(02/03/12) Artists Matt Burnett and Scott Fuller are known for creating several large scale outdoor art installations from Long Lake to Canton in recent years. They're back again this winter, and despite a lack of deep snow, they've put together an outdoor show at SUNY-Potsdam that combines elements of winter, nature and projected images.
Matt Burnett, who lives in the Adirondacks, and his collaborator Scott Fuller, from Maine, used large snow sculptures as a canvas for video images in a large scale outdoor exhibit at St. Lawrence University last year. They worked on similar outdoor art projects in Saranac Lake and Long Lake.
They launched their outdoor "E-Fraction" show last night on the SUNY Potsdam campus. It will be illuminated nightly on campus through the middle of next week. Todd Moe has a preview. more
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Environmental News
Scott Fuller and Matt Burnett put the finishing touches on their "E-Fraction" exhibit in Potsdam.
This heavy snow outside Lake Placid last October has been the exception to the rule this winter. Photo: Nancie Battaglia
(02/03/12) Yesterday was Groundhog day, and Punxsutawney Phil tells us there'll be six more weeks of winter.
But for the North Country, winter doesn't really seem to have started yet: rain instead of snow, temperatures that have often been unseasonably warm, and a real lack of snow. Nora Flaherty put in a call to the National Weather Service. Meteorologist Brooke Taber says there a few things going on. First, the polar jet stream is farther north than usual, and so far this winter, the North Country has been on the warmer side of the air flow.
DEC Commissioner Joe Martens in Lake Placid this week. Photo: Adirondack Daily Enterprise.
(02/03/12) Gov. Andrew Cuomo is scheduled to come to Plattsburgh this morning. He's bringing his budget message to the Warren Ball Room, in the Student Center at SUNY Plattsburgh at 10:30 am.
Senior Cuomo staffers have fanned out across the state to talk about the budget. The state's top environmental official was in Lake Placid Wednesday afternoon. Joe Martens, spoke to a small crowd of local politicians, tourism officials, government employees and business owners. Chris Morris has our story. more
The International Joint Commission focuses on water levels in the Great Lake system.
(02/03/12) A new plan for controlling water levels in Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River will be the main agenda item at Save the River's annual conference at the Clayton Opera House this weekend.
The new plan allows water levels to stay high (or low) for longer periods than the current plan does. The more natural fluctuations are intended to restore diversity in the shoreline ecosystems. Martha Foley has more. more
There’s no part of the plan mandated to occur. (And) We have to consider cost when we consider item actions in it.
(02/02/12) St. Lawrence County legislators are scheduled to take another look at a Climate Action Plan next week. When legislators asked the County Planning Department to write the plan last March, they wanted ways to save money by being more energy efficient.
The climate plan was tabled last summer, when students and professors at the four universities in Canton and Potsdam started a cost-benefit analysis of some ideas in the plan. more
Some of the new land acquired by Newcomb. Photo: Carl Heilman.
(02/01/12) The Town of Newcomb in the central Adirondacks has purchased 348 acres from The Nature Conservancy for development projects along Route 28N.
The deal is part of a series of transactions involving former Finch, Pruyn paper company lands bought by the conservancy five years ago. more
Bob Glennon at his home in Ray Brook (Photo: Brian Mann)
(01/31/12) One of the most controversial and colorful figures in modern Adirondack Park history is Bob Glennon.
Glennon is an attorney who served as executive director of the APA from 1988 through 1995. He held that leadership role at a time when the state agency was often fiercely at odds with local government and pro-development groups. Gennon later served 12 years in the state Attorney General's office. After retiring last November, Glennon, who lives in Ray Brook, announced that he hoped to take a leadership role once again in the Park's environmental movement. Glennon sat down recently to talk with Brian Mann. They spoke about the Park's environmental challenges, about the recent Big Tupper decision, and about the leadership of APA chairwoman Lani Ulrich.
if it’s if appropriately implemented, the plan would begin to reverse damage caused by 60 years of regulations
(01/31/12) A new plan for controlling water levels in lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River is intended to restore diversity in shoreline plant and animal communities by permitting greater fluctuations.
The International Joint Commission, representing both the U.S. and Canada, released the regulatory plan yesterday. more
The Climate Action Plan for St. Lawrence County
(01/31/12) The future of a plan to reduce St. Lawrence County's greenhouse gas emissions is still up in the air. County legislators voted this month to keep the Climate Action Plan on the table. Trevor Alford reports that legislators didn't agree on what to do with a cost-benefit analysis by local university students.
(CLARIFICATION: the Climate Action Plan contains no mandates for the county or its employees.) more
Tired Iron artist Wayne Brown in his Lisbon workshop
Mad Recycler Janessa Brown cuts up a mattress to make bedspring wreaths as Nora Flaherty looks on. Photo: John Stanford
(01/30/12) Taking old things and using them for something new is far from a new concept in the North Country. More and more North Country artists are bringing that idea into their work. It's called upcycling. That's a new term that emerged in the '90s; it means taking something you might otherwise toss out, and making it into something new and better. Artists see it as a way to make interesting pieces with their own histories.
The materials they're using might not be new, but a lot of these artists are using new technology to build community with other artists, and to get their work out in our far-flung region. Nora Flaherty reports. more
 NEW: See the latest 20 Environmental News stories on the mapBlog posts tagged with "environment"Do you welcome the return of Bob Glennon?My interview with Bob Glennon a week or so ago was the first time I'd ever spoken more than a word or two to a man...[more] Snowy Owls a white spot in a gray landscapeThere's not a whole lot of white in our landscape this winter. In fact, none here today, though there is some ice...[more] Cuomo team says no deep cuts to DEC budgetI just took a call from Morris Peters in New York's Division of the Budget, who says it is inaccurate to describe...[more] State budget brings more deep cuts to NY Conservation DepartmentGovernor Andrew Cuomo's budget plan, which will be formally unveiled at 2pm, tags New York's Department of...[more] Morning Read: At crunch time, environmentalists divided on Big TupperOn Friday, the Adirondack Park Agency will — after seven years of deliberations — give the yay or nay to...[more] Just what the Adirondacks needed. Big, mean feral pigs.Sometimes it seems like the Adirondacks just can't catch a break. Harsh winters, big storms, a tough economy ...[more] Morning Reads: Sportsmen blast "raid" on conservation fundState officials are using more cash generated by hunting and fishing licenses to pay salaries in the Department of...[more] Morning Read: Farmers dodge tough new manure rulesThe Watertown Daily Times is reporting that the USDA has dropped a proposed rule that would have limited the spreading...[more] Green protest planned for Adirondack Park Agency meetingEnvironmental activists in the North Country are circulating an email trying to arrange a last-minute protest in Ray...[more] Morning Read: More ambitious dredging on the Hudson RiverThe Glens Falls Post-Star is reporting that General Electric plans to expand dredging of PCBs on the Hudson River next...[more] Sign of the season, and the timesThere are so many things I like about this sign, spotted yesterday morning, between Colton and Parishville:
I'm...[more]
 EnvironmentRussian researchers in Antarctica are on the verge of piercing a hole through two miles of ice into an ancient lake, untouched by the light of day for some 20 million years. But it'll be a delicate process to break through without disturbing the... Sturgeon have been swimming around for more than 200 million years, but their eggs are sought after for caviar. This week, the National Marine Fisheries Service placed the Atlantic sturgeon on its endangered species list. Guest host David Greene... A new map from the USDA has some northern gardeners hoping to grow plants that used to be considered too fragile for cold weather zones. The hardiness zone chart is about a half zone warmer than the last one issued in 1990. The USDA says the changes...  Nature
 Consumer Consequences from APM: What would the world look like if everyone lived like you?  Save the Carbon Naturalist Curt Stager, co-host of Natural Selections and author of Deep Future, shares long-term perspectives on environmental change, past, present, and future. Newest Posts: Special Reports  Audio SeriesLocal Flavors: Todd Moe keeps it homegrown in this series focused on eating locally, and on sustainable agriculture and gardening. 
Audio Slideshow:A winter visit to an infected bat cave Wildlife researchers across the Northeast are scrambling to understand a mysterious ailment that is killing thousands of bats. "White-nose" syndrome has been found at sites in New York and Vermont. Brian Mann goes underground to see.  Audio SeriesHydo Power in Cree Country Brian Mann looks at hydro-electric development in Cree country in northern Quebec, where the desire for carbon-neutral energy resources comes into conflict with aboriginal rights, spiritual practice, and wilderness preservation.  Audio Slideshow:Beekeepers facing new challenges Lucy Martin visits with Ontario beekeeper Terry McEvoy and talks about colony collapse disorder and other apiary ailments that raise concerns about the food supply.  Audio Slideshow:The Slick of '76: Looking Back and Forward This summer marks the 30th anniversary of the “Slick of ‘76,” a 300,000-gallon oil spill in the heart of the Thousand Islands. The event re-shaped the way a generation views its relationship to the river. David Sommerstein reports.  Audio Slideshow:Researcher Finds New Mite Species In Adirondacks Heather Root has found at least one new type of tiny tree mite at the Huntington Wildlife Forest near Newcomb. Root does her research while dangling in a harness high above the ground in the maple tree canopy, where she also found rare forms of lichen not seen in the Adirondacks for decades.  Audio Slideshow:Chaumont Barrens: the North Country's Prairie David Sommerstein takes a nature walk on this unique Nature Conservancy land that contains some of the nation's easternmost prairie habitat. 
Photo Audio EssayProtecting the Tug Hill Plateau: Fish Creek Last summer, New York State, the Nature Conservancy, and a Boston-based timber company announced a plan to preserve 45,000 acres of forest on the Tug Hill Plateau. David Sommerstein visited the “East Branch of Fish Creek Working Forest” to see how the plan is shaping up.  Photo Audio EssayRestoring the Common Tern Once plentiful along the St. Lawrence, the common tern is now threatened. David Sommerstein joins volunteers creating artificial nesting habitat using Seaway navigational markers.  Audio SlideshowSuperfund and Brownfield Sites in St. Lawrence County Jody Tosti surveys the 20 Superfund toxic sites in St. Lawrence County. Adirondack News Fund Founding Supporters: Paul Smith's College, The College of the Adirondacks · Wildlife Conservation Society · Adirondack Medical Center Foundation · Adirondack Museum · Niagara Mohawk Foundation · Schumann Foundation · John A. Sellon Charitable Trust · several anonymous individual donors |
