scoring matrix for ranking them. Two to five of the highest ranking projects will be fully designed, with construction scheduled to start in the summer of 2019. Collection of technical data describing the current state of the river and its floodplain has already begun.
Quarry Dam, on the West Branch Ausable River just outside Lake Placid, has been identified for removal this summer. The removal is being conducted by the Lake Champlain Chapter of Trout Unlimited, in collaboration with others.
The abandoned concrete and timber crib dam, three feet high and about 50 feet long, is creating undesirable impacts on the fish and aquatic life. » Continue Reading.
The 7th Annual Ride for the River has been set for Sunday, July 15. The family-friendly event is a fully supported road cycling tour featuring three distance options, all showcasing the Ausable River watershed.
Ride for the River was created by Ausable River Association (AsRA) in 2012 to celebrate the resilience of local communities following the devastating flooding caused by Tropical Storm Irene.
In partnership with CycleADK, the 2018 ride will feature interactive route stops allowing cyclists to learn about the impacts of road salt, invasive species, and undersized culverts on Ausable streams and habitat. » Continue Reading.
The Ausable River Association (AsRA), in partnership with the Kayak Shack of Plattsburgh, is hosting a Paddling River Clean-Up Saturday, September 17th in Peru. The clean-up is open to all community members who want to restore and protect the beauty of the Ausable River.
AsRA will be working with the Kayak Shack at their Baggs’ Landing location to remove trash in and along the banks of the Ausable River from Carpenter’s Flats to the mouth at Lake Champlain.
Last year, volunteers removed thirteen bags of trash, large pieces of scrap metal, and over 200 tires from the river and its banks. » Continue Reading.
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