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By Phil Brown
Protect the Adirondacks wants motorboats banned from Weller Pond and Little Weller Pond near Middle Saranac Lake. If you agree, you have until Friday to submit comments to the Adirondack Park Agency. In a draft unit management plan (UMP) for the Saranac Lakes Wild Forest, the state Department of Environmental Conservation did not ban motorboats from the two ponds, but it is proposing to impose a 5-mph speed limit.
By Phil Brown
The state Department of Environmental Conservation has finalized its proposed changes to the High Peaks Wilderness and Vanderwhacker Mountain Wild Forest unit management plans, and the Adirondack Park Agency is expected vote on them next week.
By Phil Brown
State environmental conservation officers ticketed a resident of Watson, on the western edge of the Adirondack Park, for shooting and killing a bear that had climbed into a tree in his yard. In another recent incident, ECOs captured an orphan bear cub whose mother had been killed by a car. Following is the latest ECO…
By Phil Brown
The state Department of Environmental Conservation plans to close Gulf Brook Road, the dirt thoroughfare leading to Boreas Ponds, on weekdays so it can repair the road, which was damaged by deep frost and melting snow this past winter. The closure means people will have to hike or bike about seven miles to reach the…
By Phil Brown
The Adirondack Climbers Coalition is urging its members to submit comments to the state Department of Environmental Conservation to ensure that the rock-climbing community’s voice is heard as DEC prepares changes to the High Peaks Wilderness management plan. The ACC is concerned about DEC’s plan to ban parking along the shoulders of Route 73, which…
By Phil Brown
For the past few years, state and local officials have recognized that parking at busy trailheads on Route 73 has become a safety hazard. When the trailhead lots fill up, people park their cars along both sides of the two-lane highway and walk along the shoulders to get to the trail. It’s not uncommon to…
By Phil Brown
If proposals for new state lands win approval, people could be driving most of the way to Boreas Ponds later this year. The state Department of Environmental Conservation wants to build a six-car parking area a tenth of a mile from the ponds and a ten-car parking area about a mile away. Rob Davies, director…
By Phil Brown
State forest rangers helped two Adirondack hikers lost in the McKenzie Mountain Wilderness last week. Three other rangers were recognized as heroes for saving lives in separate incidents. These are among the items in this week’s Ranger Report from the state Department of Environmental Conservation. The report follows: Town of North Elba Essex County Wilderness…
By Phil Brown
The Adirondack Park Agency board voted Thursday to fast-track a number of proposals for the High Peaks Wilderness and Vanderhacker Wild Forest, including tens of thousands of acres of newly acquired state lands. Some environmental groups contend the agency is moving too fast. Among other things, the proposals call for parking lots that would allow…
By Phil Brown
Several years ago we skied two High Peaks in spring with Ron Konowitz. We did a few laps in the bowl on Algonquin Peak, climbed over Wright Peak, and descended the Wright Peak Ski Trail. The Wright Peak trail is one of the few trails designed for down-mountain skiing in the Adirondacks. It was built…