Feb 18, 2011 — Yesterday, NCPR reported that local governments in the Adirondack Park are deeply divided over the future of the Finch conservation project.

That land deal would add roughly 60,000 acres to the "forever wild" forest preserve.

One reason that the project is still so controversial, four years after it was unveiled, is that many community leaders feel that they were strong-armed into accepting it.

Other town supervisors say they felt the negotiations were fair and productive.

In part two of his special report, Brian Mann looks at the politics and the backroom talks that shaped the Finch deal.  Go to full article

Piseco, NY, Aug 13, 2010 — Later this morning, the Adirondack Park Agency is expected to approve a plan creating the first major piece of a new regional snowmobile trail.

The project in Hamilton County includes construction of a new 12-mile hub trail that would link the towns of Piseco and Speculator.

State officials say this project in the Jessup River area will be a model for a much larger snowmobile trail system now in development across the Park.

But critics on all sides say they're not sure this plan is workable or affordable. Brian Mann has our story.  Go to full article

Saranac Lake, NY, Jun 25, 2010 — An environmental group based in Vermont says it plans to sue the federal government over its handling of white nose syndrome. That's the deadly disease that's been killing bats across the eastern US.

The Center for Biological Diversity hopes to pressure the Interior Department into adding two species of bats to the endangered species list.

As Brian Mann reports, that could mean changes to timber harvesting and other human activities in the forests where the bats spend their summers.  Go to full article

Northville, NY, Jun 22, 2010 — One of the region's most influential environmental groups is re-organizing yet again, hoping to continue operations with a much smaller staff.

Protect the Adirondacks has brought on long-time environmentalist Peter Borrelli from Northville to serve as president and CEO.

But as Brian Mann reports, the group doesn't plan to hire a permanent executive director.  Go to full article

Jun 09, 2010 — It's loon season. Loons are an icon in the Adirondacks, but they're found all across the North Country...and they're protected wherever they're found, by both New York State and the federal Migratory Bird Act.

They're fun to watch -- but from a distance. The Adirondack Center for Loon Conservation recommends staying 500 feet away from loons, even though they may allow you to come closer. It's nesting season, too, and since loons nest on shore, close to the water, the ACLC says protecting shoreline habitat, and keeping your distance, is important for loon protection.

Here's an undetermined number of loons, recorded at Lake Ozonia, in St. Lawrence County about 10 p.m. on Memorial Day.  Go to full article

Saranac Lake, NY, Jun 04, 2010 — For weeks, we've been horrified by the images and reports coming from the Gulf coast.

BP's shattered well continues to spew oil that has begun washing up on sensitive coastlines from Louisiana to Florida.

Oil from that well would have supplied some of the gas that we pump into our cars across the U.S.

So Brian Mann decided to check in with drivers at local convenience stores to find out what connection they feel to the disaster that's still unfolding.  Go to full article

Lake Pleasant, NY, May 13, 2010 — The Adirondack Park Agency was created in 1971. In the decades since, a debate has raged over how the Park should be managed.

Specific issues change from year to year. But the basic battle lines over conservation, property rights, and economic development have long seemed carved in stone.

But now some observers say the budget crisis in Albany is changing all that, throwing into doubt some of the core ideas about the Park and its future. Brian Mann has our special report.  Go to full article

May 13, 2010 — The Open Space Institute has helped to engineer some of the most important land conservation deals in the Adirondack Park over the last decade.

OSI financed the Tahawus purchase, which protected parts of the southern High Peaks. The group also helped fund the massive Finch, Pruyn deal worth more than $110 million.

But OSI executive director Joe Martens, who also heads the Olympic Regional Development Authority board, says the fiscal crisis in Albany is changing the rules for how the Park should be managed. Martens spoke in depth with NCPR's Adirondack bureau chief, Brian Mann.  Go to full article

Lake George, NY, Apr 20, 2010 — TEXT ONLY
AP - As a young lawyer, Pete Grannis helped organize the first Earth Day celebration in New York City - just a few months before he was hired to put teeth into enforcement at a new environmental agency created by Gov. Nelson Rockefeller.

Later, after 30 years in the state Assembly, Grannis rejoined the Department of Environmental Conservation as commissioner in 2007. This week, he's traveling around the state in an electric car, visiting the sites of environmental success stories to mark the 40th anniversary of both Earth Day and the DEC.

Grannis says the DEC has made great strides over the past four decades, but is now hobbled by the state's fiscal crisis - the DEC budget has been cut $32 million dollars and the staff reduced by 400 in the past 18 months.

Grannis was in Lake George yesterday to give the good news about the Adirondacks. Since the first Earth Day, he said, acid rain levels in the Adirondacks have fallen and species such as moose and bald eagles have returned. The DEC commissioner said a recent analysis found that acid rain levels dropped in all 48 Adirondack lakes that are monitored on a long-term basis. And he said wildlife such as moose, bald eagles, peregrine falcons and ospreys have re-established themselves in the North Country, and beaver and otter populations are flourishing.  Go to full article

Ray Brook, NY, Apr 19, 2010 — The Adirondack Park Agency often finds itself at the center of big controversies. The APA is charged with regulating more than six million acres of public and private land. That's an area roughly the size of Vermont. But the Agency itself is tiny - and it's getting even smaller.

A plan approved by Governor David Paterson will slash roughly ten positions over the coming months, bringing the total staff at the Agency to fewer than sixty employees.

As Brian Mann reports, the APA is also facing a flurry of retirements and resignations, with six of its most experienced staff members departing next month.  Go to full article