The only independent, nonprofit news organization solely dedicated to reporting on the Adirondack Park.
By Phil Brown
I’ve never met an unhappy dog in the woods. And one of the happiest in these parts is Ella, the canine companion of Susan Bibeau, the Explorer’s designer. We’re showing you Ella’s photo to goad you into sending us photos of your favorite mutt in the Adirondacks. This is the idea of Tracy Ormsbee, our…
Retired Forest Ranger Steve Ovitt aims to connect North Creek with the wild lands around the community. By BILL MCKIBBEN To really understand this story, you have to bear in mind two distinctive things about North Creek. One, it butts up against the mountains much tighter than most Adirondack communities. Start on the path that…
By Mike Lynch
Guideboat makers carry on a craft born in the Adirondacks in the mid-1800s. By MIKE LYNCH Building a traditional Adirondack guideboat is a complex task, with ribs carved from spruce-tree roots and with thin hull planks held in place with several thousand tiny tacks. It can take many weeks to complete one. “I grew up working with…
This January morning in Wanakena couldn’t be more different from the day two years ago when a violent turn of nature broke the historic heart of a community. Today, a bracing wind moves over the dry, cold snow that covers the homes, walkways, and riverbed of this former mill town. The Oswegatchie River flashes in…
By Mike Lynch
Climate change is expected to bring heavy rains, more floods, and more damage to communities. By Mike Lynch A few years ago, Paul Smith’s College scientist Curt Stager came across a rare find that he says helps tell the story of climate change in the Adirondacks: the journal of Bob Simon, a retired engineer and…
Despite agency’s vote, train supporters say the long battle over the state-owned rail corridor is not over. By Phil Brown The Adirondack Park Agency voted 9-1 in February to approve a controversial proposal to split a state-owned rail corridor into a rail segment and a trail segment, but the debate over the best use of the corridor is…
By Mike Lynch
Warmer climate bodes ill for Adirondack businesses that rely on winter tourism. By Mike Lynch The most profitable months for the tourism-based businesses in the Adirondacks are without question July and August. This is when families take their summer vacations, the weather is warm, and the bugs are tolerable. But while summer is crucial for small businesses,…
Iowa Pacific’s plan to store empty tanker cars on tracks near the High Peaks alarms environmentalists and sets state lawyers to scrambling. By Phil Brown The Iowa-Pacific rail company took state officials and environmental activists by surprise in July when it unveiled a plan to store hundreds of drained oil-tanker cars on its tracks near…
Developers say Tupper Lake project remains on course, but big things won’t happen overnight. By Brian Mann Last winter, the massive Adirondack Club and Resort proposed for Tupper Lake cleared its final major hurdle. After more than a decade of debate and controversy, environmental activists and a handful of local property owners who fought to block the project were dealt a sweeping defeat…
Publisher Tom Woodman interviews Rev. Philip Allen, pastor of St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church in Indian Lake The Reverend Philip Allen is pastor of St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church in Indian Lake as well as St. Paul’s in Blue Mountain Lake and St. Joseph’s in Olmstedville. He grew up on the family dairy farm in Peru, New…