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Logging

Timber Stand Improvement: Helpful Enough, Or Too Helpful?

September 26, 2021 by Paul Hetzler Leave a Comment

Adirondack Mountains from the top of Whiteface Mountain courtesy Wikimedia R khot“If I knew for a certainty that a man was coming to my house with the conscious design of doing me good, I should run for my life.” David Henry Thoreau’s statement, funny in a way, also brings to mind the grave harm done to cultures around the world by Western powers in the guise of “helping” them.

In a less horrific sense it applies to how we’ve “assisted” nature to disastrous ends. Cane toads in Australia, mongoose in Hawaii, Kudzu in the Southeast, and Asian harlequin ladybeetles that invade our homes each fall are a few examples of being too helpful. [Read more…] about Timber Stand Improvement: Helpful Enough, Or Too Helpful?

Filed Under: Nature Tagged With: Forestry, Invasive Species, Logging, nature, trees, Wildlife

Preventing Oak Wilt: Painting Our Way Out of a Corner

August 10, 2021 by Paul Hetzler 1 Comment

Aerial photo of oak wilt damage near St Paul MNIt’s normal to tune out all the Chicken Littles (such as yours truly) who run around squawking about this or that invasive forest pest or disease that pose a threat to trees. I mean, how many times can the sky fall, anyway? But the real danger is when we feel so overwhelmed that we throw up our hands. Thinking we can’t make a difference could result in more harm to forests than the pests themselves. [Read more…] about Preventing Oak Wilt: Painting Our Way Out of a Corner

Filed Under: Nature Tagged With: Forestry, gardening, Invasive Species, Logging, nature, trees

Use Local Firewood: Avoid Spreading Invasives

May 15, 2021 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Many people take campfire wood from their backyards or neighborhoods as they head out to a favorite camping spot, not realizing the wood may be hiding the eggs, larvae, spores, adults, or even seeds of invasive threats. Hitching a ride on infested or infected firewood allows these pests to spread faster and farther than they could have on their own.

A variety of invasive species can be transported on firewood, from wood boring beetles and defoliators to fungi and diseases.

[Read more…] about Use Local Firewood: Avoid Spreading Invasives

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Nature, Recreation, Western NY Tagged With: camping, Forestry, Invasive Species, Logging, nature, Wildlife

Adirondack Park Permits: Could Johns Brook Valley Be Next? Some History

April 1, 2021 by John Warren 2 Comments

Johns Brook LodgeThe institution of a permit system at the Ausable Club’s Adirondack Mountain Reserve surprised and confused some hikers and would-be hikers. Many didn’t realize that third most popular High Peaks Wilderness Area access point, through the Club’s lands in the Upper Ausable Valley, was privately owned.

A similar situation holds at the Johns Brook Valley, another popular access point just northwest. That area is owned by the Adirondack Mountain Club (ADK), it faces similar parking challenges and is just as susceptible to a future permit system. [Read more…] about Adirondack Park Permits: Could Johns Brook Valley Be Next? Some History

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History, Nature, Recreation Tagged With: Adirondack Guides, Adirondack Mountain Club, Adirondack Mountain Reserve, Adirondack Park, Ausable River, camping, High Peaks, hiking, Johns Brook, Keene, Keene Valley, Logging, Mount Marcy

Dancing On Logs: Pulp Wood At Sackets Harbor

February 3, 2021 by Constance Barone Leave a Comment

pulp wood boat - Braun # 2Located at the eastern end of Lake Ontario, Sackets Harbor boasts a stellar history in the War of 1812, but this lake port holds a wealth of other fascinating stories.

After the War of 1812, Sackets Harbor nearly became a thriving lake port, but both the emerging railroads and canal systems quickly excluded the tiny village from ever becoming a Buffalo or Cleveland-size port. [Read more…] about Dancing On Logs: Pulp Wood At Sackets Harbor

Filed Under: History, Western NY Tagged With: Black River, Great Lakes, Labor History, Lake Ontario, Logging, Maritime History, Sackets Harbor, Transportation, Transportation History

Remembering The Big Blowdown of 1950

November 30, 2020 by John Warren 3 Comments

1995 Blowdown in the Adirondacks Courtesy Wildlife Conservation SocietyThe 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

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History Tagged With: Beaver River, Cold River, Environmental History, Fires, Forest Preserve, High Peaks, I-87, Logging, Political History, weather, wildfires

State Logging On Tug Hill Hopes To Improve Hunting

November 12, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Arial photo of patch cuts at Tug Hill WMA by Tim PyszczynskiIn 2015, DEC launched the Young Forest Initiative. The initiative uses small clear-cuts “to increase young forest habitat” for wildlife which trappers and hunters target.

One of the many properties on which DEC employs this management strategy is Tug Hill Wildlife Management Area (WMA), a 5,110-acre property located on the Tug Hill Plateau in the town of Montague, Lewis County. [Read more…] about State Logging On Tug Hill Hopes To Improve Hunting

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Nature, Recreation, Western NY Tagged With: DEC, hunting, Logging, nature, trapping, Tug Hill Plateau, Wildlife

Al Smith, John Apperson, FDR & The Fight That Expanded NYS Forests

November 5, 2020 by David Gibson 1 Comment

Paul Schaefer with John AppersonA young wildlands advocate Paul Schaefer was enamored of activist John Apperson from the day he first met him.

It was about 1931. Apperson was an General Electric engineer fighting to protect Lake George and other wild places. As Schaefer said, it was the pure sense of joy that Apperson exuded about conservation in the Adirondacks which galvanized young people looking for a cause.

These were very important years for the Adirondacks, as for the nation. The 1932 national election loomed, as the Great Depression sucked hope and savings from so many. One can imagine the anxiety that gripped the country and the opportunity for hucksters, demagogues, as well as statesmen. [Read more…] about Al Smith, John Apperson, FDR & The Fight That Expanded NYS Forests

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley, Nature, New Exhibits, Recreation, Western NY Tagged With: 1932 Election, Al Smith, Environmental History, Forest Preserve, Franklin D. Roosevelt, John Apperson, Lake George, Logging, Paul Schaefer, Political History

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

Adirondack Wildfire: The Destruction of Long Lake West

July 21, 2020 by Mike Prescott Leave a Comment

Damage-by-Laura-Von-Rosk-210x300Over the years I have put my canoe into Adirondack waters at the Lows Lake Lower Dam (Bog River Dam, 1907) and paddled the meandering Bog River Flow upstream to Hitchins Pond.  From there you can carry around the Lows Lake Dam (Upper Dam, 1903*) and out on to Lows Lake.

Occasionally a day paddle and a short hike around Hitchins Pond is in order. I often walk the old Maple Valley Railroad bed, part of the Horse Shoe Forestry Company established by Abbot Augustus “Gus” Low in 1900. If you know where to look, there are rail sidings where A. A. Low’s maple sugarhouses once stood. [Read more…] about Adirondack Wildfire: The Destruction of Long Lake West

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History, Nature Tagged With: Adirondack Park, Fires, Logging, Long Lake, Lows Lake, Maple Sugaring, railroads, Sabattis, wildfires

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