The only independent, nonprofit news organization solely dedicated to reporting on the Adirondack Park.
By Phil Brown
You may have read about the cougar that was killed when struck by a car in Milford, Connecticut, in June. There was a lot of speculation about where it came from. Was it a wild cougar? Was it an escaped or released pet? The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection announced today that a…
By Phil Brown Several years ago, the Defenders of Wildlife abandoned a campaign to reintroduce gray wolves to the Adirondacks after a study suggested that the region’s original canid was the red wolf, not the gray. Now a new study of canid genetics—billed as the most thorough of its kind—suggests that…
Scientists see wild corridors as essential for the long-term health of wildlife and plants. By Erika Schielke Once extirpated from the region, moose began trickling back to the Adirondacks in the 1980s and now number around eight hundred. It’s thought that they migrated here from Vermont or Ontario. “They did come in from somewhere. Where…
Scientists find few signs of hope as white-nose syndrome continues to ravage hibernating species in the Adirondacks, the rest of the state, and much of the East. By Winnie Yu In the five years since scientists first diagnosed white-nose syndrome, the population of bats in the Adirondack Park has plunged so dramatically that their very…
By Phil Brown
C. Bernard McCartan is not someone you likely have heard of. The son of a Pennsylvania coal miner, McCartan made his living as a technical writer for DuPont and, with his wife Mary, raised ten children. McCartan loved the outdoors, including the Adirondacks, and instilled his passion in his kids. Recently, one of his sons,…
By Phil Brown
It’s official: the eastern cougar is extinct. And what about all those sightings of cougars in the Adirondacks and elsewhere over the years? If they were cougars, they were probably released or escaped pets. That’s the word from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which issued a report today calling for the removal of the…
The guy who brought eagles back to the Adirondacks reflects on his career as a state bioligist. By Paul Grondahl PETE NYE is best known as the guy who brought the bald eagle back to New York State. The majestic raptor had stopped producing eaglets because the eggs were collapsing during incubation due to a…
Contrary to hunters’ complaints, the whitetail population is on the rise, state biologist says. By George Earl Dan Ladd wrote the book on Adirondack deer hunting (or one of them, anyway), and he runs a website called ADKHunter that receives comments from hundreds of hunters. The consensus among Ladd, his hunting pals, and his correspondents…
By Phil Brown
White-nose syndrome, the disease decimating bat populations in the Northeast and beyond, is believed to have spread to all known bat caves in New York, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation. The fungal disease has reduced the populations of some bat species in the state by 90 percent since it was first documented…
By Phil Brown
The number of moose in New York State has risen to about eight hundred, an increase of three hundred from just three years ago, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation. About a decade ago, there were just fifty to a hundred moose in the state. “The return of the moose has been one…