The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced “first day” hikes planned for January 1, 2020, in DEC’s Region 5, which includes most of the Adirondacks.
Hikers should come prepared for the conditions with warm layered clothing, water, sunglasses, and proper footwear to be worn with snowshoes, warm hats, and gloves. » Continue Reading.
The Adirondack Park Agency’s decision to classify the magnificent Boreas Ponds Tract to authorize motorized use of Gulf Brook Road is a done deal.
The State Department of Environmental Conservation’s (DEC’s) management plan to improve that road, establish parking, and allow permitted cars to drive to within a couple hundred yards of the Boreas Ponds is in the implementation phase.
In other words, the governmental custodians of the Boreas Tract will be allowing vehicular access deep into the Boreas Tract. Now the only question is whether the Adirondacks itself will allow vehicular access deep into the Boreas Tract. I would not be too sure about that. » Continue Reading.
ADK (Adirondack Mountain Club) has been awarded a $66,000 Smart Growth grant by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to use towards improving parking and interpretive signage at one of the busiest trailheads in the Adirondacks.
Although it has always been a popular site for hikers, visitor numbers have skyrocketed over the last decade at the Heart Lake/Adirondac Loj trailheads, to over 100,000 annually. ADK said the project will not expand beyond the current car capacity of the parking area.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is set to host its 43nd Annual Children’s Holiday Party on Thursday, December 19, from 2:30 to 4 pm in the lobby of the DEC Regional Office in Ray Brook.
DEC holds this event for the enjoyment of children in the community. Santa Claus and Smokey Bear will both make appearances at the festivities and Santa will listen to the children’s wishes and hand out presents. Santa’s elves will also hand out balloons and paint faces. » Continue Reading.
Alternative snowmobile corridors proposed in the Remsen – Lake Placid Travel Corridor Draft Amendment violate the law and the “forever wild” mandate of the NYS Constitution and should be immediately removed from the draft according to Adirondack Wild: Friends of the Forest Preserve.
“The Department of Environmental Conservation’s inclusion of highly controversial alternative snowmobile routes which violate the law and a July 2019 court decision in a document dedicated to a Travel Corridor makes no sense to us,” the group’s managing partner David Gibson said in a statement sent to the press.
“This plan should stick to its topic, meaning the future of linear Rail and Recreational Trail segments from Big Moose to Lake Placid, and avoid mapping snowmobile community connectors outside of the Corridor on Forest Preserve which needlessly raise red flags and which blatantly violate wilderness law and a recent court decision.” » Continue Reading.
The Adirondack Park Agency (APA) will hold its monthly meeting at its headquarters in Ray Brook, NY Thursday, December 12th, 2019.
The meeting will address consideration of a proposed telecommunication tower in Elizabethtown, a timber harvest plan for lands in Arietta and Lake Pleasant, authorizing proposed amendments to the Town of Indian Lake’s Local Land Use Program, and will get an overview of Adirondack Diversity Initiative’s six-month strategies and goals.
What follows is the agenda issued by the APA: » Continue Reading.
Paul Smith’s College Visitor Interpretive Center provides visitors with 25 miles of trails, including six miles of interpretive trails on their 3,000-acre property.
The trail system weaves through diverse ecosystems allowing visitors to immerse themselves in nature. The trail system traverses every habitat type found in the Adirondack Park (with the exception of alpine vegetation) and includes extensive boardwalks through wetland ecosystems. » Continue Reading.
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Forest Rangers respond to search and rescue incidents in the Adirondacks. Working with other state agencies, local emergency response organizations and volunteer search and rescue groups, Forest Rangers locate and extract lost, injured or distressed people from the Adirondack backcountry.
What follows is a report, prepared by DEC, of recent missions carried out by Forest Rangers in the Adirondacks. » Continue Reading.
St. Lawrence River Watershed Project partners, including the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), have released a survey seeking input from New Yorkers with knowledge of the watershed, which includes a large area of the Adirondacks.
The short online survey seeks information from the public about interactions with these land and water resources, and how a revitalization plan can address regional concerns. The survey will be open until January 15, 2020. » Continue Reading.
Historic Saranac Lake has been awarded a Smart Growth grant from the State of New York Department of Environmental Conservation to support site plan design for their expanded museum campus in downtown Saranac Lake.
In 2019, Historic Saranac Lake acquired the Trudeau Building at 118 Main Street for expansion of their existing museum at the adjacent Saranac Laboratory building. The Smart Growth grant will support integrated site planning in order to create a museum campus that will promote Smart Growth principles and attract arts and culture tourism to the village of Saranac Lake. » Continue Reading.
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced the four top winners of DEC’s annual I Bird NY challenges for beginner and experienced birders.
DEC announced the annual I Bird NY Beginner’s Birding Challenge in May and encouraged children 16 years of age and younger to identify 10 common New York bird species. DEC also offered the I Bird NY Experienced Birder Challenge, requiring birders of all ages to identify at least 10 of 50 listed bird species found across New York State.
The 2020 application period for the Department of Environmental Conservation’s (DEC) Campground Ambassador program has begun.
“In 2019, its second year, DEC’s Campground Ambassador Program more than doubled its applicants and grew to offer more than 300 fun, educational, and meaningful programs at nine participating facilities,” DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos said in an announcement sent to the press.
The Wild Center’s Youth Climate Program has been recognized by the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) as a winner of a 2019 New York Environmental Excellence Award.
The Wild Center was named one of four innovation and sustainability leaders across New York State at the 16th annual awards celebration, held on Tuesday, November 14th. » Continue Reading.
Many years ago my wife, our Newfoundland dog, and I paddled past what appeared to be many rather unnatural clearings on Long Pond in the St. Regis Canoe Area. Here and there, partially underwater, I saw a piece of plastic water pipe or an old rusty pipe that might have been a dock support. They are the remains of tent platform sites.
In the early 1970s, these camps on “forever wild” New York State Adirondack Forest Preserve Lands were built on leases to private individuals. There were somewhere in the vicinity of 600 individual leases throughout the Adirondacks at that time. Many tent platform leases were on Lower Saranac Lake, where there were 187 tent platforms leased in 1961, and on the various ponds that today comprise the St. Regis Canoe Area. There were also tent platform sites on such popular lakes as Forked, Seventh, Lewey, and Indian Lakes, along the Raquette River, and in many other areas. » Continue Reading.
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Forest Rangers respond to search and rescue incidents in the Adirondacks. Working with other state agencies, local emergency response organizations and volunteer search and rescue groups, Forest Rangers locate and extract lost, injured or distressed people from the Adirondack backcountry.
What follows is a report, prepared by DEC, of recent missions carried out by Forest Rangers in the Adirondacks. » Continue Reading.
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