History, Natural History & the Arts
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 Rangers Respond: Lost Child, Illegal Fires, Injured Lake George Hiker
Open burning of debris is the largest single cause of spring wildfires in New York State. When temperatures are warmer and the past fall’s debris and leaves dry out, wildfires can start and spread easily and be further fueled by winds and a lack of green vegetation. [Read more…] about Residential Brush Burning Prohibited Through May 14th
On March 15th, NYS State Department of Conservation Forest Rangers in Region 3 assisted the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) with a prescribed burn at the Shawangunk Grasslands National Wildlife Refuge.
The Refuge is located in Ulster County, NY, at the site of the former Galeville Military Airport. The airport was decommissioned in 1994 and turned over to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service in 1999.
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 Rangers Respond: Brush Fire, Buck Mt, High Tor, Hudson Highlands & More
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 Rangers Respond To Brush Fire, Hiker Rescues On Marcy, Hunter Mt
The annual statewide ban prohibiting residential brush burning will begin March 16th, and run through May 14th. With spring approaching, DEC is reminding residents that conditions for wildfires are heightened in springtime when most wildfires occur. [Read more…] about Residential Brush Burning Now Prohibited in NYS
Today the crossing of Middle Line Road and Geyser Road in Saratoga County contains a few houses and a small parking lot to access the Kayaderosseras Creek. But in the mid-1800s, it was the site of a thriving hamlet of several hundred inhabitants called Milton Center.
Locally renowned Revolutionary War Lt. Colonel James Gordon became an early entrepreneur after the war. He built one of Milton’s earliest gristmills on the creek by 1800 as well as other small mills to the south in the Town of Ballston. [Read more…] about A Tannery Fire Transformed Kaydeross Valley Communities
The Adirondacks are prone to powerful windstorms, isolated tornadoes, and occasional hurricanes, derechos, and microbursts. Perhaps the second most destructive of these in modern Adirondack history (next to the 1998 Ice Storm) occurred in November, 1950. [Read more…] about Remembering The Big Blowdown of 1950
On November 3rd, DEC welcomed back the State’s fourth team of volunteer wildland firefighters from the Divisions of Forest Protection, Lands and Forests, and Fish and Wildlife that were deployed to help battle and contain wildfires raging in western states. [Read more…] about DEC Wildland Firefighters Return From Colorado
I’m told there is a Zen Buddhist saying that goes “Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.” The idea, I think, is to be mindful of the ordinary tasks which constitute one’s daily life, regardless of our spiritual state.
Unfortunately, many of us who heat with wood are not enlightened as to how much extra wood we carry because we’re needlessly boiling water inside our woodstoves all winter. In fact, if your firewood is not adequately dry, it could cost you $200 to $600 annually just to send steam up the chimney. [Read more…] about Science of Burning Fresh Firewood vs Dry