Aside from humans, perhaps no other species can modify its surroundings for its own purposes as much as beaver.
Throughout much of North America, these busy critters take down trees and dam streams to create waterways safe from predators and to lay up enough woody food stores to last the winter.
This exuberant activity is why beavers are known as “ecosystem engineers,” or species that profoundly change their environment in out-sized proportion to their numbers. [Read more…] about How Beavers Modify Forests: New Understandings
The new boat launch site on Otisco Lake is complete and open to the public. Prior to the launch’s completion, Otisco was the only Finger Lake without a public boat launch.
DEC’s Division of Water has asked people who recreate on or near waterways in Central New York to participate in the Citizen Recreational Evaluation of Environmental Quality (CREEQ) citizen-science initiative.
The New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) and Preservation League of New York State have announced that applications are now available to eligible municipalities and nonprofit organizations to compete for 2020 Technical Assistance Grants (TAG). 
The new documentary by WXXI Public Media and the Finger Lakes Tourism Alliance, Journeys Through the Finger Lakes, celebrates a region deeply rooted in history, agriculture, social change, and sustainability. 
I first became acquainted with my neighborhood red-bellied woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus) when it visited my bird feeders last winter. Sporting a black-and-white-striped back with a red nape, this medium-sized woodpecker certainly made a visual impression.
The Finger Lakes Museum (FLM) has announced their Annual Paddle Keuka 5K is going to be held virtually this year.
The 2020 Peterboro Emancipation Day planned for August 1st, 2020 has been rescheduled for Saturday, August 7th, 2021 at the Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark.
The term psithurism (sith-er-ism) doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, but it’s not meant to. The word, from the Greek psithuros (whispering), indicates the melody that rolls off pine needles in a gentle wind. It also means the sound of “proper” leaves shaking in the treetops.
A half-century of controversy over two popular bird species may have finally come to an end. In one corner: the Bullock’s Oriole, found in the western half of North America. In the other corner: the Baltimore Oriole, breeding in the eastern half.