North Creek rail equipment and tankers leaving
The North Creek railway has been removing the equipment for its tourist trains and the remaining tankers stored on the tracks farther north
Environment
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Court rejects challenges to snowmobile routes
A midlevel state court has rejected challenges by environmentalists to the Adirondack Park Agency’s 2016 decision to allow a new snowmobile trail in the Essex Chain Lakes region. Protect the Adirondacks and Adirondack Wild: Friends of the Forest Preserve sued in State Supreme Court in Albany contending that the management plan violates the Adirondack Park…
Professor cites salt accumulating in Adirondack waters
By Michael Virtanen LAKE GEORGE _ Public works trucks now dump almost 193,000 tons of salt on highways and local roads annually in the Adirondacks, which eventually join runoff into the region’s waterways, according to the Paul Smith’s College professor who’s researching it. Daniel Kelting, also executive director of the Adirondack Watershed Institute, said the…
Tahawus mining reclamation permit approved
By Michael Virtanen State environmental officials have approved a mining reclamation permit for a Tupper Lake company to resume crushing and removing stone from the former titanium mine near the headwaters of the Hudson River in Newcomb. The Department of Environmental Conservation approved the permit for Mitchell Stone Products on May 3, DEC environmental analyst…
Still Waters: The Secret World of Lakes
By Mike Lynch
A choice passage in Curt Stager’s new book Still Waters: The Secret World of Lakes puts the author and a group of his Paul Smith’s College students in a remote spot near Lake Baikal, deep in the wilds of Siberia. With his charges nearby but otherwise occupied, Stager wanders off alone and blunders into some…
Big Tupper project moves forward
By James Odato
After spending millions on litigation and permitting, the developers began road construction last fall after securing final permits. The regulatory process with the Adirondack Park Agency and defense of a lawsuit and appeals by Protect the Adirondacks and the Sierra Club contributed costs that reached $10 million, said Foxman. Concerns by the environmental groups resulted in the developers cutting fifty-three sites on steep slopes from the plan.
Battle against invasive species continues in Adirondack waters
Last year marked the first time in ten years that the number of lakes in the Adirondack Park where aquatic invasive species were found did not increase.
Tahawus Freight Train Analysis
By Michael Virtanen An economic analysis recently filed by the new owner of the long idled Tahawus titanium mine in Newcomb says shipping crushed stone from the tailings by rail isn’t feasible at current market prices. That analysis further calls into question the future of the 30-mile rail line from North Creek to Tahawus, whose…
DEC announces land trust grants for the Adirondacks
ALBANY _ New York has approved $2.3 million in conservation grants for 51 nonprofit land trusts statewide including several in the Adirondacks. The Department of Environmental Conservation announced the awards Tuesday at a Land Trust Alliance conference in Albany. DEC Executive Deputy Commissioner Ken Lynch said the grants come through New York’s Environmental Protection Fund,…
Parking area location is hot topic at Boreas Ponds meeting
By Phil Brown
Even before New York State bought the Boreas Ponds Tract in 2016, people started arguing about how close to the ponds the public should be allowed to drive. That question was still on people’s minds at a public meeting in Newcomb this April.