Alongside the photographs accompanying John Thaxton’s otherwise unobjectionable article about crossbills in the January/February edition of Adirondack Explorer, I found this appalling claim: “Crossbills have bills that are designed to pry apart spruce cone scales to get at the seeds inside.” Now even some biologists will occasionally make the mistake of referring to evolutionary outcomes as intentional, so I don’t want to assume that the writer of this caption actually believes that the birds’ bills are “designed,” or that the writer meant to sneak in an attack on evolution, but the correct statement would have been that the bills “evolved” >>More
Process left ideas off the table
Category: Editorials
The long-awaited Boreas Ponds land classification decision by the Adirondack Park Agency in early February is worth celebrating. The classification will split the 20,543-acre tract into 11,412 acres of Wilderness, 9,118 acres of Wild Forest, which allows some motorized access, and a small Primitive Area. Another aspect that deserves notice: the vast public participation in the process, but especially the young faces in the crowds at public meetings. They made themselves visible in their green T-shirts calling for Wilderness. They were passionate and enthusiastic, and we were heartened to see them pack meetings in 2016 to share their views and >>More
In defense of ‘managing’ coyotes
Category: Letters
I would like to dispute some information in Larry Master’s article about coyotes in the January/February issue of Adirondack Explorer. Coyotes do, indeed, need to be “managed” like any other wild game and/or furbearers. The current seasons for coyotes in most of New York State are from October 1 to March 25 for hunting and from October 25 to February 15 for trapping. These seasons, set by the Department of Environmental Conservation, protect the coyote during the time of birth and whelping of their young. There are always food sources for coyotes, including young grouse, turkeys, and fawns, as well >>More
Limit drone usage
Category: Letters
People go to the woods for all sorts of reasons. Still, I think it’s a reasonable expectation that your reason to visit not unduly impact my or anyone else’s reason to visit. Tossing a drone up in a peaceful place enjoyed by thousands pushes that, in my opinion. Expecting that your aerial photography is OK while the rest of the thousands in attendance do not want drones around is also unreasonable. Anyone see an issue with everyone who visits Cascade’s summit enjoying unfettered aerial photography? I also find the tourist flyovers in real planes a little annoying. Fortunately they seem >>More
Hemlock danger understated
Category: Letters
As a longtime fan of your magazine, I would like to comment on your recent report titled “Hemlock pest found in Park.” The article seemed to minimize the danger from the woolly adelgid, an invasive insect that has been killing hemlock forests elsewhere and was recently discovered near Lake George. My wife and I have a summer place in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. Our hemlocks are in great distress and are expected to be wiped out. I am having thirty-four beautiful old hemlocks on a one-acre plot sprayed this fall at a cost of over $4,000—a stopgap measure that >>More
Keep talking politics
Category: Letters
Your newspaper/magazine is absolutely the best! The photography is incredible. Every time I read the Adirondack Explorer, I am right there. It’s hard to stop reading. Please keep going on political happenings. Tom Woodman was very relevant when he wrote about the less-than-perfect person, Trump. Politics, unfortunately, has a great deal to do with maintaining our precious wildlife and forests. Anyone remember global warming? A hoax? Adirondack Explorer’s mission is to keep us enlightened. We need all the information we can get. So far, the Explorer has perfectly stuck to its mission. Enlightened social politics is exactly what we need. >>More
Cabin was trashed
Category: Letters
As I understand it, and I have seen firsthand, the Thomas Mountain cabin is coming down because some hikers use it as a trash bin leaving behind bottles, wrappers, trash of all sorts. Medical supplies have also been found (needles etc.). So while we want to blame DEC, in this case we need to blame rude and thoughtless hikers for ruining a good thing for the rest of us. A sad day indeed. Robin Smith, Bolton Landing Editor’s note: This comment is in response to a blog post on DEC’s plan to take down the cabin. The cabin is gone >>More
The power of the woods
Category: Letters
Thank you for publishing “Her First Walk in the Park” in the November/December issue. I work in an inner-city high school and felt that reading Autumn’s experience would be valuable for our students. I gave a copy to one of the teachers. He sent it to his daughter, age twenty-two, who has had difficulty becoming an adult. She immediately took a two-hour walk in the woods and decided to stick with her unsatisfactory current employment. Her thinking during the walk changed the thoughts about her own uncomfortable situation to thoughts of how she could help the stressed family she was with. Autumn’s >>More
10 hopes for the New Year
Category: Editorials
It’s January, time for a fresh, blank sheet on which to start our new year. Plenty of us are making renewed attempts at weight loss or looking to get better organized or at least vowing to break our addiction to twenty-four-hour cable news. Here at the Explorer, we’re renewing our hopes for smart decision-making in the Adirondacks and more chances to work together to ensure that the Park that we all love so much is protected for generations to come. Here are ten hopes we have for 2018. 1. A Wilderness classification for the Boreas Ponds that doesn’t allow people >>More
A good idea for development
Category: Editorials
The Fund for Lake George has developed a low-impact development (LID) certification that, if widely adopted, could significantly reduce one of the greatest threats to water quality—storm-water runoff—by stopping it at its source. And in a region dependent on its three thousand lakes and ponds for their recreational value—and sometimes drinking water—that seems like a program we all should get behind. Using a hundred-point scoring system across five categories—protect, build, restore, maintain, and innovation—the certification encourages development that maintains the natural landscape to mitigate runoff. It is designed for public and private development projects—new or redevelopment— and has already been >>More
