ADIRONDACK NEWS

After more than three years as a specialist focused on aquatic invasive species in the Adirondacks, Brian Greene became the new leader of the Adirondack Park Invasive Plant Program (APIPP).

The aurora borealis colored skies across Upstate New York this Fall, including the Adirondacks. Some lucky photographers even caught sight of the Perseid meteor shower and the northern lights, all in one breathtaking night.

Following a recent incident that resulted in the euthanizing of a female bear and her two cubs, residents of Old Forge are looking for new ways to prevent it from happening again.

According to a NYS Department of Environmental Conservation spokesperson, the trio of bears had become frequent visitors at Nicks Lake Campground in Old Forge, where they had access to food from campers, both accidental and intentional.

Governor Kathy Hochul signed the “30 by 30” law establishing a conservation goal for New York State of protecting 30% of the State’s “lands and inland waters.”  The 30 by 30 report set out an ambitious goal for New York. Achieving this goal is crucial for mitigating climate change impacts and preserving our open spaces for future New Yorkers.

State clean water funding directed to Adirondack roads.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation is making money available to provide highway crews with equipment to help minimize the spreading of salt in winter for motorist safety.

LJ Mills, and others, have been evaluating the ADK forest for nearly 50 years. The Adirondack Environmental Long-Term Monitoring Program (ADK-LTM) began in the 1970s to study acid rain. Now, the information-rich project is collecting vitals on the northern forest as the Earth experiences record-breaking temperatures. It’s one of many years-long monitoring projects in the park. 

NYS passed an ambitious climate law nearly 5-years ago intended to reduce and counteract fossil fuel emissions contributing to climate change. Storing carbon dioxide, a gas released from burning fuel, is key to achieving the goals outlined in the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. Much of that can be accomplished through protecting carbon-absorbing forests across the state. 

The federal Environmental Protection Agency will no longer fund the Adirondack Park’s longest-running lake monitoring program, which for decades has tracked the region’s gradual recovery from acid rain in over 50 lakes. Adirondack water researchers and advocates have long relied on the monitoring program’s data to study acid rain and other emerging threats, such as climate change and oxygen loss.

Scientists planning a far-reaching survey of climate change want to take the temperature of Adirondack lakes — continuously and at different depths. See what Adirondack lakes can tell us about climate change.

Climate warming and lake browning – when dissolved organic matter from forests turns the water tea-brown – are making the bottom of most lakes in the Adirondacks unlivable for cold water species such as trout, salmon and whitefish during the summer.