The only independent, nonprofit news organization solely dedicated to reporting on the Adirondack Park.
By Phil Brown
Andy Flynn, local writer and publisher, is organizing a rally at the Adirondack Park Agency to save the state Visitor Interpretive Centers at Paul Smiths and Newcomb. Flynn has served as the VICs spokesman until he left the job last year. Below is an e-mail from him: To all: I invite you to join us…
DEC decision leaves observers wondering if Forest Preserve routes could be opened to motor vehicles. By Adam Federman Old roads run like fault lines through the Adirondack Park. Sources of conflict since the early 1900s, they have been at the heart of several land-use battles over the last two decades. Indeed, Crane Pond Road in…
By Phil Brown
Our March/April issue, which should be mailed in a few weeks, includes a profile of Joe Martens, the president of the Open Space Institute. In the Adirondacks, Joe is best known as the guy who engineered the institute’s purchase of the ten-thousand-acre Tahawus Tract in 2003, but he also has been involved smaller projects in…
By Phil Brown
In a controversial decision, the state Department of Environmental Conservation is recommending the removal of old fire towers on St. Regis Mountain and Hurricane Mountain. Environmental groups have argued that the towers should be removed because they are in areas that are managed, by and large, as Wilderness. The guidelines for managing Wilderness Areas require…
By Phil Brown
Did you hear they found a dead mountain lion in Black Brook? It was hit by a car. The state Department of Environmental Conservation picked up the carcass and hauled it away the other day. There’s even a photograph to prove it. Naturally, DEC put out a news release denying the whole thing, but what…
By Phil Brown
Some of you may know that I also contribute to Adirondack Almanack, a compendium of blogs, news, and links created by John Warren, a writer and journalist with a strong interest in local history. If you like Outtakes, I think you’ll enjoy Adirondack Almanack as well. I post every Monday afternoon. Following are links to my…
By Phil Brown
State wildlife biologists experimented for years with different methods to keep bears from stealing campers’ food in the High Peaks Wilderness. Finally, the state decided to require all campers in the eastern High Peaks to store food in bear-resistant canisters. This not a problem unique to the Adirondacks. The latest issue of the Journal of…
By Phil Brown
Paul Smith’s College will host a meeting of elected officials and other interested parties next week to try to keep the state-run Visitor Interpretive Centers from closing. Governor David Paterson has proposed shutting the two VICs, located in Paul Smiths and Newcomb, to save money. They would close by next January. The college leases to…
By Phil Brown
In his proposed 2010-11 budget, Governor David Paterson has recommended a moratorium on land acquisition and closure of the Adirondack Park Agency’s two Visitor Interpretive Centers. “This is an all-out attack on the environment by the governor. This threatens to destroy the Environmental Protection Fund,” said John Sheehan, a spokesman for the Adirondack Council. The…
By Phil Brown
The Fund for Lake George is opposing boathouse regulations proposed by the Adirondack Park Agency, saying they will do nothing to benefit water quality of Lake George and might prove counterproductive. Among other things, the regulations would outlaw roofed docks, which are popular around Lake George. “Decks on roofed docks will be transferred to the…