Tag Archive for "Climate Change" - The Adirondack Almanack

Free, Easy-to-Use Guide Provides Resources to Build Support for Local Wind and Solar Projects to Reap Community Benefits

To help community members who want to build support for local clean energy projects, The Nature Conservancy in New York and New Yorkers for Clean Power have published a toolkit to support their efforts. Entitled Building Out a Clean Energy Future, the free, online toolkit provides background, strategies and resources for New Yorkers regardless of prior knowledge about clean energy.

Identifying common barriers and outlining actions to manage and overcome them, the toolkit shares steps that community members can take to support renewable energy projects in their city, town, or village and help bring about the many benefits of clean energy including cleaner air to breathe, a stronger economy with good-paying local jobs, and less carbon pollution, the driver of climate change.

Friday, April 2, 2021

Eating for the Climate is Easy

by Vanessa Banti

33 Comments

Fantastic Foods & Simple Solutions, in 3 Parts

The climate crisis, by its very nature, is tough to wrap your head around. We can feel some of its immediate effects, but most of the most severe changes happen on a scale that is beyond the ability of one person to see. Many of the actions we can take as a society to mitigate those effects have proven challenging to do. More and more of us agree that collective, systemic action is needed to combat climate change. In addition to systemic action, it is important that individuals still do our part. It can be really tough to figure out what to do!

When faced with the enormity of the climate crisis, we often find ourselves asking: what can we do to help?

I’d like to present a very simple answer to that question.

Tuesday, February 9, 2021

North Country Live web series returns

North Country Live returns this winter and spring with a variety of programs focused on outdoor recreation, environmental issues, history, and more.

The upcoming edition of North Country Live, sponsored by International Paper, will feature the following sessions, each of which takes place at 7 p.m. on Zoom. All these programs are free and open to the public:

Sunday, January 31, 2021

Getting Lost in the Woods, Lest We Lose the Woods

by Vanessa Banti

10 Comments

Do you have a favorite tree of the Adirondacks? I do. Among the many wonderful options, it’s quite hard to choose.

My favorite tree isn’t the beautiful sugar maple, responsible for both fiery autumn colors and delicious maple syrup. Though I love the deep green color of the Eastern hemlock, it too is passed over. I regrettably often don’t even notice the birches, the beeches, or the red maples. Although I greatly enjoy hiking uphill through a thick tunnel of red spruce, this conifer is a close friend but not my closest. The tall and delightfully shaped Eastern white pine comes in second, but even this icon of the woods doesn’t hold first place in my heart.

My favorite tree is perhaps many people’s favorite: the Adirondack classic, the balsam fir. If nature has produced a more wonderfully appealing, delightfully fragrant, overall MVP of conifer trees on the East coast, I have yet to encounter it. There isn’t a tree that I associate more directly with the deep sense of peace and wholeness that I feel while in the woods than the balsam fir.

Thursday, November 5, 2020

Effects of climate change on birds in the Adirondacks

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Boreal forests — and the birds that live in them — are especially sensitive and vulnerable to climate change. Using current research and personal observations, bird expert Joan Collins offers insight into wildlife changes occurring in boreal habitats of the Adirondack forest, primarily as a result of climate change.

An upcoming presentation at 6:30 pm tonight via Zoom will focus on boreal species such as Black-backed Woodpecker, Olive-sided and Yellow-bellied Flycatchers, Canada Jay, Boreal Chickadee, Bicknell’s Thrush, Lincoln’s Sparrow, Rusty Blackbird, and Blackpoll and Palm Warblers, among others, and their high and low elevation habitat. The presentation will utilize photographs, video, and audio of these iconic bird species of the Adirondacks, along with a few mammal species.

The one-time program will be on the Zoom platform and Thursday, November 5th at 6:30 PM EST. Presented by The Wild Center, this live, online program is free for Wild Center members, and is available to others for $15 per household. If not already signed up, click here to register.

After registering for this event, you will receive a confirmation, followed by an email that has the link for joining. The presentation portion will be approximately 45 minutes, followed by Q&A.

Monday, October 5, 2020

Young people play important role in Climate Smart Community achievements

The Village of Saranac Lake and the Village of Homer in the Finger Lakes region were awarded a bronze level certification in the New York State Climate Smart Communities (CSC) program. The awards came during NYS Climate Week.

The efforts of young people mobilizing for climate action and resilience, inspired by the Wild Center’s Youth Climate Program and its annual Adirondack Youth Climate Summit, is seen as a key contribution to this designation. The climate program has brought together over 180 students from over 30 NYS schools to increase their climate literacy and leadership abilities since 2008.

Cedar Young, a youth leader in the Village of Saranac Lake says the following about the certification: “By receiving bronze certification, Saranac Lake has shown leadership in raising public awareness of climate change and lowering our community’s carbon footprint.”

Monday, June 1, 2020

Registration Open for Climate Change Education Virtual Conference

Registration is now open for the Stay-In-stitute for Climate Change Education, a virtual conference for educators across the country. Hosted in partnership with Climate Generation: A Will Steger Legacy, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s Climate Program Office, and The Wild Center’s Youth Climate Program. From July 22-24, the three-day training will provide educators with skills, tools and resources to teach climate change concepts and empower students in all subject areas.

Monday, May 11, 2020

Wild Center hosts climate change summit for teachers

The Wild Center is planning a virtual “Stay-In-stitute” for Climate Change Education.

Scheduled for July 22-24, from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m., the institute aims to bring together both middle and high school teachers from across the country and from a variety of disciplines, to engage in an active exploration of climate change, and the best educational practices related to it.

Monday, April 27, 2020

Micro-grant awards focus on farmers coping with COVID, climate change

The Adirondack Council awarded 10 micro-grants totaling over $32,000 to local farmers. According to a press release, the grants are an effort to address the greatest short-term and long-term threats to public health and the Adirondack Park: COVID-19 and climate change.

“COVID-19 and climate change each have the potential to devastate Adirondack communities,” says Adirondack Council Conservation Associate Jackie Bowen, the coordinator of the grant program alongside the Essex Farm Institute. In some cases, farms/food producers need to prepare more serve-at-home meals…others need equipment and funding to protect and sustain their employees who work in urban farmers markets.

Thursday, April 9, 2020

‘Zoom a Scientist’ – Learn Enviornmental Science from Home

More information on the webinars and other resources can be found at https://www.uvm.edu/seagrant/education/k-12-watershed-alliance/virtual-learning

The Lake Champlain Sea Grant team is hosting an interactive webinar series focused on watershed and aquatic science called “Zoom a Scientist.”

For one hour starting at noon every Tuesday and Friday, scientists give viewers a virtual tour of the Lake Champlain watershed and showcase their research. Scientists from the University of Vermont Rubenstein Ecosystem Science Laboratory, SUNY Plattsburgh, Lake Champlain Research Institute, and other organizations present on content is geared towards middle school and high school students, but all ages are welcome.

See below for the schedule. If you are looking for content geared specifically towards kids, an At-Home-Creativity section is offered by the Lake Champlain Committee, and is stocked with information and resources to keep them entertained and informed.

Tuesday, March 3, 2020

DEC Accepting Applications for Environmental Awards

by Editorial Staff

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced they are now accepting applications for the 17th annual Environmental Excellence Awards program. The Environmental Excellence Awards recognize businesses, institutions, municipalities, and organizations for outstanding commitments to environmental sustainability, social responsibility, and economic viability. » Continue Reading.

Tuesday, February 18, 2020

Viewpoint: Require APA To Track Climate Data, Trends

by David Gibson

11 Comments

How has the Adirondack Park Agency fared under Governor Andrew Cuomo’s 2020 executive budget proposals? The question hasn’t received any media attention for obvious reasons. It’s a mini state agency, budget-wise.

With a proposed operating budget of $5 million – just .004 percent of the proposed state budget of $137 billion – APA hardly raises fiscal eyebrows. Budgeted for 54 full time staff, APA employs .03 percent of all state employees.

Yet, the Adirondack Park comprises one-fifth the acreage of New York State. It’s constitutionally protected wild lands are honored as a National Landmark and International Biosphere Reserve. It’s subject to one of the country’s earliest and largest regional land use planning laws. But the Park has just one legislatively authorized planning agency, the APA, congruent with all six-million acres. » Continue Reading.

Monday, February 10, 2020

DEC Releases Draft New York State Forest Action Plan

by Editorial Staff

43 Comments

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced the release of the draft New York State Forest Action Plan for public review and comment. The State Forest Action Plan is a 10-year strategic plan for DEC and New York’s forestry community that provides long‐term, comprehensive, and coordinated strategies for addressing the challenges facing New York’s forests today. » Continue Reading.

Sunday, January 26, 2020

Adirondack Council Reviews Gov’s Budget Plans

by John Sheehan