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Forestry

An Unnatural History of the Raquette River

August 27, 2020 by Mike Prescott 2 Comments

Seneca-Ray-Stoddard-photo-“the-Cut”-with-Simond-Pond-and-Mt.-Morris-1888-540x409 The Raquette River flows from its source at Blue Mountain Lake in the Adirondacks, to the St. Lawrence River at Akewesasne.

East of Tupper Lake and just north of Simon Pond is a place called “The Cut.”

“The Cut” was channel dug to “straighten the river” so that logs could be floated (driven) straight into Simon Pond, thus avoiding a shallow and meandering section of the Raquette River known as Moody’s Flow. [Read more…] about An Unnatural History of the Raquette River

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History, Nature Tagged With: Adirondack Dams, Environmental History, Forestry, Logging, paddling, Political History, Raquette River, Tupper Lake

Invasive Emerald Ash Borer Found in Adirondack Park

August 9, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced that emerald ash borer (EAB) has been confirmed in Warren County.

While not unexpected given the EAB’s spread, this marks the first confirmed case of EAB within the Adirondack Park. The affected trees were identified by Department of Transportation personnel at the Warren County Canoe Launch on the Schroon River in the town of Chester. A sample has been sent to Cornell University Insect Diagnostic Lab for further review. [Read more…] about Invasive Emerald Ash Borer Found in Adirondack Park

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, Nature Tagged With: Adirondack Park, emerald ash borer, Forestry, Invasive Species, nature, Schroon River, trees, Warren County, Wildlife

Northern Tree Migrations: Nature on the Move

August 6, 2020 by Paul Hetzler Leave a Comment

Sugar Maple courtesy Wikimedia user Bruce MarlinTo a highly mobile species like humans, the fact that other animals relocate their families – or entire populations – isn’t a big surprise. We know historical migrations have been the norm, though the fossil record shows that generally these changes happened at a snail’s pace.

The “Great American Interchange” in which northern animals spread southward and South American critters expanded north during the Pliocene Epoch, took a million years. Give or take a few, I assume. [Read more…] about Northern Tree Migrations: Nature on the Move

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley, Nature, New York City, Western NY Tagged With: Climate Change, Environmental History, Forestry, Maple Sugaring, Maple Trees, nature, trees, Wildlife

The Northeastern Pine Sawyer Beetle

July 11, 2020 by Tom Kalinowski Leave a Comment

Northeastern Pine Sawyer Beetle courtesy University of Wisconsin-La CrosseFrom the afternoon into the early evening in mid to late summer, a silence often develops as the heat of the day peaks and then starts to cool; as birds cease to sing and amphibians lose their urge to call.

In the stillness between periods when leaves rustle from light summer breezes, the sound of a grinding or twisting-scraping can be heard coming from a fallen softwood log or a dead standing evergreen. [Read more…] about The Northeastern Pine Sawyer Beetle

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley, Nature, Western NY Tagged With: Forestry, insects, nature, Wildlife

William Fox Helped Create Modern NYS Forest Rangers

March 26, 2020 by John Warren Leave a Comment

Modern Gang Saw in Tupper LakeWilliam F. Fox was born in 1840 in Ballston Spa, Saratoga County, and graduated from Union College in Schenectady in 1860. He served in the Civil War as Captain, Major and then Lieutenant Colonel in the 107th New York Volunteers and later wrote a number of books on both the Civil War and forestry.

Fox’s 1902 History of the Lumber Industry in the State of New York, written under the auspicious of Gifford Pinchot, is considered among the first authoritative works on the logging industry in New York. [Read more…] about William Fox Helped Create Modern NYS Forest Rangers

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Nature Tagged With: Adirondacks, DEC, Fire Towers, Fires, Forest Rangers, Forestry, Logging, wildfires, Wildlife, William Fox

NYS Tree Nursery Renamed For William Fox

June 19, 2019 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Tree Planting on Streets and Roads by William FoxThe New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced they have renamed the State Tree Nursery in Saratoga Springs the “Colonel William F. Fox Memorial Saratoga Tree Nursery.” [Read more…] about NYS Tree Nursery Renamed For William Fox

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History Tagged With: Adirondacks, DEC, Forestry, nature, Saratoga, Saratoga County, William Fox

William F. Fox, Father of NY Forest Rangers

June 22, 2009 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Tupper Lake Gang SawIn 2009 the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) held a ceremony to honor William F. Fox, the “father” of the state’s modern-day forest rangers, on the 100th anniversary of his death.

Fox was born in 1840 in Ballston Spa, Saratoga County, and graduated from Union College in Schenectady in 1860. He served in the Civil War as Captain, Major and then Lieutenant Colonel in the 107th New York Volunteers and later wrote a number of books on both the Civil War and forestry.

Fox’s 1902 History of the Lumber Industry in the State of New York, written under the auspicious of Gifford Pinchot, is considered the first authoritative work on the logging industry in New York. [Read more…] about William F. Fox, Father of NY Forest Rangers

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Adirondacks, Catskills, Department of Environmental Conservation, Fires, Forestry, Labor History, Saratoga County, Schenectady County, William Fox

Teddy Roosevelt and The Adirondack Forest Preserve

September 3, 2008 by Editorial Staff 2 Comments

logging in the adirondacksIn the heart of the Adirondacks is the Town of Newcomb, population about 500. The town was developed as a lumbering and mining community – today tourism and forest and wood products are the dominate way locals make a living. As a result the Essex County town is one of the Adirondacks’ poorer communities.

The folks in Newcomb (and also in North Creek in Warren County) often promote their communities’ connection to Theodore Roosevelt’s ascendancy to the presidency. TR’s nighttime trip from a camp in Newcomb to the rail station at North Creek as William McKinley lay dying from a bullet delivered by Leon Czolgosz‘s .32 caliber Iver-Johnson handgun is usually considered Roosevelt’s great tie to the Adirondack region. [Read more…] about Teddy Roosevelt and The Adirondack Forest Preserve

Filed Under: History, Adirondacks & NNY Tagged With: Adirondacks, Environmental History, Essex County, Forestry, Logging, Natural History, Newcomb, North Creek, Theodore Roosevelt, Warren County

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