DackMap Update Includes Online Parking Capacity, Virtual Trailhead Check-ins for High Peaks Region
ADK and DackMap are excited to announce an updated version of the cellphone application that includes real-time information for hikers visiting the High Peaks Wilderness. After announcing a partnership back in March, ADK and DackMap have worked together to improve the app so that it reaches Adirondack Park visitors well in advance of their arrival. The update includes:
Recent NYS DEC Forest Ranger actions:
Towns of Keene and North Hudson
Essex County
Technical Rope Technician Training: From June 6 to 11, 17 Forest Rangers from across the state attended a 40-hour technical rope technician training. Led by instructor-level Forest Rangers, the training is the Division of Forest Protection’s highest level of technical rope training. Forest Rangers conduct dozens of technical rescues a year. This training provides Rangers with the skills required to safely lead these rescue operations. Technicians also serve as instructors to other Rangers statewide. Forest Rangers are accredited members of the Mountain Rescue Association.
DEC has been receiving reports of dead and quickly-dying eastern larch/tamarack trees (Larix laricina) in the Adirondack region. Upon inspection, the trees have been found to be infested with the eastern larch beetle (Dendroctonus simplex LeConte) an insect native to NY that very rarely attacks healthy trees in the northeast.
DEC is seeking additional reports of dead or dying eastern larch trees in the Adirondacks so that we can better determine if this is a local infestation or a larger outbreak. If you have seen any in this region, please report it by sending photos and location information to DEC at [email protected], or by calling your local DEC office and speaking with a forester. You can find tamarack photos and identification tips on the Wild Adirondacks website.
Photo by Melissa Hart from the Paul Smith’s College VIC
Town of Indian Lake
Hamilton County
Wildland Fire: On May 14 at 11:52 a.m., DEC’s Ray Brook Dispatch was contacted by Hamilton County 911 requesting Forest Ranger assistance for a wildfire off of Starbuck Road in the town of Indian Lake. Forest Rangers Lomnitzer, Temple, Miller, and Scott responded to assist. Over the course of several hours, Forest Rangers worked with the responding volunteer fire departments to suppress and control the fire. After approximately seven acres burned, the fire was placed in patrol status later in the evening. The fire was patrolled and monitored for several days before being declared out. The cause of the fire was traced back to an illegal debris burn by a nearby homeowner. The individual was issued several tickets for illegal burning and related charges.
The following are the most recent notices pertaining to public lands in the Adirondacks. Please check the Adirondack Backcountry Information webpages for comprehensive and up-to-date information on seasonal road statuses, rock climbing closures, specific trail conditions, and other pertinent information.
Speculator Tree Farm: Elm Lake Road, Long Level Road and the second half of Fly Creek Road are open.
Perkins Clearing Tract: Perkins Clearing, Jessup River Road are open. Old Military Road is not open yet.
Essex Chain Wilderness: All roads are now open.
West Canada Lakes Wilderness: Cedar River Flow Road is open to the Wakely Dam
The following are the most recent notices pertaining to public lands in the Adirondacks. Please check the Adirondack Backcountry Information webpages for comprehensive and up-to-date information on seasonal road statuses, rock climbing closures, specific trail conditions, and other pertinent information.
McKenzie Mountain Wilderness: Moose Pond Road is now open.
Vanderwhacker Mountain Wild Forest: Moose Pond Club Road is temporarily closed for repairs. No parking is allowed by the gate, as administrative access for repairs will need to remain open. Visitors can park across the Boreas River Bridge on old Rt 28N, and access the road on foot from there.
This is the second article in a series examining the final report of the High Peaks Strategic Planning Group (HPAG) that outlines a plan to build a new and improved management program for the High Peaks Wilderness Complex. This article focuses on recommendations and ideas in the “Impacts to Wilderness and Ecology” section of the HPAG report. It’s important to note that the recommendations discussed below are predicated on the state embarking on a “secondary planning process” that HPAG recommends be organized by some kind of formal, longstanding “Adirondack Advisory Group” (AAG) that is named by the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). This advisory group is central to the HPAG report. Without it, the plan dissolves.
HPAG envisions that the AAG membership includes a much broader Adirondack-wide representation than that of the HPAG. This diverse, multi-stakeholder group is supposed to carry forward the report’s recommendations in coordination with state agencies but at the same time remain independent so that it can hold state agencies accountable. HPAG wants this group staffed and funded. That’s a pretty tall order in Cuomoworld.
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 Adirondack Land Trust has purchased 17 acres of land on the Thirteenth Lake’s 4.5-mile shoreline, marking the conservation of the last unprotected shoreline on Thirteenth Lake. The Lake is a headwater of Upper Hudson River and the largest body of water within the Siamese Ponds Wilderness.
New York State Forest Preserve borders the land on one side, while the Garnet Hill Property Owners Association borders the other. The latter is taking advantage of restrictive use covenants to ensure its lake shore property is protected.
The Adirondack Land Trust will be working along side the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to integrate the Thirteenth Lake land into the 114,010-acre Siamese Ponds Wilderness, allowing for it to become public, and thereby protected under the Forever Wild clause of the NYS constitution.
Are candy wrappers recyclable?
Halloween is filled with fun treats and snacks which come wrapped in all sorts of packing, but unfortunately, recycling candy wrappers is often not possible, and they should be disposed of in the trash. Candy wrappers are made of what is known as “multi material packaging.” Which means that the packaging is made up of several types of materials. Most candy has a shiny metal on the inside as compared to the outside, which helps protect and keep treats fresh. However its this packaging which makes it very difficult to recycle due to our inability of separating the materials from each other.
The DEC reported record-breaking sales of hunting and trapping licenses for upcoming seasons, nearly tripling prior years’ sales on opening day for big game hunting and trapping licenses, as well as Deer Management Permits. More then double were sold on the second day, and close to double on the following first two weeks.
The DEC has reopened in-person Hunter Education Courses, including Bowhunter Education, and Trapper Education courses, granted they will be following strict social distancing guidelines along with other precautions to limit the spread of COVID-19. The DEC turned the Hunter Ed program into an online certification course once Covid-19 began, which resulted in a dramatic 105-percent increase in participants completing the course compared to their traditional in-person courses offered the previous year.
Both Bowhunting and Hunter education courses are available at the DEC’s website by clicking this link. Or, if you would like to find more information on a traditional field-based course, you can visit the DEC’s website by clicking this link.
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The last patrol
The May/June Adirondack Explorer now landing in subscribers’ mailboxes contains two profiles of forest rangers, Julie Harjung and Scott van Laer, by reporter Gwendolyn Craig. Both of these rangers have worked the woods for 25 years and are now retiring. Gwen visited van Laer as he wrapped up is work, and shot the short video that you can view here.
These stories honor the work these public servants have done to keep us and every Adirondack visitor safe and educated. Gwen revisits their careers, including the lives they saved, the rescues that sadly turned to recoveries, the work that van Laer did in advocating for the ranger corps, and the paramedic experience that Harjung put to work in training colleagues and others to become wilderness first responders.
» Continue Reading.