The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced more than 1,200 acres were permanently protected by five community-based partners through a State program to protect water quality. [Read more…] about State Protects 1,200 Acres to Protect Water Quality
Owasco Lake
Birthplace of Sound Film Re-Opening for Public Tours
While attending Yale University, Theodore (Ted) Case explored his love of science through the transmission of light and the reproduction of sound, developing a method of photographing sound waves which he referred to as a “lightograph.”
Upon his return to Auburn, NY, Case would establish laboratories in the basements of the family homes on Genesee Street and Casowasco on the shores of Owasco Lake. When his father inherited the Willard Mansion, the two restructured one of the greenhouses on the property into a working laboratory: The Case Research Laboratory. [Read more…] about Birthplace of Sound Film Re-Opening for Public Tours
$42 million to Protect Water Quality in the Eastern Finger Lakes Region
Governor Kathy Hochul has announced $42 million to protect and enhance water quality in the eastern Finger Lakes region. This investment is expected to develop on-the-ground actions necessary to address the root causes of harmful algal blooms (HABs) and reduce their prevalence while supporting projects that help prevent runoff into lakes and improve climate resiliency. [Read more…] about $42 million to Protect Water Quality in the Eastern Finger Lakes Region
EPA Researchers Develop Forecasting for Harmful Cyanobacterial Blooms
Freshwater 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
Bath Fish Hatchery: Home to Wild Finger Lakes Strain Trout
Established in 1893, New York State’s Bath Fish Hatchery in Steuben County and is one of the state’s oldest hatcheries and the only hatchery raising wild Finger Lakes strain rainbow trout. [Read more…] about Bath Fish Hatchery: Home to Wild Finger Lakes Strain Trout
Early Inhabitants of the Finger Lakes Region
According 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
Approximately 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
On 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
Owasco Watershed Scientific Symposium Set For March 19th
The Owasco Watershed Lake Association (OWLA) will host their annual Bob Bower Scientific Symposium: A Scientific Symposium in “Plain English” on Saturday, March 19th. [Read more…] about Owasco Watershed Scientific Symposium Set For March 19th
Owasco Lake Watershed Land Acquired for Protection
DEC and The Nature Conservancy have announced the acquisition of 161 acres in the town of Sempronius in the Owasco Lake watershed. The acquisition of the Ward property will help protect public water supplies and safeguard riparian buffers and wetlands. [Read more…] about Owasco Lake Watershed Land Acquired for Protection
200 Acres At Owasco Lake Will Expand Fillmore Glen State Park
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) have announced the acquisition of a parcel in the Owasco Lake watershed that is expected to help protect public water supplies and safeguard riparian buffers and wetlands.
The acquisition of the Hirst Tract in the town of Locke, Cayuga County, is the first of several parcels TNC plans to purchase that target the protection of source waters with funding from New York State’s Water Quality Improvement Program. [Read more…] about 200 Acres At Owasco Lake Will Expand Fillmore Glen State Park