History, Natural History & the Arts
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is seeking angler feedback on changes to the state’s plan to manage trout in inland streams.
The proposed changes are designed to safeguard wild trout and expand fishing opportunities. The deadline for the public to comment on the draft plan is June 25, 2020. [Read more…] about Trout Stream Management Comments Sought
The Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism (ROOST) in Lake Placid has released a new Love Your ADK toolkit to help Adirondack businesses increase awareness of the importance of following the Leave No Trace principles when enjoying the outdoors. [Read more…] about Love Your ADK Awareness Project Launched
Some people have life birds, species of birds they’ve waited their whole lives to see in the wild. I don’t have one of these, but I do have a life mole. I’ve been waiting to catch a glimpse of Condylura cristata, the star-nosed mole, ever since I learned about this animal during a small mammals course in graduate school.
Can you imagine a palm-sized mole whose pink, star-shaped nose contains 22 fleshy tentacle-like appendages, living right underfoot? [Read more…] about Star-Nosed Mole: A Nose That Knows
NYS Environmental Conservation Officer Kevin Wamsley reported that on May 14th, he received a call about a group of squirrels in distress in the hamlet of Verbank, in the town of Union Vale in Dutchess County. [Read more…] about Squirrels Rescued From A Sticky Situation
Radiation from the Big Bang
Dear Gramps,
we never knew who
pulled the trigger. [Read more…] about Poetry: Radiation from the Big Bang
Boat counters on the Northway for the Memorial Day weekend say that 89% of the trailered motorboats traveling north into the Adirondacks on Interstate 87 passed the inspection/decontamination station without stopping, according to the Adirondack Council, which organized the transportation survey. [Read more…] about Survey: 90% of Boats Bypass Northway Inspection Station
Whether it was via truck, barge or air, DEC’s Fish Hatchery staff have officially completed this spring’s fish stocking.
DEC stocked over 4.6 million trout and salmon and 50 million walleye statewide. Of those, over 50,000 got a lift in a helicopter and were stocked in 71 remote ponds, lakes, and rivers in the Adirondacks. Hundreds of thousands of lake trout and brown trout made their way into Lake Ontario via a barge carrying a DEC stocking truck. [Read more…] about 2020 Spring Stocking Season Completed
While out fishing with his dad, Joe, on May 6th, Morgan Fonzi reeled in a new state record white bass from the Lower Niagara River. Weighing in at 3 lbs. 8 oz, it surpassed the previous state record set in 1992 by 2 ounces. [Read more…] about State Record White Bass Caught in Niagara River
Once, when I was little, I was so thrilled to come across a gorgeous, dark-red trillium that I picked it and placed it in a vase in the house. I was disappointed when it quickly wilted.
Not only that, but it smelled bad. Such is the dual nature of this spring wildflower: stunningly beautiful, with a scent that appeals to carrion flies. [Read more…] about Trillium: A Beauty of the Spring Woods
As the buds on hardwood trees and shrubs open and New York State’s forests again are cloaked in green, they provide our many herbivores with a welcome change in their diet.
While many plant eaters are able to subsist on woody buds and cellulose laden layers of inner bark throughout winter, leafy matter provides far greater levels of nourishment. The porcupine, a common denizen of the forest, is among our first order consumers of greens when they emerge in spring. [Read more…] about Porcupines And Their Need For Salt