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The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is revising its list of Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN), which includes species that are at risk in New York. The list is now in it’s final draft form and DEC is seeking comments. » Continue Reading.
Posts Tagged ‘Endangered Species’
DEC Seeks Input on Threatened Species
The Economic Potential of Rewilding the Adirondacks
Tourism is a key business in the Adirondacks. About 12.4 % of local employment is tourism related, but only $2 out of every hundred spent on tourism in New York State ends up in the Adirondacks.
It’s often argued that Adirondack towns and villages, particularly those outside the High Peaks, Lake George and Old Forge areas, present a challenging environment in which to make a living.
Some folks say we should attract manufacturing, others see building more resorts or recreation facilities as the answer, but what about tapping into one of our most important natural resources: wildlife? » Continue Reading.
Spruce Grouse: Help For A Rare Bird
Once abundant in the Adirondacks, the spruce grouse has struggled for much of the past century, but now scientists are trying to bolster the dwindling population by importing birds from out of state.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation released three spruce grouse last year and thirty this year, according to Angelena Ross, a biologist with the department.
The three birds released last year were adult females from Ontario. Only one survived the winter, and it was killed by a hawk in the spring.
In August, DEC released twelve adults and eighteen juveniles captured in Maine at three sites in the Adirondacks— two on private land, one in the Forest Preserve— near Tupper Lake and Paul Smiths. » Continue Reading.
Marsha Stanley: Give Monarchs Threatened Status
Over the past 18 months, I have had the incredible opportunity of having Monarch butterfly experts Chip Taylor and Lincoln Brower as guests in my home here in the Adirondacks. We had hours to converse with each and ask questions to our heart’s content. We found both brilliant, charismatic experts in their field. Each came to lecture at The Wild Center, the Natural History Museum of the Adirondacks, under the sponsorship of a small non-profit I helped found, AdkAction.org.
Of course, I am no scientist and no expert on this subject. But I find myself having to make a choice of whether to side with Lincoln or Chip on Lincoln’s recent quest to have Monarchs added to the threatened species list, which offers all its potential protections. » Continue Reading.
Endangered Species Act Protection Sought For Monarchs
Scientists, wildlife conservationists, and food safety advocates have petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service seeking Endangered Species Act protection for monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus).
“Monarchs are in a deadly free fall and the threats they face are now so large in scale that Endangered Species Act protection is needed sooner rather than later, while there is still time to reverse the severe decline in the heart of their range,” Dr. Lincoln Brower, a monarch butterfly researcher and conservationist, and one of those seeking the Endangered Species designation. The Center for Biological Diversity and Center for Food Safety are serving as co-lead petitioners, joined by Brower the Xerces Society. » Continue Reading.
Extinction: Passenger Pigeons In The Adirondacks
Over the course of the past several years I have frequently paddled in the Raquette River -Tupper Lake area. A few weeks ago I paddled from the boat launch known as “The Crusher”, past the several camps where there was once a set of rapids, past the “Oxbow”; through “the Cut” into Simon Pond, and on to the New York State boat launch at Moody’s along Route 30. The day was sunny, and warm, with a slight breeze, and my fellow paddlers were great companions. It had been all-in-all a very and enjoyable paddle. But the present day description of the route is not what one would have experienced back in the 1850s.
In 1854, Samuel H. Hammond, a prominent attorney, newspaper writer and editor, State Senator and sportsman, wrote in Hills, Lakes, and Forest Streams: or A Tramp in the Chateaugay Woods (1854) about a sporting trip with his guide to Tupper’s Lake from Upper Saranac Lake. Hammond described a river that was considerably different, thanks to logging, blasting, damming, and flooding, than what we see today. One change Hammond would never have dreamed possible. » Continue Reading.
Timber Rattlesnakes in Folklore and Fact
This month the Northeast Wilderness Trust, Outdoor Guide Elizabeth Lee and Champlain Area Trails continue sponsoring a series of natural history programs about Adirondack wildlife at the Whallonsburgh Grange in Essex, NY.
The series will continue on Friday April 25 at 7:00 p.m. with a presentation entitled Timber Rattlesnakes in Folklore and Fact by Joe Racette. Racette will speak specifically about the Split Rock Wild Forest population of timber rattlesnakes, including recent scientific studies and historical information about the decades when several New York counties offered a bounty for the snakes. In addition Racette will explain the legal protection now covering timber rattlesnakes. There is a suggested donation of $8. » Continue Reading.
Wolf Delisting Commentary:
Adirondack Wildlife Refuge’s Steve Hall
The recent proposal to remove Endangered Species Act protections for the gray wolf (Canis lupus) is almost entirely about politics. The American alligator and the bald eagle, to use two examples, were not delisted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service until they had repopulated their former ranges, while wolves have repopulated only a fraction of their former ranges, and are already under heavy hunting pressure by the state governments of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.
How many Americans are aware of the fact that in 1915, the US Congress, acting, as usual, under pressure from special interests, in that case, the ranching and hunting lobbies, provided funds to the Interior Department, to eliminate wolves, mountain lions and other predators from the United States? The Interior Department set up their “Animal Damage Control Unit”, and spent millions of taxpayer dollars to shoot, trap and poison wolves over several decades, with the only survivors being in the Boundary Waters area of Northern Minnesota, one of the most inaccessible regions of the U.S., not to mention a paradise for kayakers, canoeists and fisherman. » Continue Reading.
Northeast Coalition Opposes Wolf Delisting:
New Comment Period Ends Thursday
The Northeast Wolf Coalition, a group of national, regional and local conservation organizations, has submitted a statement to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) in opposition to its 2013 proposal to remove Endangered Species Act protections for the gray wolf (Canis lupus) in the contiguous United States.
In a statement isued to the press the Coalition says it took action in response to FWS’ reopening of the comment period as a result of a peer review report by an independent panel of scientists produced by the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) at UC Santa Barbara. According to the report, FWS’ move to strip federal protection from nearly all gray wolves in the lower 48 states is based on insufficient science. » Continue Reading.
PROTECT Launches New Cougar Watch Project
Protect the Adirondacks has launched a new project Cougar Watch to record public sightings of cougars (Puma concolor) in and around the Adirondack Park. There are regular reports of cougar sightings throughout the Adirondacks, but there has not been a publicly available repository to record these sightings. PROTECT will work to organize and map these reports and provide regular updates.
The purpose of the Cougar Watch project is two-fold. First, there continue to be regular reports of cougars across the Adirondacks. Jerry Jenkin’s Adirondack Atlas features a map of cougar sightings on page 51. PROTECT will manage a database about all reports made available to us. We will investigate sightings that include information, such as pictures, pictures of tracks, scat samples, etc. Second, if there is a cluster of reports in a specific geographic area, PROTECT will work with cougar experts to try and assess the presence of cougars. » Continue Reading.
Comments Sought On Delisting Gray Wolves
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has proposed to remove the Gray Wolf (Canis lupus) from the list of threatened and endangered species.
The agency claims that the Gray Wolf’s population has been “restored” to its historic range and no longer needs federal protection despite their continued absence from the Northeast and the Adirondacks, along with parts of the Pacific Northwest and other areas of the Mountain West, which are parts of the wolf’s historic range. The Endangered Species Act says that the Gray Wolf must be protected throughout its historic range. » Continue Reading.
Endangered Species Backlog At Lowest Level Since 1970s
For the first time since the 1970s, the number of plants and animals on the waiting list for Endangered Species Act protection has dropped below 150. The progress the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service made last year addressing the backlog comes on the heels of a landmark agreement reached with the Center for Biological Diversity in 2011 requiring the Service to speed protection decisions for 757 species.
The 2013 “candidate notice of review” released by the agency November 24, includes 146 species now awaiting protection: 94 animals and 52 plants. In fiscal year 2013, 81 species were awarded final protection under the Endangered Species Act. » Continue Reading.
Adirondack Wildlife: Wood Turtles
Since as far back as I can remember, the sight of a group of turtles basking on a log has made me pause to enjoy their prehistoric appearance. Most summer days during my early childhood were spent wading in neighborhood ponds to stalk painted turtles and spotted turtles with a long-handled net, while avoiding the larger snapping turtles that were lurking beneath the surface. Stumbling upon an eastern box turtle or a musk turtle, something that has happened far too infrequently, was often the natural history highlight of my year.
This summer, I had what may be my best turtle day ever when I stopped my car to help a turtle cross the road. It turned out to be a rare wood turtle, the first I had ever seen, and an animal that is unmistakable for its striking appearance. » Continue Reading.
Local Bat Proposed for Endangered Species Protection
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed Endangered Species Act protection today for the northern long-eared bat, which has been devastated by the disease known as white-nose syndrome. The agency declined protection for the eastern small-footed bat.
Colonies of the northern long-eared bat affected by white-nose syndrome have in many cases experienced 100 percent mortality. Protection for the bat is the result of a landmark agreement with the Center for Biological Diversity that requires the agency to make protection decisions for 757 species. Before today’s decision, Indiana bats were the only bat in the Adirondacks on the Federal Endangered Species List (listed in March 1967).
Bicknell’s Thrush Endangered Species Protection Stepped-Up
The Center for Biological Diversity reached a settlement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service late Monday giving the agency four years to consider whether to protect the Bicknell’s thrush under the Endangered Species Act.
The thrush nests only high in the mountains of the U.S. Northeast and eastern Canada, including Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York. Scientists have predicted that 98 percent or more of the songbird’s U.S. habitat could be lost to climate change. » Continue Reading.
Latest News Headlines
- Can art encourage stewardship of North Country waters?
- Opinion: Climate Doomism Disregards the Science
- Indian Lake's challenge to raise and release butterflies
- Fall color unfolding across the Adirondacks
- Fall paddle on the Oswegatchie
- Exploring a quiet side of the park
- Bionique testing lab proposes to triple in size
- The Beekeepers Who Don’t Want You to Buy More Bees
- PHOTOS: The 50th annual Adirondack Balloon Festival
- Stefanik demands plan to keep Amtrak Adirondack Line operational
Latest News Headlines
- Can art encourage stewardship of North Country waters?
- Opinion: Climate Doomism Disregards the Science
- Indian Lake's challenge to raise and release butterflies
- Fall color unfolding across the Adirondacks
- Fall paddle on the Oswegatchie
- Exploring a quiet side of the park
- Bionique testing lab proposes to triple in size
- The Beekeepers Who Don’t Want You to Buy More Bees
- PHOTOS: The 50th annual Adirondack Balloon Festival
- Stefanik demands plan to keep Amtrak Adirondack Line operational
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The Adirondack Almanack is a public forum dedicated to promoting and discussing current events, history, arts, nature and outdoor recreation and other topics of interest to the Adirondacks and its communities
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