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On the heels of the 10-year anniversary of Hurricane Irene, comes commemoration of another calamity: It’s been almost two years since the Halloween Storm of 2019 dumped a frightening amount of rain in the Southeastern Adirondacks, an event that probably received less attention than was due because it centered on a less populated part of the park.
The storm washed out the road to the much-ballyhooed Boreas Ponds, scarcely six weeks after it had opened. One small victim of the storm was a bridge leading to Hammond Pond, a sparkling blue sheet in the Eastern Adirondacks. It took two years, but the state has finally replaced it with a beefy piece of infrastructure that is part bridge, part work of art (see photo above).
It may seem like overkill for such a small stream, but as the climate changes, that’s what it’s going to take to withstand the beating that trails, roads and bridges are likely to absorb from rising rivers and streams. Notably, the Restore Mother Nature Bond Act on the ballot next year would spend no less than $1 billion to brace against the impact of flooding. Many have fretted over the costs of lowering carbon emissions. But failing to lower carbon emissions is likely to cost us far more.
— Tim Rowland, Explorer contributor
Following Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s State of the State presentations, last week we learned about his 2022 proposed budget. Cuomo was largely asking the federal government to give the state more money, citing the coronavirus pandemic. New York is currently almost $15 billion in the hole.
Last week was a whirlwind of Gov. Andrew Cuomo press conferences. He gave not one, but four State of the State addresses.
In case you missed it, 
The Adirondack Council expressed disappointment 
From the July/August 2020 issue of Adirondack Explorer, editors asked the question: “Is now the right time for New York to move forward with the Restore Mother Nature Bond Act?”
New York State’s latest conservation and environment funding proposal was wisely named. Each of those five words – Restore, Mother, Nature, Bond, and Act – can stand for good; but especially now, some months after Governor Cuomo proposed this fund, and confronting a global pandemic, these words are exactly what we need.
ADK applauds New York State legislature for supporting the Restore Mother Nature Bond Act, a $3 billion bond act proposed by Governor Cuomo, which will support habitat restoration, clean energy, and climate resiliency projects throughout the state. “If passed by voters, this bond act will secure New York as the nation’s leader in building tomorrow’s green economy and strengthening our resiliency against climate change,” said Executive Director Michael Barrett in a news release.
As Adirondack Explorer’s policy reporter Gwen Craig reported this week, the Restore Mother Nature Bond Act passed its first hurdle with the passing of New York’s budget, but obstacles remain: 
The Adirondack Council thanked Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Legislative leaders April 1 for much-needed environmental capital projects that were slated to be approved in the NYS Budget agreement.
General inquiries about the Adirondack Almanack should be directed to editor
Bond Act deep dive
November is around the corner. That means voters will be deciding on an unprecedented level of state debt–$4.2 billion–to fund water-quality projects, climate change mitigation, open space protection and more.
As I was teasing a couple of newsletters back, we dug into records from 26 years ago to see what New Yorkers got for their borrowing the last time around. It was remarkable to compare the detailed responses I got from some state agencies to how little I got from others. Some even said they’d purged records from that far back. You can read about the record hunt here.
» Continue Reading.