History, Natural History & the Arts
Counters along the Adirondack Rail Trail recorded 211,000 passes during its first year of full operation according to reports provided to New York Almanack by the Adirondack Rail Trail Association.
The 34-mile universally accessible multi-use trial connects Lake Placid, Saranac Lake and Tupper Lake for non-motorized recreation and seasonal snowmobiling. [Read more…] about Usage Highlights New Adirondack Rail Trail’s Popularity
Federal authorities arrested 2,197 people across New York last month during what they have derisively named “Operation Rotten Apple,” the highest monthly immigration arrest total since the Trump administration’s round-ups began in New York State. [Read more…] about With ‘Operation Rotten Apple’ Upstate Police Round-Ups Surge
A new Adirondack Rail Trail App has been launched, a free mobile resource designed to enhance the visitor experience and encourage exploration of the region’s communities, businesses, and attractions.
Developed by the Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism (ROOST) in partnership with local technology company UpNCoding, the app features interactive maps, trip-planning tools, and important trail information. [Read more…] about New Adirondack Rail Trail App Launched
Ready or not, the 2026 elections have arrived. Villages across New York State will elect local leaders on March 18th. In the Adirondack Village of Saranac Lake, the election is hinging in part on plans by New York’s Adirondack Park Agency to relocate it’s headquarters.
Nearly four years ago, Park Agency staff approached Saranac Lake’s newly-elected mayor, Jimmy Williams, with a request to explore leasing and refurbishing a village-owned office building and erecting an accompanying structure on the same property for a new agency headquarters. [Read more…] about Adirondack Park Agency Relocation Comes Down to the Wire
Like a slow-moving homecoming parade, the process begun three years ago to relocate the Adirondack Park Agency’s headquarters from Ray Brook four miles west to the Village of Saranac Lake is approaching a critical juncture.
The agency’s final destination will depend largely on choices made in New York’s FY 2026 budget, due April first. [Read more…] about When the Parade Passes By: A Saranac Lake & APA Commentary
The Adirondack Park Agency’s monthly public comment opportunities and long list of permits issued during the year are duly posted on the APA website.
This posting of basic Agency information is positive. However, behind the apparent conduct of business as usual are important questions facing the Agency and its state executive and legislative oversight in 2025, among them: [Read more…] about Dave Gibson: 10 Questions Challenging Business as Usual at APA
The latest episode of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) podcast DEC Does What? gives listeners an inside look at the work of the DEC communications operators who each year receive more than 100,000 emergency and non-emergency calls for public assistance involving Forest Rangers, Environmental Conservation Police Officers (ECOs), and Spills Response experts. [Read more…] about Who You Gonna Call? Behind DEC’s Ray Brook Dispatch Office
Construction is complete on the first phase of the Adirondack Rail Trail, a 34-mile, multi-use recreational corridor for outdoor adventurers between Tupper Lake, Saranac Lake and Lake Placid.
The first of three construction phases converted a 9.9-mile stretch of former New York Central Railroad rail bed between Lake Placid and Saranac Lake into a shared-use path. Once completed the trail will be open all year, free of charge, for hikers, bikers, cross-country skiers and snowmobilers. [Read more…] about First 10 Miles of Adirondack Rail Trail Completed
In the spring and summer of 2022, with a grant from New York State Council on the Arts and the support of the creative aging experts at Lifetime Arts Inc, Adirondack Center for Writing (ACW) created a writing workshop program at Adirondack Correctional Facility, a state prison located in Ray Brook, Essex County, NY, populated mostly by older adults. [Read more…] about Adirondack Correctional Facility Writing Anthology Published
The Adirondacks in Northern New York covers approximately 5,000 square miles. Widely known for its natural beauty, recreation opportunities and tourism, it may surprise many of those travelers to learn that the Adirondacks’ trails and amenities are intrinsically connected to New York’s carceral history. [Read more…] about Prison In the Woods: Environment & Incarceration in Northern NY
The Adirondack Park Agency will hold its monthly meeting at its headquarters in Ray Brook on Thursday, September 10th and Friday, September 11th, 2020. Thursday’s meeting will begin at 1 pm and Friday’s session will commence at 9:30 am.
In accordance with New York State’s ongoing efforts to mitigate the Coronavirus, the public should use the live Webcast event to watch the meeting. To watch the meeting, visit the APA website and click the September meeting agenda found under News and Activities. [Read more…] about Hinckley Reservoir, Fish Creek Campground on APA Agenda
The protection and planning for the Adirondack Park’s six million acres, one-fifth of the state, rests in large measure on the motivation and independence of the Adirondack Park Agency’s staff and board members in Ray Brook (APA).
Seven members were just nominated by Governor Andrew Cuomo and subsequently confirmed to sit at the APA’s table by the NY State Senate.
How should we think about them? How should we think about them in light of Governor Cuomo’s challenge to re-imagine and improve public policies and practices – to “build back better?” [Read more…] about Newly Appointed Adirondack Park Leadership Remains Lopsided
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