Plattsburgh, NY, Apr 10, 2013 — Clarinetist Michele Von Haugg is on a mission to save a very important tree for a lot of musicians. She grew up near Saratoga Springs and is the founder of Clarinets for Conservation. Von Haugg will give a concert in Plattsburgh on Saturday night at the North Country Cultural Center for the Arts. Todd Moe talks with her about efforts to save the African Blackwood Tree, or 'Mpingo, in Tanzania. The wood is used to make musical instruments, like the clarinet.

Over a the last few years, Von Haugg and other clarinetists, have raised money to travel to Africa to teach music and plant hundreds of trees. She says the 'Mpingo wood is durable and very valuable.  Go to full article

Feb 04, 2013 — New York's Department of Environmental Conservation has proposed opening up large portions of the 69,000 acres of former Finch, Pruyn and Co. timberlands the state is acquiring from The Nature Conservancy for public recreation.

Among other things, DEC's classification plan would allow motor vehicle and limited floatplane access to the Essex Chain of Lakes tract, which would become a new canoe area.

The plan is drawing praise from local government leaders who've fought for access to the former Finch lands, and criticism from environmentalists who want more the property protected as wilderness.  Go to full article

Dec 24, 2012 — A property owner between the towns of Essex, NY and Willsboro has donated a conservation easement that will preserve more than 300 acres for forest and farmland in the Champlain Valley.

According to the group Champlain Area Trails, the fields protected under the easement will continue to be farmed.

A forested section of the property will be developed for public hiking and cross-country skiing trails.

The easement was donated by the DeNeale family. It will prevent most development on the land which sits on a section of Lakeshore Road.  Go to full article

Paul Smiths, NY, Nov 01, 2012 — Leaders from the region's environmental and conservation groups will gather at the Paul Smiths College VIC on Saturday to talk about improving communication, collaborations and the next generation of stewardship of the Adirondacks.

The nonprofit organization Adirondack Wild: Friends of the Forest Preserve is sponsoring the workshop at the Paul Smith's College VIC. Todd Moe talks with one of the keynote speakers at the workshop - Dale Penny, president of the Student Conservation Association.  Go to full article

Sep 18, 2012 — State officials say they plan to buy the first big chunk of the former Finch timberlands by the end of the year.

Roughly 19,000 acres will be added to the "forever wild" forest preserve in the first phase of the project. State officials say they plan to buy the first big chunk of the former Finch timberlands by the end of the year. Roughly 19,000 acres will be added to the "forever wild" forest preserve in the first phase of the project. Supporters say these lands will open popular new areas for hiking, paddling, hunting and fishing.

The process is now underway to determine the kind of rules and guidelines that will shape public access, and state officials say they hope to avoid the kind of clashes that have marked past land classification efforts.  Go to full article

May 31, 2012 — Preserving a trail to the summit of Poke-O-Moonshine Mountain and access for people with limited mobility were the two big concerns at a public hearing on the draft unit management plan for the Taylor Pond Wild Forest.

About 30 people gathered at the community center in AuSable Forks last week for a public hearing on the proposed plan. It was hosted by the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

The Taylor Pond Wild Forest totals more than 76,000 acres of land in the northeast corner of the Adirondack Park. Unit management plans are required by the Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan for each unit of state land in the Park. Chris Morris reports.  Go to full article

May 21, 2012 — Every spring, a Department of Environmental Conservation biologist drives along north country highways at dawn or dusk, stopping every so often to pull over and listen. They're listening for the distinctive "peent" of the singing American woodcock, a brown speckled bird a little larger than a songbird with a long, narrow beak for pulling earthworms out of the ground.

The little game bird is under threat New York state, and the survey each year is meant to get a handle on what population trends are in this region. DEC regional spokesman Stephen Litwhiler is the happy host to several of the birds in his backyard in southern Jefferson County. He says the birds' appearance each year is his personal "harbinger of spring."

For this Heard Up North, reporter Joanna Richards donned camouflage and hid behind the birds' favorite tree in Litwhiler's backyard to get a close-up look - and listen.  Go to full article

Theresa, NY, Apr 30, 2012 — On Friday, North Country Public Radio reported that some small land conservation deals are still moving forward in the Adirondack Park, despite the state's cash crunch. Groups outside the blue line are also working to protect key parcels of open space.

This spring, the Indian River Lakes Conservancy in the St. Lawrence Valley bought another parcel of wetlands and shorelines around Grass Lake, using a major grand from the US Fish and Wildlife Service. The group now owns more than 1500 acres.

As Brian Mann reports, the land could serve as part of a key wildlife corridor between the Adirondacks in New York and Algonquin Park in Canada.  Go to full article

Canton, NY, Nov 29, 2011 — Conservationists Amy Vedder and Bill Weber have spent decades in Rwanda, studying and working to preserve that country's famous population of mountain gorillas. They wrote the book "In the Kingdom of Gorillas." Both served as directors of the Wildlife Conservation Society's Africa Program. For years, Vedder and Weber have lived part-time in the southern Adirondack town of Johnsburg, where they've also been active in conservation and community work. Last year, they moved full-time to Johnsburg. Weber is currently acting director of Two Countries One Forest, an organization dedicated to trans-boundary conservation in the Northern Appalachian forest region of southeastern Canada and the northeastern U.S. Vedder is currently vice-president of WCS. Vedder and Weber will share some of their experiences in Rwanda at a talk at St. Lawrence University tonight. They'll also be talking about their work in, and their connection to--the Adirondacks. Nora Flaherty spoke with them yesterday about the challenges and pleasures conservation work in the Park. (There's more of their conversation below.)  Go to full article

Jul 07, 2011 — The land just off eastern Lake Ontario near Watertown contains thousands of acres of fields and wetlands that are valuable habitat for birds and wildlife.

In the Jefferson County town of Brownsville, owners of a private wildlife preserve have signed an agreement ensuring their land will be forever protected. Ontario Bays Initiative announced the new conservation easement on the 182-acre property.

Joanna Richards visited the sanctuary and has this story.  Go to full article