History, Natural History & the Arts
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Environmental Conservation Police Officers (ECOs) enforce the 71 Chapters of NY Environmental Conservation Law (ECL), protecting fish and wildlife and preserving environmental quality across New York.
What follows is a report, prepared by DEC, of recent missions carried out by Environmental Conservation Police Officers in New York State. [Read more…] about Environmental Conservation Police Reports
Sometimes it pays to be an insomniac. One frigid winter night, I climbed out of my restless bed and slipped outside to stand under a sky littered with stars and take in the complete silence of darkness. Suddenly, a ruckus broke out along the edge of the pond near my home. A series of high-pitched yips echoed from the shore. A wild yapping answered from closer to my own yard. [Read more…] about Fox Calls: Yips, Shrieks, and Yaps
Over the next few weeks, the Lake Champlain Sea Grant team will be hosting “Zoom a Scientist,” an interactive webinar series focused on watershed and aquatic science.
Every Tuesday and Friday from noon until 1 pm scientists will lead viewers through the Lake Champlain watershed and share their research. [Read more…] about Lake Champlain Sea Grant Hosting ‘Zoom A Scientist’
There are numerous physical and mental benefits of exploring and connecting with nature. Often though, we are so eager to get on the trail and reach a destination, that we miss the details along the path – and the details can often make the journey more meaningful.
One way to help slow your pace and deepen your connection with nature is to start a journal. Nature journaling requires you to take pause, observe the wildlife, plants, or scenery around you, and record what you see through a combination of notes and sketches. [Read more…] about Conservation Minute: The Art of Nature Journaling
Around the middle of March, I begin to feel that springtime urge to hit the road, to lace up the winter-neglected running shoes and start slogging through some miles.
My early-season jogs take me past a wetland area that stubbornly spans both sides of a road near my home. It’s a usual – and very welcome – happening to spot red-winged blackbirds here, even while snow lingers around the cattails and brushy willows. [Read more…] about Red-Winged Blackbird Epaulets Play Important Role
State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced a call for citizen science volunteers to help in the development of a comprehensive, statewide survey that takes place every two decades to detail New York’s breeding bird distribution.
Starting in 2020, five years of field surveys will be conducted by volunteers and project partners to provide the data that will be analyzed to create the third New York State Breeding Bird Atlas. [Read more…] about Birdwatchers Sought for 2020 Breeding Bird Atlas
Trout and salmon fishing season opens in New York State on Wednesday, April 1st.
New York’s coldwater lakes and streams offer springtime trout anglers the opportunity to pursue trout in a wide array of settings across the state. [Read more…] about Trout and Salmon Fishing Season Opens April 1
This is such a disorienting time, when all our lives have been turned upside down and shaken. One of the ways my own family is coping is by spending time outside every day.
We stage nature treasure hunts in the woods behind our house. [Read more…] about A Treasure Hunt for Early Spring
As we navigate the uncertainty surrounding the spread of COVID-19, Lake Placid Land Conservancy (LPLC) has offered some suggestions on ways to enjoy the outdoors from inside your own home or yard.
William 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