History, Natural History & the Arts
The 6 ½-mile-long Rondout Reservoir was built in from the late 1930s to early 1950s, to collect clean Catskills drinking water as part of New York City‘s supply network.
Three towns, Eureka, Montela and Lackawack, were removed (including all the buildings, trees and vegetation and cemeteries) and the residents displaced for the building of the reservoir.
[Read more…] about Rondout Reservoir’s Lost Towns, Flooded For NYC Water
Out of an abundance of caution and to limit the community spread of COVID-19, DEC has postponed the examinations scheduled for April 3, 2020, to practice the sport of falconry, become a wildlife rehabilitator, or use leashed tracking dogs to find wounded or injured big game animals. The exams were originally scheduled to be administered at DEC regional offices statewide. [Read more…] about DEC Postpones April 3 Exams
As we navigate the uncertainty surrounding the spread of COVID-19, Lake Placid Land Conservancy (LPLC) has offered some suggestions on ways to enjoy the outdoors from inside your own home or yard.
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Forest Rangers respond to search and rescue incidents in the Adirondacks. Working with other state agencies, local emergency response organizations and volunteer search and rescue groups, Forest Rangers locate and extract lost, injured or distressed people.
What follows is a report, prepared by DEC, of recent missions carried out by Forest Rangers. [Read more…] about Recent Adirondack Forest Rangers Mission
The Adirondack Park Agency has announced a public comment period for Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan conformance on proposals from the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the Department of Transportation (DOT) to amend the 1996 Remsen-Lake Placid Travel Corridor Unit Management Plan.
The State is planning to tear up part of the historic Adirondack Railroad line between Tupper Lake and Lake Placid for a multi-use trail.
[Read more…] about Comments Sought On Plan To Tear-Up Historic Rail Line
During the current COVID-19 public health crisis, getting outdoors and connecting with nature is a way to help maintain our mental and physical health.
Scientific studies show that time outside in nature, especially among trees, significantly reduces stress and anxiety, lowers blood pressure, improves mood, energy, and sleep, and boosts the immune system. [Read more…] about New York’s Outdoors Are Open
Statewide interest in bicycling exploded in New York State when newspapers began to warn readers about an impending “fearful outbreak” of “velocipede mania.” According to the January 10, 1869 issue of the New York Times, the first sight of a velocipede created “wonder and amazement among all classes” which made them “anxious to mount the fiery steed.” [Read more…] about Old Time Bicycling: Velocipede Mania Sweeps NY
Minnewaska State Park Preserve has become a popular destination for hikers, bikers, and nature lovers. It is crisscrossed with acres of pristine views, carriage trails, and hiking trails. Many people visiting there do not realize that it once was the site of two spectacular mountain houses that sat perched on the cliffs overlooking Lake Minnewaska. They were named Wildmere and Cliff House. [Read more…] about Minnewaska State Park Preserve: Some History
Marty Podskoch’s newest book Adirondack Civilian Conservation Corps Camps: Its History, Memories and Legacy of the CCC, is a 352-page large-format book contains 185 interviews, over 50 charts and maps, and over 500 pictures and illustrations.
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) began on March 31, 1933 under President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal to relieve the poverty and unemployment of the Great Depression. Camps were set up in many New York towns, state parks, and forests. Workers built trails, roads, campsites and dams, stocked fish, built and maintained fire tower observer’s cabins and telephone lines, fought fires, and planted millions of trees. The CCC disbanded in 1942 due to the need for men in World War II. [Read more…] about Excellent Book On Adirondack CCC Camps
Da Capo Press has republished Genius of Place: The Life of Frederick Law Olmsted (Da Capo Press reprint, 2012) by Justin Martin, the author of biographies of Alan Greenspan and Ralph Nader.
Frederick Law Olmsted is arguably the most important historical figure that the average American knows the least about. Best remembered for his landscape architecture, Olmsted was also an influential journalist, early voice for the environment, and abolitionist credited with helping dissuade England from joining the South in the Civil War. [Read more…] about Frederick Law Olmsted: Abolitionist, Conservationist, Activist