New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

Conesus Lake

Fake Turkey Shot From Road; Poaching Canada Geese; Illegal Fishing

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eco patchAn angler caught in the act filleting his illegal catch, and a large group ticketed for poaching more than a dozen striped bass are just some of the cases NYS Environmental Conservation Officers (ECOs) encountered in recent weeks.

The most surprising occurred on Sunday morning, May 10th, ECOs Brown, Dorrett, Heckler, and Hilton were using a robotic wild turkey decoy to catch people illegally road hunting in Williamstown, Oswego County, NY– it didn’t take long. [Read more…] about Fake Turkey Shot From Road; Poaching Canada Geese; Illegal Fishing

The Discovery of Rock Salt in New York: Some History

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Postcard showing evaporators and salt sheds using solar evaporation method around 1908 in Syracuse, NY.Before the creation of shaft salt mines, the production of salt in New York State required the evaporation of salt brine extracted from salt springs and wells – first by applying heat and later with large solar evaporators.

In the mid-19th century it had been thought by New York geologists that the Onondaga salt springs, known since the mid-1600s, must be supplied from the leaching of beds of rock-salt, and for a time efforts were made to find it in the immediate vicinity of Onondaga Lake. The various borings made on the State’s Onondaga Salt Springs Reservation [see map] in the 1820s and 1830s however showed conclusively that no rock salt was there. [Read more…] about The Discovery of Rock Salt in New York: Some History

EPA Researchers Develop Forecasting for Harmful Cyanobacterial Blooms

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a harmful cyanobacterial bloom (HAB) in a lake provided by EPAFreshwater cyanobacteria are found in all lakes and reservoirs, are naturally occurring, and are important to water ecosystems; however, excessive growth of some cyanobacteria can result in harmful cyanobacterial blooms (HCBs, also called cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms or HABs).

These blooms can cause unsightly scums that smell like rotting eggs or septic. Toxins from HCBs can negatively impact people, animals, and the environment. [Read more…] about EPA Researchers Develop Forecasting for Harmful Cyanobacterial Blooms

Early Inhabitants of the Finger Lakes Region

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Lamoka Site diorama at the New York State MuseumAccording to archeological records, groups of nomadic Paleo-Indians traveled through the Finger Lakes region approximately 8,000 to 9,000 years ago. Small bands of these hunters and gatherers followed large game during the last stages of the Ice Age when the glaciers that formed the area’s notable lakes were receding.

Somewhat more recent early archaic archeological sites scattered across Western New York reflect a culture that was highly mobile and left little in terms of an archeological record. [Read more…] about Early Inhabitants of the Finger Lakes Region

Geologic Formation of the Finger Lakes

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A late fall snowstorm frosted the hills of the Finger Lakes region of central New York in early December 2004Approximately 600 million years ago, during the Neoproterozoic Era, the Earth’s supercontinent began to break apart, and an ocean formed between land masses that roughly correlate to Europe and North America today. For the next 100 million years, this ocean continued to widen until the continents changed course and began to move back towards each other.

The eventual collision of these land masses formed a tall mountain range now known as North America’s Appalachians. [Read more…] about Geologic Formation of the Finger Lakes

National Park Service Declares Finger Lakes Eligble For National Heritage Designation

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National Park Service NPSOn Tuesday, July 18th, the National Park Service delivered the Finger Lakes National Heritage Area Feasibility Study to Congress. The feasibility study determined that the study area in the Finger Lakes region of New York state meets the criteria to be eligible for inclusion as part of the National Heritage Area System. [Read more…] about National Park Service Declares Finger Lakes Eligble For National Heritage Designation

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