The Adirondack Park is known for its Forever Wild Forest Preserve, but a good majority of conservation efforts are done by private landowners themselves.
At 10 a.m. on Tuesday, March 2nd, three landowners who have put in the effort to conserve their land will talk about their motivations, the methods they used and the challenges that they face in doing so. They will also discuss some of the benefits of private conservation.
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 New York State Department of Environmental Conservation DEC Announced that they, along with Cornell University’s NYS Hemlock Initiative, The Adirondack Invasive Plant Program, Lake George Land Conservancy, and The Fund for Lake George, are developing a plan to mitigate the spread of the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid HWA on Forest Preserve Lands in the towns of Dresden and Fort Ann, in Washington County. The DEC confirmed the HWA infestation August of 2020, in infected hemlock trees at the Glen Island Campground on the shore of Lake George. This marks the second infestation of HWA in the Adirondacks.
The DEC will bring back enforcement of its ban on single use plastic carryout bags, starting Oct. 19. The plastic bag ban went into effect on March 1 and was not enforced due to an agreement between the parties in a lawsuit brought by Poly-Pak Industries Inc., et al, in New York State Supreme Court.
DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos had the following to say regarding enforcement the ban:
“The Court’s decision is a victory and a vindication of New York State’s efforts to end the scourge of single-use plastic bags and a direct rebuke to the plastic bag manufacturers who tried to stop the law and DEC’s regulations to implement it. As we have for many months, DEC is encouraging New Yorkers to make the switch to reusable bags whenever and wherever they shop and to use common-sense precautions to keep reusable bags clean. The Court has ruled, and DEC will begin to enforce the ban on October 19th. It’s time to BYOBagNY.”
Summer is the time for outdoor barbeques, picnics and parties, and while you are having fun the DEC wants to remind us to reduce, reuse, and recycle our waste correctly this summer.
They’ve released a variety of tips and suggestions in their weekly newsletter to this end. To reduce waste, opt for reusable plates, cups, cutlery and napkins as opposed to the typical solo cups and paper pates for your next outdoor feast. You can learn to make your own drinks as well as opposed to using pre-mixed beverages that come in bulky plastic containers.
I am a good boy when it comes to plastics, mainly.
I do own reusable totes, many of which were given to me as swag at the 2011 national auto show for some reason. Nor do I ask for a straw if the garçon does not bring me one. Sometimes I may even thank his establishment for not passing out straws, unless I am in a particularly crabby mood, which, come to think of it, I usually am. » Continue Reading.
As membership of the Adirondack Park Agency board dwindles toward zero, I would like to toss my hat into the ring for consideration.
In the words of Sam Cooke, I don’t know much biology, don’t know much about a science book, don’t know much about the French I took. But come on, all this talk about “qualifications” has gotten a bit out of hand, don’t you think? » Continue Reading.
Some local government leaders in the Adirondack Park complain that Governor Cuomo’s 2019 picks for seats on the Adirondack Park Agency remain unconfirmed by the State Senate. They feel that these individuals have been unfairly blocked by environmentalists putting pressure on State Senators.
They can be forgiven for forgetting that this is not the first time that a Democratic Governor’s choices for the Adirondack Park Agency have been rejected by a Democratic State Senate. » Continue Reading.
The State Senate gaveled-out its historic 2019 Legislative Session on June 21st without acting on any of the four people that Governor Cuomo had nominated for the Board of the Adirondack Park Agency (APA). These were among dozens of nominees to various state boards that were left unconfirmed, but the message from the State Senate was clear: changes were needed in many of the individuals and slates of nominees submitted by the Governor. » Continue Reading.
Advocates for the Adirondack Park say they are disappointed at the close of the 2019 legislative session, because the Governor failed to nominate a diverse slate of six or seven nominees for the Adirondack Park Agency board that environmental and other advocates could support, and that the Senate would approve.
The APA board has no chairman. Of the eight citizen members of the APA board, nominations are needed to fill seven: three vacant seats, three expired terms and one seat whose term expires Sunday. » Continue Reading.
Have you ever wondered what happens to the many pieces of plastic we contact in our daily lives? I wrote here recently on recycling, and the negative impact on others that littering can have. The best solution to wondering where plastics end up is to control their fate — by recycling and not littering. Trash left lying anywhere in the Adirondacks reflects negatively on the region and lessens the experience of both locals and visitors alike. » Continue Reading.
All those who applauded Berkshire Hathaway’s recent decision to remove its derelict oil tank cars from a junkyard along the Boreas River should also applaud NYS Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, whose unheralded Dec. 12 letter to CEO Warren Buffett helped to persuade the company to act.
It turns out that New York has a large stake in Berkshire Hathaway. New York’s Common Retirement Fund (CRF) owns 5.7 million shares of Berkshire Hathaway stock. DiNapoli administers the CRF. » Continue Reading.
Last week, Adirondack Council members called on Gov. Andrew Cuomo to build on his Adirondack successes by providing funding in his 2018-19 budget plan to help the Adirondack Park survive acid rain and climate change, sustain its healthy environment and build its tourism and outdoor recreation industries by welcoming a more diverse group of visitors and residents.
The Governor’s Adirondack successes are threatened by climate change and acid rain, aging wastewater treatment systems, overuse in some areas of the Forest Preserve and by invasive species. Dedicated funds will be needed to address these concerns in 2018. We wanted to reinforce these needs before the Governor completes his budget plan.
The Governor is due to present his annual State of the State message on January 3. His budget will be released later in the month. » Continue Reading.
We live in an age when a considerable duplication of services could be eliminated by merging the Congressional Record with the National Sex Offender Registry. So squalid behavior in Washington is no longer a surprise, with the hands of the politicians groping their way into all sorts of unwanted places, from middle-class wallets to the web to western public lands.
Now that I have lived through half of one, a century doesn’t seem like that long of a timeframe, so forgive me when I say it’s “only” been a hundred years or so that the last great conservative occupied the White House. Also, forgive me for being tone-deaf to political nuance, but to my mind if you want to call yourself a conservative, you actually have to want to conserve something. » Continue Reading.
In a recent newsletter from Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, she mentioned visiting the facilities of the Adirondack Lakes Survey Corporation to discuss strategies for measuring and combating acid rain in the Adirondacks. Although acid rain remains an important topic of study and discussion, the once commonplace phrase has become somewhat obscure in recent years and the problems associated with acid rain have taken a back seat to other, more widely discussed environment-impacting issues.
Like global warming, acid rain results from burning fossil fuels, either to generate electricity at large power plants or to run vehicles and heavy equipment. As the resulting ‘acid gasses’ are released into the air, they combine with water vapor, producing sulfuric and nitric acids, which fall to earth in acidified rain, snow, sleet, fog, mist, or hail. » Continue Reading.
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