Road salt lawsuit looms as residents fight contamination
By Michael Virtanen
New York spent about $214 million in the last snowplowing year, according to New York's Office of General Services.
Michael Virtanen
Michael Virtanen is a former Explorer staff reporter who also previously worked as a correspondent for the Associated Press and for daily newspapers in Albany, Utica and Amsterdam, N.Y.
All Stories by Michael Virtanen
Lake George group targets major cut in road salt
By Michael Virtanen
New York's Department of Transportation this winter plans to test better salt management practices for 17 miles of Route 9N north from Lake George Village and 16 miles of Route 86 from Lake Placid to Wilmington.
Paddling case in judge’s hands
By Michael Virtanen
A new ruling is expected by year’s end in the eight-year-old lawsuit that pits landowners against outside paddlers over rights to a two-mile waterway in the remote northwestern Adirondacks.
DEC puts 90-day hold on request for Tahawus line abandonment
By Michael Virtanen
New York officials said the Tahawus line has no active shippers and the owner has “no reasonable prospect for developing future freight service.” That permits a federal finding of abandonment under the test of “public convenience and necessity."
September algae blooms follow summer beach closures
By Michael Virtanen
Three state beaches in the Adirondacks had temporary closures this summer because of high coliform bacteria counts or algae blooms, according to environmental authorities.
An in-depth look at conservation easements
By Michael Virtanen
Most new land preservation in the 5.8-million-acre Park over the past twenty-five years has been done through state-purchased easements, now covering 781,000 acres, or about 13 percent of the Park. About 98 percent contain working forest, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
Timber managers say cutting promotes forest health
By Michael Virtanen
The two timber investment management organizations together currently control almost two-thirds of all 781,000 privately owned acres of Adirondack timberlands that are covered by state conservation easements. The agreements call for sustainable forestry, essentially cutting less timber than the tracts grow as measured over ten-year periods.
Environmental groups want more oversight of easements
By Michael Virtanen
Some environmentalists want more active state oversight of the 781,000 acres of privately owned timberlands in the Adirondacks that are governed by conservation easements with New York.
‘Explorer’ paddling rights case in judge’s hands after trial
By Michael Virtanen
A new ruling is expected by year’s end in the eight-year-old lawsuit that pits landowners against outside paddlers over rights to a two-mile waterway in the remote northwestern Adirondacks. State Supreme Court Justice Richard Aulisi, after hearing three weeks of trial testimony this summer, is tasked with deciding whether Mud Pond, its outlet and parts…
Beach on Lake Champlain reopens after algae dissipates
By Michael Virtanen
Lake Champlain’s Port Henry Beach in the eastern Adirondacks has reopened to swimming after it was closed for a week because of harmful algae blooms.