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One of the mantras for waste reduction and energy efficiency is the “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” slogan, which indicates the order of preference for resource conservation: It’s best to use fewer things in the first place, but once you got ‘em you may as well reuse them. In the end, though, it’s better they get recycled than chucked in a landfill. » Continue Reading.
Posts Tagged ‘conservation’
A Short History of the Tire Dump
2,400-Acre Eagle Mountain Preserve Established
An expanse of 2,434 acres of Adirondack foothills at the headwaters of the Boquet River, including streams, ponds, and mature forest, has been protected.
The new Eagle Mountain Wilderness Preserve part of a large, intact forest that connects the High Peaks to lower elevation lands near Lake Champlain. Surrounding protected areas include New York State’s Jay Mountain Wilderness and Taylor Pond Wild Forest (home to the local landmark, Poke-O-Moonshine Mountain), as well as other privately conserved lands.
Adirondack Wild Calls For Conservation Leadership at APA
Adirondack Wild: Friends of the Forest Preserve is calling on Governor Andrew Cuomo and the NYS Senate to substantially strengthen the NYS Adirondack Park Agency’s board, after the abrupt resignation of acting APA board chair Karen Feldman.
“The Governor needs to seize this moment and nominate individuals with strong environmental credentials and demonstrated commitments to protecting the Adirondack Park ,” said Adirondack Wild’s managing partner David Gibson in a statement sent to the press. “Serious gaps in leadership and qualifications presently exist on the eleven-person APA board,” the press release said. » Continue Reading.
Can North America’s Favorite Birds Drive Conservation Interest?
Cross-referencing a decade of Google searches and citizen science observations, researchers say they have identified which of 621 North American bird species are currently the most popular and which characteristics of species drive human interest. » Continue Reading.
Making Conservation Design The Norm, Not The Exception
My hometown of Ballston in Saratoga County is poised to make the principles and detailed process of conservation design the standard for major subdivisions. The town’s revised subdivision law comes on the heels of some disastrously bad subdivision approvals here, projects which sprawl new housing, roads and traffic all over this once wildlife-rich, rural, wet, heavily forested and formerly farmed part of town.
Later this month, my town board votes on whether “any major subdivision in the Rural District and Ballston Lake Residential District shall be designed as a conservation subdivision.” If so, that would mean that the Town planning board would require an applicant of five lots or more to conduct: » Continue Reading.
John Sheehan: Adirondacks and the NYS Budget
Conservationists had much to applaud after Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the Legislature passed a State Budget that will protect clean water, buy new park land, resist invasive species, build more resilient trails and make the park more welcoming place for all state residents.
Conservationist also had a right to wonder why the budget included no additional staff at key agencies, and why the state didn’t pass comprehensive legislation requiring the state to meet new carbon emissions goals. The budget did include funding for some climate initiatives. » Continue Reading.
Conservation Minute: The Backyard Conservationist
Whether you own acres of land or have a small flower garden, you have an important role to play in creating spaces that support wildlife. As our forests become more fragmented, its critical to start looking toward our front and back yards, and even our patios, to consider managing these spaces for biodiversity. » Continue Reading.
180 Acres Protected At Wash Co Grasslands
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced that the State has purchased 180 acres of land to add to the Washington County Grasslands Wildlife Management Area (WMA). The $326,000 land acquisition, located along Plum Road and County Route 46 in the town of Fort Edward, will increase the amount of grassland habitat protected in the WMA to 466 acres.
The Washington County Grasslands WMA is home to more than 100 bird and animal species, including wintering snowy owls and state endangered short-eared owls. The area also provides critical habitat to 10 of the 11 grassland bird “species of greatest conservation need,” including Northern harriers, upland sandpipers, Eastern meadowlarks, horned larks, and American kestrels. » Continue Reading.
LGLC Conserves Land on East Brook, Lake George
The Lake George Land Conservancy (LGLC) has protected 12 acres in the Town of Lake George along the main branch of East Brook, one of the top ten tributaries of Lake George. The property contains over 500 feet of stream corridor and riparian area as well as several acres of wetlands that help to naturally protect water quality.
Located on the west side of Bloody Pond Road, the heavily wooded property abuts Lake George Elementary School land. Some of the land was zoned as High Density Residential and the topography would have allowed up to five homes along East Brook. A statement from LGLC stressed that the organization was not anti-development, but that the protection of this sensitive land for the benefit of water quality made it a high conservation priority. » Continue Reading.
Conservation History: Northwest Bay, Lake George
Lands above Northwest Bay acquired by Stephen and Mary Loines between 1898 and 1908 – in part to protect them from the same destructive forces that threatened the Adirondacks – and which were sold to private landowners over the ensuing decades, are now largely protected again, this time permanently, thanks to land conservancies and New York State.
That’s something Tim Barnett recognized last spring, when the Lake George Land Conservancy announced that it had purchased a 159 acre parcel that includes Wing Pond “This would appear to complete a four decade- long project to protect the Loines holdings,” remarked Barnett, the first director of the Adirondack Nature Conservancy and a founder of the Lake George Land Conservancy. » Continue Reading.
Following This Fall’s Bird Migration
Each fall, migrating birds can be seen flying south to their wintering grounds. This is the ideal time of year for New York residents and visitors to head to Bird Conservation Areas across the state for great bird watching opportunities.
Visitors can search fields and forests for warblers, sparrows, and other songbirds and explore lakes, ponds, and beaches to see waterfowl and shorebirds. While exploring, visitors can hawk watch to witness the raptor migration. » Continue Reading.
Louis Marshall: Wilderness Conservationist; Seeker of Social Justice
Wilderness preservationist Louis Marshall would have not only commented about the extremism, murder and related tragic loss of life in Charlottesville, VA. He would have been outspoken against the Ku Klux Klan and Neo-Nazi followers that caused it. Further, he would have responded vigorously and explicitly against President Trump’s persistent equivocation about who caused the violence and loss of life. To the lawyer and civil rights advocate Louis Marshall, love of justice and love of nature bubbled up from the same headwaters.
We continue to live in a time of specialists where our humanity is defined and constrained as lanes we live and practice within. The messages we receive daily are to stay in our separate lanes, interests and specialties. By dint of his and world history and by force of personality, Louis Marshall (1856-1929) would not stay in any lane. Nor did Martin Luther King. Nor do young people today. Nor should any of us. » Continue Reading.
LGLC Protects Wing Pond, Land in Fort Ann
The Lake George Land Conservancy (LGLC) recently purchased a 159-acre property in Bolton that includes Wing Pond, and received a donation of 15 acres in the Town of Fort Ann.
The Wing Pond property includes 750 feet of a tributary that flows into Northwest Bay, and about 15 acres of wooded and open wetlands, including Wing Pond itself. The land also offers nice views of Lake George and the potential to create recreational trails connecting to the adjoining Pole Hill Pond parcel of NYS Forest Preserve. The LGLC expects to transfer the property to New York State. » Continue Reading.
Forest Land Conservation Program Opportunities
New York Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has announced February 3, 2017 as the application cutoff date for Signup 1 of the USDA’s Conservation Stewardship Program for Fiscal Year (FY) 2017.
The Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) is among the largest working-lands conservation programs in the United States. Through CSP, agricultural producers and forest landowners are paid for actively managing, maintaining, and expanding conservation activities like cover crops, rotational grazing, ecologically-based pest management, buffer strips, and pollinator and beneficial insect habitat – while maintaining active agricultural production on their land. » Continue Reading.
New Report On The State of North America’s Birds
The North American Bird Conservation Initiative (NABCI) just released The State of North America’s Birds 2016, the first comprehensive report assessing the conservation status of all bird species that occur in Canada, the continental United States and Mexico. NABCI was created by Canada, the United States and Mexico as a tri-national commitment to protect birds and their habitats.
The report argues that more than one third of all North American bird species need urgent conservation action and calls for a renewed, continent-wide commitment to saving birds and their habitats. » Continue Reading.
Latest Adirondack News
- Motorcycle Crash at Harrietstown Trailhead
- Man Charged in Sacandaga Boat Crash
- Senate OKs Automatic Voter Registration
- Gov May Not Sign Bill Legalizing E-bikes
- VT Officials Decline to End Coyote Hunting
- ICE Round-Ups of Migrant Families Feared
- Fomer Camp Counselor Sentenced for Abuse
- Diver Dies at Batten Kill Hydro Plant
- Revised Ti School Budget Approved
- Adirondack Land Bank Finalized
Latest Adirondack News
- Motorcycle Crash at Harrietstown Trailhead
- Man Charged in Sacandaga Boat Crash
- Senate OKs Automatic Voter Registration
- Gov May Not Sign Bill Legalizing E-bikes
- VT Officials Decline to End Coyote Hunting
- ICE Round-Ups of Migrant Families Feared
- Fomer Camp Counselor Sentenced for Abuse
- Diver Dies at Batten Kill Hydro Plant
- Revised Ti School Budget Approved
- Adirondack Land Bank Finalized
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