Students helped save a trout stream with the historic conservation practice of planting trees. Warner Brook, Town of Arietta, has been negatively impacted by bank erosion for years, and the Halloween Storm of 2019 worsened the stream’s condition. The Hamilton County Soil and Water Conservation District teamed up with partners and students to get conservation on the ground and stabilize Warner Brook.
Warner Brook has been plagued by erosion for decades. During the Halloween Storm, fast moving flood waters, rocks, and boulders scoured and undercut the banks.
I came to the Adirondacks when I was 12. It was much different for me back then, back before I had put down roots. I didn’t even really want anything to do with this place when I was that young. I had it in my mind that the park was cursed. It seemed to me that those who spent too much time inside the blue line were never truly able to leave. My grandparents were from the AuSable Valley. They had all left for long periods of their lives, traveling around the states at the military’s command. But they all ended up right back where they started. My cousins followed the same path, as did both of my parents.
I grew up gallivanting around the Rocky Mountain states due to my father’s career in the Air Force. Montana to Wyoming to Colorado. All I had known growing up was wind and dust. Wind that would find its way under my skin and crack my hands. My knuckles split and bled and stung under the unceasing wind of the plains. Dust had a permanent place in my teeth and in my eyes. In the winter, the snow was no better. Dry as can be, I don’t think I ever was able to make a snowman. Champagne powder they called it farther west in the mountains, but where we were on the plains, it was nothing more than white dust.
So after only living the dry life at 7,500 ft, the Adirondacks were the exact opposite of what I was accustomed to. I remember my first thought when I stepped out of the car at my grandpa’s place in Upper Jay. It felt like the air was sitting on me. It was August of 2012- the sun was high, and the humidity was higher. I was experiencing for the first time a weather phenomenon known by the locals as “muggy,” and I hated it.
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced that hunter education courses will be resuming their in-person format on April 1. The DEC will also continue to offer online hunter education courses.
In-person courses will be free and are taught by volunteer Hunter Education Program instructors. You may take a class in hunting, bowhunting, trapping, and waterfowl education. Registration is required for both online and in-person courses, and the in-person courses require mandatory homework which must be completed prior to the course.
For more information, or to register for a HEP course, visit theHunter Education Program page on DEC’s website.
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:
The Spotted Lanternfly (SLF) is an invasive pest that had made its way over to the US From Asia which feeds on a variety of plants such as grapes, hops, and maple trees. The SLF has been discovered in multiple locations around NY but still hasn’t spread throughout most of the state. A potential pathway for the spread of SLF is its preferred host plant, called the Tree of Heaven, a tree found in many locations across NY.
New York iMapInvasives is seeking volunteers to look for SLF and TOH in your area, where you can help protect New York’s agriculture and forests by catalouging invasive species in the iMapInvasives database.
To learn more about the Spotted Lanternfly and Tree of Heaven, check out iMapInvasives website, and sign up for the “Identifying and Reporting Spotted Lanternfly and Tree of Heaven with NY iMapInvasives” webinar, available Tuesday, February 23rd from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Register online here.
Spend sometime this winter getting involved in the following learning opportunities provided by the NYS DEC. Do your part to help combat the ongoing threat of invasive species within the Adirondack Park.
Protecting Rare Species from Invasives (Finger Lakes PRISM) – Tuesday, January 12 from 11 a.m.-12 p.m. – Join the Finger Lakes PRISM for their Invasive Species: How to Know, Observe and Report Webinar Series. This presentation will feature Steve Young, Chief Biologist from the NY Natural Heritage Program. Please register in advance.
Northeast Aquatic Plant Management Society Annual Meeting (NEAPMS) – January 12, 13, and 14 – View agenda and registration information on NEAPMS’s website.
The Power of Native Plants (SLELO PRISM and Cornell Cooperative Extension of Saint Lawrence County) – Thursday, January 14 from 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. – Join us for a free online class about the power of native plants, alternatives to exotic and invasive ornamental plants, and invasive species to watch for. Participants will also learn about nature-based community science opportunities they can contribute to from home. Register for this session on Zoom.
The 2021 Decentralization (DEC) Grant application process is now open for eligible arts organizations and individual artists residing in Clinton, Essex, Franklin, and Hamilton Counties. Artists may submit up to three direct requests of up to $5000 in any combination of two categories: Community Arts and Arts Education projects.
The requirements for submission include reading the guidelines for whichever category you are applying in and attending a free informational seminar with a Grant Coordinator. Seminars will be held online via Zoom between now and January 15. The deadline for the online application process is January 31.
When we hear the term “Snow Birds,” we naturally think of a person who migrates from the colder northern parts of North America to warmer southern locales but birds here in the Adirondacks also claim this title and fittingly so.
As winter approaches the mountains, an entire orchestra of song birds migrates to a warmer, southern winter territory. The morning music of feathered chirpers throughout the spring and summer months have flown away not to return until April-May next year.
These flying migrators range from 29 species of warblers to various populations for thrushes, sparrows, flickers, bluebirds, buntings, sapsuckers, wrens and hummingbirds. This does not leave winter void of the sound of winged music, there are songbirds that remain and brave the cold.
Fort Ticonderoga was one out of 18 institutions to be awarded a grant of $88,227 by the National Endowment for the Humanities. The grant supports a two-week NEH Summer Institute for teachers come July 2021, titled: “For the Common Defense: Subjects, Citizens, and America’s Military Origins, 1609-1815.”
“This prestigious grant allows Fort Ticonderoga an unparalleled opportunity to play a vital part in educating and inspiring America’s youth through their teachers’ participation in this program,” said Beth L Hill, Fort Ticonderoga president and CEO. “Fort Ticonderoga is a national leader in teacher education and this program adds to our diverse offerings and increased reach.”
School officials within the Franklin-Essex-Hamilton BOCES region are warning families to prepare for sudden changes to fully remote learning due to new state COVID-19 guidelines, even when there’s no confirmed threat that the virus is spreading.
The main issue is a new rule giving 48 hours until a student or staff member is “presumed positive.” Last week, the New York State Department of Health issued updated guidelines about when students and staff can come to school, and when they have to stay home.
The Ticonderoga Historical Society will present “Fake News and Fisticuffs – Nothing New in American Politics,” a free public program to be held on Friday, Sept. 25 6 p.m. at the Hancock House, 6 Moses Circle, Ticonderoga.
This program — closing out a recent lecture series — will highlight the history of the fake news and violence that has been present throughout the ages in American politics, and how neither is unique to today’s political environment.
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Police Officers (ECOs) are offering youth ages 12 through 15 an opportunity to hunt waterfowl with an ECO this fall, with events scheduled in Jefferson and St. Lawrence counties.
St. Lawrence County hunt
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Environmental Conservation Police Officers (ECOs) of St. Lawrence County are partnering with the Massena Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) and the DEC Wildlife staff at the Wilson Hill Wildlife Management Area to offer youth between the ages of 12 and 15 the opportunity to hunt waterfowl and pheasant this coming fall. This opportunity consists of a three-day event beginning with an in-class lesson at the Massena Rod and Gun Club on Thursday, Sept. 10, which will prepare the youth to spend the next two Saturdays hunting.
Join the Adirondack Watershed Institute in celebrating Water Week throughout the Adirondacks Sunday, Aug. 23 through Friday, Aug. 28.
Freshwater is one of the Adirondack’s most precious resources, and Water Week is your opportunity to discover ways to be proactive in protecting our waterways. This year’s event will be focusing on the Legacy of Adirondack Waters, and will feature a weeklong speaker series, as well as an Aquatic Invasive Species Spread Prevention Certification Training Program.
Starting July 15, The Wild Center natural history museum in Tupper Lake will be back in business with a phased reopening.
Starting with the Wild Walk and outdoor experiences, the museum will be implementing a limited capacity along with enhanced operational procedures and cleaning protocols.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has announced their new DEC Automated Licensing System (DECALS).
DECALS is an overwork of the previous licensing system designed to incorporate more user-friendly information to help users locate vendors, receive instant copies of a license, and enter and view harvest information and more.
As the system progresses and new features are added and updated, DECALS will include events calendars with upcoming season dates including youth hunts, clinics, and free fishing days. Full integration with the DEC’s Hunter Education Program which would make it easier to register for courses and automatically update certifications, and auto-renewal options for all annual licenses.
Adirondack Semester: A life changing, different kind of ‘study abroad’
By Zach Lawrence
I came to the Adirondacks when I was 12. It was much different for me back then, back before I had put down roots. I didn’t even really want anything to do with this place when I was that young. I had it in my mind that the park was cursed. It seemed to me that those who spent too much time inside the blue line were never truly able to leave. My grandparents were from the AuSable Valley. They had all left for long periods of their lives, traveling around the states at the military’s command. But they all ended up right back where they started. My cousins followed the same path, as did both of my parents.
I grew up gallivanting around the Rocky Mountain states due to my father’s career in the Air Force. Montana to Wyoming to Colorado. All I had known growing up was wind and dust. Wind that would find its way under my skin and crack my hands. My knuckles split and bled and stung under the unceasing wind of the plains. Dust had a permanent place in my teeth and in my eyes. In the winter, the snow was no better. Dry as can be, I don’t think I ever was able to make a snowman. Champagne powder they called it farther west in the mountains, but where we were on the plains, it was nothing more than white dust.
So after only living the dry life at 7,500 ft, the Adirondacks were the exact opposite of what I was accustomed to. I remember my first thought when I stepped out of the car at my grandpa’s place in Upper Jay. It felt like the air was sitting on me. It was August of 2012- the sun was high, and the humidity was higher. I was experiencing for the first time a weather phenomenon known by the locals as “muggy,” and I hated it.
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