Keene Valley, NY, Jan 22, 2010 — State officials have confirmed that a plan to add more than sixty thousand acres of land to the Adirondack forest preserve is on hold until the state budget crisis has passed. The massive project, known as the Finch, Pruyn deal, was hailed by Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Pete Grannis when it was unveiled in 2007. The state's decision leaves the Adirondack Nature Conservancy holding more than $80 million of debt. Environmentalists were angered by this week's decision. But as Brian Mann reports, some critics are questioning whether the project should go forward at all.  Go to full article

Gainesville, FL, Jan 21, 2010 — The government's Conservation Reserve Program pays farmers to return a certain amount of agricultural fields to their original wetlands. As Tanya Ott reports, a new study finds those efforts might be paying off.  Go to full article

Keene Valley, NY, Jan 20, 2010 — Governor Paterson's budget plan would slash also tens of millions of dollars from environmental and land conservation programs. In the proposal unveiled yesterday, state officials say new land purchases in the Adirondack Park should be suspended at least through 2012. The news comes at a time when the Adirondack Nature Conservancy is hoping to sell more than 50,000 acres of timberland to the state. Martha Foley has details.  Go to full article

Canton, NY, Dec 01, 2009 — Clarence Petty, a tireless and iconic advocate for the Adirondack wilderness, died last evening in the family home he built outside Canton. He was 104. Ed Petty said his father died of old age after about a month of declining health.

Clarence Petty grew up at Corey's, near Upper Saranac Lake, and had returned there to live in his later years. He was a state forest ranger, and was part of the team that did seminal surveys leading to the protection of large wilderness areas in the Adirondack Forest Preserve, as well as its wild and scenic rivers.

He was also a Navy pilot in World War II, and was well known as a flight instructor in St. Lawrence County, teaching until he was 94.

Phil Brown is the editor of Adirondack Explorer magazine. Readers, and Brown himself, got to know Clarence Petty through a regular column in the magazine, "Questions for Clarence." He spoke with Martha Foley during the 8 O'clock Hour this morning.  Go to full article

Canton, NY, Oct 20, 2009 — The author of A Conservationist Manifesto joined co-hosts Ellen Rocco and Chris Robinson last night on NCPR's Readers and Writers. Todd Moe has more.  Go to full article

Potsdam, NY, Oct 13, 2009 — Back before health car reform took over Washington, energy independence and efficiency were top priorities for the Obama Administration and Congress. Lawmakers and the President still say a new national energy policy is on the agenda. The phrase on everyone lips is the "smart grid," a high tech replacement for our old 19th century electricity grid. The stimulus package includes $5 billion for smart grid projects and billions more for related weatherization and energy efficiency projects. Experts say the smart grid will make power cheaper, use less fossil fuels that cause global warming, and make our electricity more reliable and secure. Who will make sure the new smart grid does lives up to the promises? That's the question Steven Bird asks. He studies the politics of electricity at Clarkson University. He told David Sommerstein the smart grid is being asked to do an awful lot.  Go to full article

Glens Falls, NY, Sep 17, 2009 — A new collection of essays published this summer by Syracuse University Press challenges some of the basic ideas behind the Adirondack Park. "The Great Experiment in Conservation" gathers together some of the most provocative thinkers and activists from all sides of the debate over the Park's future. Brian Mann spoke with Ross Whaley, former APA chairman and one of the book's editors.  Go to full article

Jul 31, 2009 — This week, North Country Public Radio has been looking at the changing economics of big land purchases, in the Adirondacks, Vermont and across the Northeast. Land prices are down, making big parcels more affordable. But state budgets and private donations are down, too, meaning there are fewer dollars to spend on land conservation. State Senator Betty Little, from Queensbury, says it's time to re-evaluate whether more land purchases make sense, given New York state's massive budget shortfalls. Little is lobbying for additional parcels of the Finch, Pruyn land to be sold to logging companies - with conservation easements - rather than added to the Adirondack forest preserve. She spoke with Jonathan Brown.  Go to full article

Jul 30, 2009 — This week North Country Public Radio has been looking at the changing battle over land conservation. In northern New York and Vermont the amount of private and taxpayer dollars available for protecting open space has been cut dramatically by the sour economy.

This morning, we'll hear from one of the people on the front lines of the debate. Kim Elliman heads the Open Space Institute, an organization that helps to finance land conservation projects from Georgia to Maine.

OSI - as its known - has helped fund some of the biggest land deals in the Adirondacks: the Finch, Pruyn land deal, and the purchase of the Tahawus tract in the southern High Peaks in 2003. Elliman tells Martha Foley the economic model for protecting forests and farms has changed dramatically.

(Tomorrow, we'll hear from state Senator Betty Little, who opposes expanding the Adirondack forest preserve. She says the changing economy means that land conservation groups should shift their agenda.)  Go to full article

Jul 30, 2009 — Full interview with Kim Elliman, executive director of the Open Space Institute. Based in New York City, OPI is involved in land conservation from Maine to Georgia. Elliman spoke with Martha Foley for our series on how the recession is complicating the dynamics of land acquisition for conservation in the Northeast.  Go to full article