Nov 29, 2010 — State officials say the search for Wesley Wamsganz is being scaled back this week after more than nine days of intensive effort.

Wamsganz, who is 22 years old, was last seen on November 20th in the Adirondack High Peaks. His Carhart jacket was found on a trail near Marcy Dam. But crews of volunteers, tracking dogs, and a state police helicopter found no additional sign of Wamsganz.

In the days since, temperatures in the mountains have plunged into the single digits, with high winds, freezing rain and snow. Last night, Forest Ranger Capt. John Streif met with the Wamsganz family. He informed them that the large-scale effort to find their son was being suspended.

A short time later, Captain Streif spoke by telephone with Brian Mann from the Adirondack Loj, which was the headquarters for the search.  Go to full article

Lake Placid, NY, Nov 26, 2010 — Roughly thirty searchers spent another disappointing day in the High Peaks yesterday, trying to find 22-year-old Wesley Wamsganz.

The Saranac Lake man disappeared on Saturday and was last spotted by witnesses near a trailhead at the Adirondack Loj.

Brian Mann has our update.  Go to full article

Nov 25, 2010 — A small army of searchers will head back out into the woods this morning, hoping to locate 22-year-old Wesley Wamsganz from Saranac Lake.

Wamsganz was last seen on Saturday heading into the woods near the Adirondack Loj in the High Peaks region. Brian Mann has details.  Go to full article

Ithaca, NY, Oct 21, 2010 — Every once in a while, you catch a glimpse of a pheasant along a roadside.
It was almost certainly put there, or nearby, by the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

You've heard of fish hatcheries and stocking, but New York State also hatches and stocks pheasants each year. They're bred in Ithaca, at the state's last remaining pheasant farm. The Reynolds Game Farm ships some 30,000 adult birds all over the state at this time of year.

WRVO's Joyce Gramza follows some of the birds from farm to field to learn more about the program.  Go to full article

Saranac Lake, NY, Sep 30, 2010 — Two men familiar to North Country health and environmental interests are already off the state payroll. Al Hicks and Dr. Ward Stone both accepted early retirement offered to help close New York's budget deficit. The two made names in the region by sorting through some of the most troubling health and environmental problems, from PCB contamination along the St. Lawrence River's Massena industrial zone, to the emerging threat of white nose syndrome killing bats across the east. Martha Foley talks with Adirondack Bureau Chief Brian Mann about what the loss of Hicks and Stone means.  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

Ray Brook, NY, Aug 13, 2010 — Campgrounds in the Adirondacks are reporting a healthy number of visitors this summer. Compared to last year, the sites managed by the state Department of Environmental Conservation are seeing more campers. DEC spokesman David Winchell says, overall, tourist numbers don't show a big increase -- about one percent. Still, he says, this up tick helps maintain and improve campgrounds throughout the Park. Todd Moe has more.  Go to full article

May 28, 2010 — Local government leaders in Hamilton County scored a major victory yesterday with the state's decision to reopen the back country road system in the Moose River Plains. The popular roads provide access to some of the most remote areas of the Adirondack Park. But the state Conservation Department announced earlier this month that budget constraints would force them to leave the routes gated.

A deal on the roads came early Thursday, following trips to Albany by North Country leaders. John Frey, town supervisor in Inlet, spoke yesterday with Brian Mann.  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