The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has released an updated draft unit management plan (UMP) for the Camp Santanoni Historic Area, located on the NYS Forest Preserve in Newcomb, NY, in the heart of the Adirondack Park. [Read more…] about Camp Santanoni Management Comments Sought
Nature
20th Annual Seven Years’ War College Deadline
Fort Ticonderoga will host its Twentieth Annual War College of the Seven Years’ War May 15-17, 2015. This annual conference focuses on the French & Indian War in North America (1754-1763), bringing together a panel of distinguished historians from around the country and beyond.
The War College takes place in the Deborah Clarke Mars Education Center and is open to the public; pre-registration is required. The registration deadline for this seminar is this Friday May 8, 2015. [Read more…] about 20th Annual Seven Years’ War College Deadline
New York’s War on Animals (Conclusion)
After a “Black List” of animals was promulgated by New York State officials and an all-out war against these “vermin” was launched in the early 20th century, a competition grew among fish and game clubs across the state. Some clubs were founded for the specific purpose of complying with the state’s plea for help in eradicating unwanted animals.
Many clubs held contests, applying point systems to each animal on the list and awarding prizes to the winners. “Contest” was in some cases a misnomer: in many cases, it was a year-round process punctuated by periodic awards. [Read more…] about New York’s War on Animals (Conclusion)
A Century Ago: New York’s War on Animals
Beware! Pictured here are your adversaries – the official enemies of the state. Don’t be distracted by the pretty colors, lovely feathers, or furry critters. These are vermin, and citizens are urged to kill them at every opportunity.
The poster, by the way, represents only the top nine targets from a group of notorious killers, presented here alphabetically: bobcat, Cooper’s hawk, crow, English sparrow, goshawk, gray fox, great gray owl, great horned owl, house rat, “hunting” house cat, lynx, porcupine, red fox, red squirrel, sharp-shinned hawk, snowy owl, starling, weasel, and woodchuck. Kingfishers and a number of snakes were later added, and osprey were fair game as well. [Read more…] about A Century Ago: New York’s War on Animals
Greene Smith: Peterboro’s Avid Outdoorsman
The important contributions to the field of ornithology of citizen-scientist Greene Smith have been obscured by the Underground Railroad and abolition fame of Smith’s father Gerrit Smith. As important and well-known as are the Underground Railroad sites on the Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark in Peterboro NY, it is Greene’s Ornithon that most piques visitors’ curiosity about the builder and collector of that bird museum.
This public fascination prompted Norm Dann to turn the focus of his Smith research to Greene Smith and his Birdhouse. Dann’s study of family letters, military records, Greene’s personal Catalogue of Birds, the pursuit of Greene’s hunting apparatus, and the ownership and investigation of the Birdhouse site, have culminated in the March printing of Greene Smith and the WildLife: The Story of Peterboro’s Avid Outdoorsman – the first publication on this absorbing story. [Read more…] about Greene Smith: Peterboro’s Avid Outdoorsman
Roosevelt-Vanderbilt Site Seeks Garden Volunteers
The Roosevelt Vanderbilt National Historic Site seeks volunteer gardeners to assist with the restoration and maintenance of the landscape at the Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site (Val-Kill). Volunteers will work under the direction of the national parks’ horticulturist on projects throughout the landscape and gardens. The volunteer gardening program takes place on Wednesdays from 9 am – 12 pm. [Read more…] about Roosevelt-Vanderbilt Site Seeks Garden Volunteers
Birds in History: New York’s Snoring Eagles?
From a lifetime of experiences, and reading nature books since childhood, it’s true that I should know a little more about wildlife than the average Joe, but I lay no claim to being an expert. Learning something new is a principal reason for reading books, and of late, I’ve had occasion to indulge in several excellent Adirondack-related titles written between 1840 and 1920.
In one of them, a particular passage caused me to stop, backtrack, read it again, and then one more time in disbelief. Since other animal behavior described in the book held true, I supposed this one should as well, but I had reservations. Above all, one thing was certain: confirmation would be hilarious, at least to my thinking. The claim was that bald eagles snore. And not only that: they snore LOUDLY. Experienced guides and hunters claimed it to be true. [Read more…] about Birds in History: New York’s Snoring Eagles?
The Albany-Montréal Fur Trade, 1700-1754
The smuggling trade between Albany and Montréal presented a large problem for the imperial governments of Great Britain and France between 1700 and 1754.
In this episode of the “Ben Franklin’s World” podcast, Dr. Eugene Tesdahl, an Assistant Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, joins us to discuss the infamous Albany-Montréal Trade and the business of smuggling in colonial North America. You can listen to the podcast here: www.benfranklinsworld.com/021
A New History Of Trees, Woods and Forests
Forests – and the trees within them – have always been a central resource for the development of technology, culture, and the expansion of humans as a species.
Examining and challenging our historical and modern attitudes toward wooded environments from a European perspective, Charles Watkins’ Trees, Woods and Forest: A Social and Cultural History (Reaktion Books, 2014) explores how our understanding of forests has transformed in recent years and how it fits in our continuing anxiety about our impact on the natural world. [Read more…] about A New History Of Trees, Woods and Forests
The Diaries of Theodore Roosevelt 1877-1886
Book purchases made through this link support New York Almanack’s mission to report new publications relevant to New York State.
A Most Glorious Ride: The Diaries of Theodore Roosevelt 1877-1886 (SUNY Press, 2015) covers the formative years of TR’s life, and show the transformation of a sickly and solitary Harvard freshman into a confident and increasingly robust young adult. He writes about his grief over the premature death of his father, his courtship and marriage to his first wife, Alice Hathaway Lee, and later the death of Alice and his mother on the same day.
The diaries also chronicle his burgeoning political career in New York City and his election to the New York State Assembly. With his descriptions of balls, dinner parties, and nights at the opera, they offer a glimpse into life among the Gilded Age elite in Boston and New York. [Read more…] about The Diaries of Theodore Roosevelt 1877-1886