Reporter Maggie O’Neill reports that a new elevated at the Wild Center is expected to boost the area’s tourism industry.

In a press release, the Adirondack Council says that aside from authorizing the addition of 12 acres to the Adirondack Forest Preserve last week, the NYS Legislature did little in May and June to help the clean water, wilderness and communities of the Adirondack Park.

The A.P. reports that the New York Economic Development office says July 7 is the last day to submit proposals to turn a former state prison in the Adirondack foothills into a new enterprise. 

Reporter Blaine Friedlander reports that in an ongoing battle to save the ecologically important hemlock forests – found throughout New York state, especially in the Adirondacks – Cornell University researchers have high hopes for a new weapon against menacing woolly adelgids (an insect the size of a poppy seed): silver flies from the Pacific Northwest.

Robert Blais, chairman of S.A.V.E. Lake George and mayor of Lake George Village, writes that excessive use of road salt during winter is being called the “acid rain of our time”, and that Lake George intends to demonstrate how road salt use can be reduced without making roads less safe.

**Please note that a paid subscription is required to view the article online. A version of the article appears below.

Though winter is behind us, the impacts of road salt appear as scars on the landscape. Look no further than the Adirondack Northway, once heralded as the nation’s most scenic highway and traveled by millions of visitors every year, to see what salt application leaves in its wake. Dead and dying trees, most obviously brown-needled pines, line the highway mile after mile—inescapable, and inexcusable.

Excessive use of road salt during winter is being called the “acid rain of our time” for good reason. Like acid rain, road salt threatens to degrade the health of forests and waterways throughout our region and beyond. Unlike acid rain, largely a product of harmful emissions from power plants and factories in the Midwest, the salt problem is being created, and can be solved, here and now.

In the Lake George basin, road salt use has escalated over the past several decades, with as much as 39 metric tons now being applied per lane mile, every winter — totaling more than 15,000 metric tons per year in the Lake George watershed alone. All of this salt dissolves and eventually washes off the roads and into the soils and water. Lake George, the public drinking water supply for many people in the basin, now has salt concentrations 30 times higher than undeveloped Adirondack lakes. Soils are serving as “salt sinks,” holding much of the sodium and changing natural landscapes at the roots. Less visible, but no less serious, is the effect of salt on soil chemistry, releasing calcium into streams and into Lake George. This threatens to make conditions more hospitable for shell-bearing aquatic invasive species.

The good news is that we know how to curb the problem, largely through improved snow and ice management. As reported in Snow Business, the trade magazine of the Snow and Ice Management Association, these practices include “anti-icing” measures that prevent snow and ice from bonding to pavement and require only a quarter of the salt amounts that would typically be applied. Other techniques include proper calibration and measurement, pricing incentives, and designated salt abatement zones. Such proven practices reduce salt use and keep roads safe with less harm on forests and waterways.

At Lake George, the same partnership of public and private leaders working together to stop invasive species from ruining our waters — S.A.V.E. (Stop Aquatic inVasives from Entering) Lake George — is calling for a halt to excessive use of road salt. S.A.V.E.’s meaning also expands to stand for: Salt Abatement is Vital to the Ecology of Lake George. A memorandum is circulating for public officials to sign on.

Lake George intends to demonstrate how road salt use can be reduced without making our roads less safe. We trust others will join us, particularly the state of New York, one of the largest road salt users in the region, with the highest estimated application rates on Lake George roadways.

Blighted landscapes and salt stressed waters demand action at all levels of government and by the private sector before the problem gets any worse. As researchers warn, unless we curb salt levels soon, Lake George will eventually reach a tipping point with cascading impacts that may be impossible to reverse. That point has not yet been reached. Now is the time to act.

Reporter Ali Hibbs reports on reaction to the EPA’s recent report predicting that all Adirondack trout and salmon populations will be dead within 85 years.

Reporter Andy Flynn reports on the official renaming of one of the High Peaks, East Dix, to Grace Peak in honor of Grace Hudowalski.

Reporter Chris Knight reports on the proposal for a shoreline trail along Lake Flower.

**Please note that a paid subscription is required to view the article online. A version of the article appears below.

A consulting firm hired by the village has drafted a proposal for a shoreline trail along Lake Flower.

The LA Group’s “concept plan” for the Saranac Lake Waterfront Trail was submitted to the village board Monday.

It involves construction of a 12-foot-wide, multi-use trail along the Lake Flower shoreline between Riverside Park and the corner of River Street, Lake Flower Avenue and Brandy Brook Avenue. Converting that T-intersection into a traffic circle is also part of the project, along with trailside lighting and seating, new and improved lakeside overlooks, interpretive signage, crosswalk upgrades and a restroom building near the state boat launch on Lake Flower.

The project would cost between $2 million and $2.5 million depending on the type of surface the trail would have. A trail with a concrete surface would cost $2,457,390 while an asphalt pavement surface would cost $2,038,179.

“It’s a draft, both the plan and the cost estimate,” said village Community Development Director Jeremy Evans. “We intend to return to the board in a couple weeks with a resolution that would authorize submission of a grant application.”

As it’s laid out now, the Saranac Lake Waterfront Trail would begin in Riverside Park, run along the lakeshore and go through Prescott Park. From there, it would return to the sidewalk and go around the state’s Lake Flower Boat Launch, then head back to the lake around the Saranac Lake Winter Carnival Ice Palace site. The trail would continue through shoreline parkland and cross the end of Pontiac Bay on a proposed pedestrian-bicyclist bridge before ending at Lake Flower Avenue, at the site of the proposed Lake Flower Spa and Resort.

A series of crosswalks would be created at the proposed traffic circle near NBT Bank, and the plan calls for replacing the existing sidewalk on Brandy Brook Avenue to connect the trail with the railroad corridor at Pine Street. The state has proposed removing the railroad tracks between Lake Placid and Tupper Lake, turning this section of the corridor into a multi-use recreational trail.

The maps the LA Group provided break the project up into four different sections. Evans said he’s asked the company to provide cost estimates for each section, so the project could be phased in. Some of the work could be built in-house, and there’s a lot of opportunities for in-kind services, Evans said.

“However, we do need to make sure that the board and the village understands the cost implications of doing this,” he said. “It’s a tremendous opportunity but it comes with cost.”

The LA Group’s plan for the trail references the site of a proposed beach on Lake Flower, which drew comments from a pair of audience members opposed to moving the current village from Lake Colby back to Lake Flower.

Sunita Halasz said she feared that if the village agreed to seek grant money for the trail plan that it would be giving conceptual approval to a new Lake Flower beach, without a chance for the public to weigh in on it.

“It feels like, with some of this proposal they’re talking about for Prescott Park, it’s trying to notch away at moving the beach there,” said Joy Cranker.

Mayor Clyde Rabideau noted that the village’s 2004 Local Waterfront Revitalization Plan calls for a waterfront trail along Lake Flower.

“This pathway has been part of our master plan for years, and I think it would be a tremendous promenade as well as a bicycle path,” he said. “This is not a beach proposal, period.”

Cranker noted there’s already a sidewalk that goes along parts of the lake.

“That’s not a promenade,” Rabideau said. “This is a promenade. This is where people go arm-in-arm and look out on our beautiful horizon and Scarface Mountain. This is going to be absolutely, phenomenally beautiful.”

Trustee Paul Van Cott said the same consulting firm that came up with the trail plan, the LA Group, also put together a beach feasibility study, “so they just carried that forward.” He asked Evans to take out any references to the beach proposal in the village’s grant application.

Later in the meeting, Trustee Allie Pelletieri asked Evans what the village’s share of the grant funding for the project would be.

Evans said it varies based on which source the village seeks funding from, “but as a general rule, I think 25 percent is something to kind of keep in your head.”

“I’m not a fan of the trail,” Pelletieri said, “and I can’t see us spending a half million dollars on a trail when the sidewalk’s right there, and when we’re not sure if we can afford (hiring) a police officer that’s in the budget.”

Reporter Sarah Tilton reports that Jack Ma, the Chinese billionaire and co-founder of e-commerce giant Alibaba, has purchased a 28,100-acre property in New York’s Adirondacks. The purchase was made principally for conservation purposes, but Mr. Ma also plans to use it as an occasional personal retreat.

Reporter Mike Lynch reports on the process for increasing the Adirondack Forest Preserve, and the impact on local recreation and economics that these acquisitions provide.

 Staff reports that The County of Hamilton and Frontier Communications won the 2015 Broadband Champion Economic Leadership Award at Empire State Development’s Third New York State Broadband Summit.

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ALBANY – The County of Hamilton and Frontier Communications were recognized at Empire State Development’s Third New York State Broadband Summit here June 11, where awards were handed out to high-achieving leaders who have expanded access to broadband across the state.

The partnership won the 2015 Broadband Champion Economic Leadership Award, “bestowed for the successful implementation of an innovative, economically promising project to enhance the county’s social and economic fabric and quality of life.”

Frontier Communications and Hamilton County partnered — with private capital from Frontier and a Connect NY broadband grant for Hamilton County — to provide enhanced high-speed Internet service to all communities in the county.

“As a result of the project, 75 percent of the households in a 1,700 square mile portion of the Adirondack Park now have access to speeds of 12 to 40 megabits per second,” noted Kevin Smith, senior vice president and general manager of Frontier’s New York operations.

In the initial phase of the project Frontier upgraded the data transport backbone the length of Hamilton County, from Gloversville in Fulton County to Eagle Bay in Herkimer County, enabling speeds up to 40 Mbps from the enhanced sites.

“We upgraded Frontier’s main switching sites in the hamlets and then, in the second phase, we connected 17 remote switching sites using over 81 miles of fiber optic cable.

“We also upgraded these remote sites with IP DSLAM devices (Internet Protocol Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer). This Ethernet-based equipment addresses the increasingly bandwidth-heavy needs of customers,” Smith said.

BETTER PROSPECTS

Before the project, Hamilton County households had a base speed of 3 Mbps or less. Now 75 percent of households can get 12 Mbps or higher (24 percent can get 40 Mbps, 46 percent can get 24 Mbps).

Hamilton County Board of Supervisors Chairman William Farber, who secured the New York state broadband grant, said, “This project showcases the benefits of the great partnership between Hamilton County, Frontier Communications, and the State of New York, working jointly to enable one of the most rural counties in the country — let me say that again, one of the most rural counties in the country — to move into the 21st century and enjoy the social and economic benefits that high-speed Internet delivers.

“Governor Andrew Cuomo, through both the North Country Regional Economic Development Council and his commitment to rural broadband, is making a real difference for Hamilton County’s long-term prospects.”

TWO AWARDS

Frontier also received the Most Innovative Broadband Project Award for its creativity in helping the Town of Thurman connect to the Internet via white space technology.

“We are thrilled to be recognized for our commitment to making broadband available even in the most rural areas,” says Frontier Communications East Region President Ken Arndt. “The initiatives in Hamilton County and the Town of Thurman are great examples of public / private partnerships bringing together expertise, resources and leadership focused on the betterment of local communities.

“This is true collaboration that delivers outstanding benefits for everyone involved, especially local residents and businesses.”

Frontier and Hamilton County are not resting on their laurels. They are seeking a grant to further improve broadband access by adding bonded VDSL, which would almost double the bit rate; and potentially shorten loops, to enable the remaining 25 percent of households to get higher speeds.

 Reporter Pete Klein reports that Hamilton County will be represented by Murray Law Firm, Clifton Park, when it applies for permits from the Adirondack Park Agency for two new communication towers and upgrades to existing towers.

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**Please note that a paid subscription is required to view the article online. A version of the article appears below.

 LAKE PLEASANT — Hamilton County will be represented by Murray Law Firm, Clifton Park, when it applies for permits from the Adirondack Park Agency for two new communication towers and upgrades to existing towers.

A consultant hired by the county says the work is critical to the establishment of regional interoperable communications.

Murray Law will assist with all elements of the towers project, including meeting the grant requirements, site leases, etc.; with all aspects of APA permitting; and with any other necessary permitting.

The APA is the regional land use agency. It is part of the Executive Office of state government.

The new towers would extend the ability of emergency responders in the county to reach other counties in the region by high-speed, VHF high-band radio. Responders include ambulances, fire departments, police, and highway departments.

Interoperable communications is the ability of local, state and federal officials to talk with each other by radio, deemed especially important in the event of a widespread emergency.

The county needs two new towers with microwave transmission repeaters to establish interoperable communications. Also, equipment needs to be upgraded on at least two existing towers to make the

 A press release states that all of the Adirondack Park’s iconic trout and salmon fishing destinations and cold-water fisheries would disappear from the landscape by the end of the century without global action to prevent the climate from overheating the park’s rivers, lakes and streams, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported late Monday.

Reporter Ryan Edwards reports that a special projects committee is in the preliminary planning stages of bringing a new welcome/historical center to the town of Newcomb – a project which will eventually establish an informational hub for visitors to the area.

Reporter Tom Salitsky report that on June 12 the developers of the Adirondack Club and Resort received a letter from the state attorney general stating that the permit for the first phase of the resort had been approved, letting its developers, Pennsylvania-based Preserve Associates, begin signing contracts and taking deposits to sell lots.

**Please note that a paid subscription is required to view the article online. A version of the article appears below.

TUPPER LAKE – The developers of the Adirondack Club and Resort recently received some good news.

On June 12, Bob Sweeney, the attorney for the 6,200-acre project, received a letter from the state attorney general’s office stating a Cooperative Policy Statement 7 permit had been approved for the first phase of the resort. This lets its developers, Pennsylvania-based Preserve Associates, begin signing contracts and taking deposits to sell lots.

"The first phase of houses to be sold includes a private road called Pond Road," Sweeney told the Enterprise. "It’s a homeowner’s association. Every house on the road will pay a little money towards its maintenance, and you have to have a filing with the attorney general.

"This clears the way for the sale (of lots)."

Sweeney explained at a planning board meeting in March that Pond Road will pick up at the Lake Simond Road extension and will run out to the last lot of Planned Development District 1, the 1,200-acre Moody Pond lot.

The project is still awaiting approval of other permits, however.

"There are applications pending for some permits for the construction of the road," he said. "(The Department of Environmental Conservation) and the (Army) Corps of Engineers, they have to sign off on stormwater and stream crossings. There is work being done on them. The applications are pending. We’re optimistic that we can get prompt attention and final permits."

He said DEC and the Army Corps of Engineers "each have been very cooperative, and it’s not an impediment."

Sweeney said the project may have to apply for other CPS-7 permits for other sections of the project.

"We would have to repeat this process if we have another section that has shared expenses," he said.

Calls placed to ACR developers Michael Foxman and Tom Lawson were not immediately returned.

Preserve Associates publicly proposed the ACR 11 years ago. The project, if fully realized, would feature a renovated Big Tupper Ski Area as its centerpiece and would develop the land around it with up to 650 high-end housing units, a 60-room hotel, a spa, a marina and an equestrian center. Golf legend Greg Norman and his Great White Shark Enterprises recently entered into an agreement with the developers, who want his design firm, Greg Norman Golf Course Design, to renovate town-owned Tupper Lake Golf Club next to the resort.

The project recently proposed partnering with the village and town of Tupper Lake and the Development Authority of the North Country to seek state grants to help pay for its infrastructure.

The project had been tied up with a lawsuit by Protect the Adirondacks and the Sierra Club, two environmental organizations that challenged the state Adirondack Park Agency’s approval of the resort, but on Dec. 16, 2014, the Court of Appeals officially dismissed the environmentalists’ final motion to appeal, clearing the way for the project to move forward.

Reporter Tom Salitsky reports that it’s been nearly a year since the Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism took over trying to sell this community to potential tourists, and its work is yielding results.

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TUPPER LAKE – It’s been nearly a year since the Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism took over trying to sell this community to potential tourists, and its work is yielding results.

That was the message ROOST’s Jim McKenna and Michele Clement had for the town board Thursday as they explained what the agency has been up to and what it plans to do for the remainder of its three-year contract with the town and village of Tupper Lake.

"It’s been about 11 months since we entered into a contract with the town and village and also Piercefield, and probably the first thing we really concentrated on was the website," McKenna said. "We’ve been building that ever since."

The goal is for the site’s content to pop up as people search the Internet for things that may be related to Tupper Lake.

McKenna explained that because the website is new and has no prior year’s data to compare itself with, it is currently establishing its benchmark numbers with which it can measure future marketing efforts. Between Nov. 17, 2014, when the new site was launched, and May 31, 2015, the site experienced 66,146 sessions, 49,061 users and 95,269 page views.

By contrast, ROOST’s Director of Communications Kim Rielly told the Enterprise that www.adirondacklakes.com, which previously provided marketing for all of Franklin County, totaled 53,975 sessions during the same time period. That’s almost a 23 percent increase.

McKenna explained that content drives people to websites today, and ROOST has focused on providing www.tupperlake.com with content it hopes will generate traffic. ROOST’s staff members – largely Clement, its Tupper Lake and Hamilton County marketing director – have written 53 original blog entries for the site since its launch, and the agency continues to update its blogs on a weekly or biweekly basis.

"That’s been working tremendously," McKenna said. "One that stands out – maybe you saw it, the ‘lumbersexual’ that ran – that is still getting activity. … It continues to be popular."

That essay by Clement played off of a pop culture trend of urban men wearing beards, boots and flannel shirts. The look is called "lumbersexual," a play on "metrosexual" which is a man whose meticulous fashion sense echoes gay stereotypes. Clement’s blog, "Tupper Lake: Home of the Lumbersexual?" told Web surfers that in Tupper Lake, the lumberjack look is more than a style; it has long been a way of life.

McKenna cited ROOST’s Adirondacks USA page as a useful resource for the site. He explained the Adirondacks USA site does not contain any written copy but sends readers to ROOST-run sites, which encourages viewers to click on www.tupperlake.com for more information. A handout Clement distributed stated that, since the site’s launch, Adirondacks USA has sent out 38 weekly emails which have resulted in 10,172 new visitors to the site.

"What we’re trying to do with that is make the visuals there really work, show them proximity and location, have a direct link to a business if a business is on there, but more importantly send them back to the Tupper Lake site," he said. "That’s where they can get all the information."

McKenna informed the board of ROOST’s public relations partnership with the Wild Center nature museum to take advantage of the opening of the Wild Walk as a way to promote Tupper Lake as a destination. Both organizations are working cooperatively with the Nancy J. Friedman Public Relations firm out of New York City, and the Wild Center’s website was the fourth highest source of referrals to www.tupperlake.com over the last month.

McKenna cited ROOST’s ability to maneuver quickly by explaining that it recently chose to concentrate on promoting the Tinman Triathlon.

"We heard that the Tinman numbers weren’t where we wanted to be or weren’t as high as we thought they were," he said. "We started a digital campaign for Tinman (on June 10). We acted very quickly, and the site, it’s already reached about 9,000 people. We’ve had about 93 clicks to the site to check it out, so hopefully, that will help generate activity."

McKenna also said ROOST has completed the North Country Regional Economic Development Council’s Tourism Destination Area Nomination Workbook for Tupper Lake and that it is available for public reference on www.roostadk.com. He said the agency will begin Tupper Lake’s Destination Master Plan in the fall.

"We now have the inventory done that shows basically all of our natural attractions and all of our manmade attractions," he said. "It allows us to see what areas we need to work on as we move the tourism wheel."
 

A news release states that there are hands-on experiences waiting for high school students in the Adirondack Field Ecology program at Paul Smith’s College. 

A news release states that there are hands-on experiences waiting for high school students in the Adirondack Field Ecology program at Paul Smith’s College. 

Reporter Chris Knight reports that the state is sticking with its compromise plan for the contested Adirondack railroad corridor.

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The state is sticking with its compromise plan for the contested Adirondack railroad corridor.

The state departments of Transportation and Environmental Conservation announced an amendment Thursday, June 11 to the management plan for the 120-mile Remsen-Lake Placid Travel Corridor. It calls for removing the railroad tracks between Lake Placid and Tupper Lake while maintaining and enhancing rail service between Big Moose and Tupper Lake at a combined cost of up to $20 million.

The proposal, which DOT and DEC first pitched last year, drew both praise and criticism from the two groups that have been at the center of a contentious debate over the corridor: Adirondack Recreational Trail Advocates, which wanted a longer recreational trail, and the Adirondack Railway Preservation Society, which operates seasonal tourist trains on the corridor.

—

High interest

"This is a big day," DEC Director of Lands and Forests Rob Davies said as he introduced the amendment during the June 11 state Adirondack Park Agency meeting. "This plan has been driven by strong public interest to see the full potential of the railroad corridor to be realized."

The state held eight well-attended listening sessions and has received more than 2,000 written comments on the corridor over the past two years.

Davies said public opinion is "fairly evenly split" between maintaining rail use on the corridor and converting it to a multi-use recreational trail. He said there was a "clear regional division."

"The rail is favored in communities south of Tupper Lake," Davies said. "The trail is favored in communities north of Tupper Lake. This obviously is not unanimous throughout those communities. There are people who have differing opinions, but the communities seem to break that way."

Some have suggested the state should put a trail alongside the railroad tracks along the length of the corridor, but Davies said that isn’t feasible.

"There have been outside groups that have looked at it," Davies said. "There have been some communities that have tried to attempt it. DEC, working with DOT and APA, have looked at it, and there are challenges."

—

New alternative

The "preferred alternative" under the original 1996 plan was for railroad uses along the full length of the corridor. It also encouraged compatible recreational trail uses along the corridor, where feasible.

The amendment to the UMP would create a new option, alternative 7, that would break up the corridor into two segments. Segment 1, an 85-mile stretch from Remsen to Tupper Lake, would be all rail. The state would extend rail service to the currently unused stretch between Big Moose and Tupper Lake. Snowmobiling and cross-country skiing would be allowed when the train is not in use. DOT would administer and be responsible for maintenance of this section of the corridor.

Segment 2 would be a 34-mile multi-use recreational trail between Tupper Lake and Lake Placid. The railroad tracks would be removed and its bed resurfaced. Davies said the material that would be used for the resurfacing has yet to be selected.

"Some of the recreational uses that we’re considering are walking, running, biking, roller blading and skate skiing in summer, and snowmobiling and cross-country skiing in the winter," Davies said.

DEC would be responsible for the administration and maintenance of the trail, but Davies said it would also look to help from partners like the state Olympic Regional Development Authority, local governments and nonprofit recreational groups.

—

Snowmobile use

Snowmobile use on the corridor has been hindered during the winter because the dark-colored tracks become exposed when there isn’t enough snow. That’s why most snowmobiling groups supported converting the corridor to a trail, Davies said.

"And as everyone is aware, snowmobiles and snowmobilers are a strong economic engine for the North Country during the winter months," he said.

While it’s keeping the tracks on a long section of the corridor, the state wants to develop a community connector snowmobile system both within and outside of the corridor that will attract more snowmobilers to the Adirondacks.

Davies showed a series of proposed snowmobile routes that use existing trails. Some are on state land while others on private land under conservation easements and would need "permanent" protection, Davies said.

—

Details

Where the recreational trail would end in Tupper Lake has yet to be decided.

"The rails will have to continue to some undetermined point past the station in Tupper Lake in order to provide for turnaround (for the train)," Davies said. "As a result, the recreational trail coming from Saranac Lake will need to make connections outside, most likely, the corridor to get the recreating public into the station, but we’re confident that is doable."

The UMP would include seven maps highlighting 47 different recreational access points DEC has identified along the length of the corridor for hiking, camping, hunting, fishing and paddling.

One example is the state’s Rollins Pond and Fish Creek campgrounds. DEC wants

A report says that The Adirondack Park Invasive Plant Program is hosting several events this summer, including training sessions on aquatic and terrestrial invasive species.
All events are free and open to the public.

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KEENE VALLEY – The Adirondack Park Invasive Plant Program is hosting several events this summer, including training sessions on aquatic and terrestrial invasive species.

All events are free and open to the public.

APIPP will also hold its first "Gardening and Landscaping with Native/Non-Invasive Ornamental Plants in the Adirondacks" workshop, a one-day event featuring presentations by local plant and garden experts.

APIPP’s terrestrial invasive plant management training sessions for landowners will provide instruction on how to manage troublesome invasive plants such as Japanese knotweed and garlic mustard. Participants will learn how to identify common invasive terrestrial plants and how to apply effective management techniques on their own lands. The training will include both presentations and in-field demonstrations. Landowners, landscapers, gardeners, and highway department staff are encouraged to attend.

–

Terrestrial invasive plant management training (all 10 a.m. to noon):

* Wednesday, June 17, Elizabethtown Social Center, Elizabethtown

* Monday, July 13, Warrensburg Town Hall, Warrensburg

* Saturday, July 25, Westport Heritage House, Westport

* Thursday, July 30, Waverly Town Hall, St. Regis Falls

–

APIPP’s aquatic plants and aquatic animals identification trainings for volunteers will train participants on how to identify aquatic invasive plants such as Eurasian watermilfoil and curly-leaf pondweed, as well as how to perform simple surveys to detect their presence in a waterbody. Mark Malchoff, aquatic resources specialist for the Lake Champlain Sea Grant Program, will help lead the aquatic animals training, which will focus on invasive animals such as Asian clam and spiny waterflea. Data collected by volunteers is essential to protecting Adirondack waterways from harmful invaders: Knowing the regional distribution of problem species aids in prevention, early detection and rapid response efforts.

–

Aquatic invasive plant identification training (all 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.):

* Tuesday, June 23, Darrin Freshwater Institute, Bolton Landing

* Thursday, June 25, Pine Room, Paul Smith’s College, Paul Smiths

* Tuesday, June 30, Speculator Park Pavilion, Speculator

–

Aquatic invasive animal identification training:

* Tuesday, Aug. 4, 1 to 4 p.m., Warren County Cornell Cooperative Extension, Warrensburg

–

On July 18, as part of Invasive Species Awareness Week and with support from the Adirondack Garden Club, APIPP is holding "Gardening and Landscaping with Native/Non-Invasive Ornamental Plants in the Adirondacks," a three-hour event featuring local experts presenting on topics such as the new statewide Invasive Species Prevention Act regulations and local case studies using native plants.

A blog post says that the DEC and and APA are currently working to amend three Unit Management Plans (UMP) in the central Adirondacks and approve a new one for the Essex Chain Lakes area. Unfortunately, state agencies are are planning to widely violate state laws, regulations and policies to build this new trail system.

A blog post says that the DEC and and APA are currently working to amend three Unit Management Plans (UMP) in the central Adirondacks and approve a new one for the Essex Chain Lakes area. Unfortunately, state agencies are are planning to widely violate state laws, regulations and policies to build this new trail system.

Dave Gibson, of Adirondack Wild: Friends of the Forest Preserve, says that another thick set of Forest Preserve recreational plans and maps was sent by the DEC to the Adirondack Park Agency at the 11th hour, just before the APA’s June meeting.

 Reporter Kim Smith Dedam reports that a new federal grant allows for continued safety improvements at Adirondack Regional Airport.

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 LAKE CLEAR — A new federal grant allows for continued safety improvements at Adirondack Regional Airport.

The award of $151,525 from the U.S. Department of Transportation will pay for runway and lighting upgrades.

At the airport in Lake Clear, Manager Corey Hurwitch was very happy to learn the grant request was approved.

“It makes my day,” he said.

It’s money, Hurwitch said, for the Runway 27 displacement project.

“This project will displace the landing threshold of our crosswind runway (a shorter runway) so we can better utilize an access road that crosses under the approach to the runway.
“This will ensure a higher level of safety for aircraft using the runway and vehicles on the access road by increasing a separation between the two.

“The project will include lighting improvements and repainting of the runway.”

‘IMPORTANT INVESTMENT’

U.S. Sens. Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) and Kirsten Gillibrand

Reporter Jessica Morrissey reports that Oyster.com has listed Lake George and Mirror Lake on its list of the six most beautiful lakes in the U.S.

Reporter Paola Singer reports on the Wild Walk, an elevated nature trail and interactive museum that weaves into the treetops of Tupper Lake in northern New York.

Reporter Brian Mann reports that New York State officials said they will move ahead with a plan, to divide the historic rail corridor that stretches from the Old Forge area through the Adirondack Park to Lake Placid.

 Reporter Matthew Turner reports that the National Sports Academy school building could become a condominium, townhouse or hotel.

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LAKE PLACID – What will happen to the former National Sports Academy school building? That’s been the big question in this village, lingering since the school closed its doors for good last month.

Steve Reynolds, the listing broker who is selling the building through the Lake Placid real estate firm Merrill Thomas, said it could become a condominium, townhouse or hotel.

"I think, first and foremost, it’s very obvious that it will not be a school again," he said.

The former school building, located at 821 Mirror Lake Drive, has been home to the winter sports private school since it opened over three decades ago. The school closed recently due to financial troubles, which included a combination of debt, lawsuits and revenue problems caused by low student enrollment.

The price tag for the building is $1,395,000.

Reynolds, who attended NSA as a student for a year but went on to graduate from Northwood School, said it was unfortunate for the community that the school closed.

"Obviously, it’s very sad to see it go," he said. "It was a big part of the community."

During the months that led up to NSA’s eventual closure, its Board of Trustees had pursued the idea of selling the building – reinvesting that money into the school’s programs – and then having the new owner lease the building back to them. The school had also been renting out its spare rooms to sports teams and groups that visited Lake Placid.

"As part of our liquidation process, NSA intends to sell both the main building on Mirror Lake Drive and the house on Parkside Drive along with the remaining vehicles and all the equipment and furnishings owned by the school," Head of School Lisa Wint said. "The school plans to sell the buildings either through normal real estate channels or through auction."

Wint said the school’s equipment and furnishings will also be auctioned.

"The sale of all of NSA’s assets will be used to make distributions to creditors," Wint said.

According to the NSA’s January bankruptcy filing, the school had a total of $1.86 million in liabilities and had $1.81 million in total assets, which includes the building. The school owes money to over 50 creditors.

Reynolds said there are interested buyers, with more confidence now that NSA has closed.

"I think purchasers weren’t eager to sit around and wait," Reynolds said.

Reynolds called the property a "prime piece of real estate" inside the village, and doesn’t believe it will be long before someone buys it. The building is near the North Elba Town Hall, Lake Placid Pub and Brewery, and village beach.

"It’s got a beautiful view of the lake," Reynolds said.

The Editorial Staff reports that A draft plan for the Essex Chain Lakes Complex produced by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) calls for major back-country development in some of the most unique lands in the Adirondack Park.

Reporter Anthony F. Hall reports that The Pinnacle, the Bolton landmark visible from Lake George and the Cat and Thomas Mountains Preserve, will be safely protected from development in perpetuity. The Lake George Land Conservancy exercised its option to purchase the property in May, two days before the option was scheduled to expire.

 A report says that The Essex Chain Lakes Complex Unit Management Plan will be on the agenda when the Adirondack Park Agency Board of Commissioners meets Thursday and Friday at its headquarters on State Route 86 in Ray Brook.

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 RAY BROOK — The Essex Chain Lakes Complex Unit Management Plan will be on the agenda when the Adirondack Park Agency Board of Commissioners meets Thursday and Friday at its headquarters on State Route 86 here.

The Regulatory Programs Committee will convene at 9:30 a.m. Thursday to consider a request for a variance from the 150-foot shoreline setback of a designated recreational river under the Wild, Scenic and Recreational Rivers System Act. The project is in the Town of Jay, Essex County.

The committee will also act on proposed general permits to streamline responses to aquatic and terrestrial invasive plants.

At 1 p.m. the State Land Committee will, among other things, determine if the Pepperbox and Meacham Lake UMPs conform to the Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan.

It will also hear presentations from state Department of Environmental Conservation staff on the proposed Remsen-Lake Placid Travel Corridor UMP amendment and the Essex Chain Lakes Complex UMP. The Essex Chain Lakes Complex includes the Essex Chain Lakes Primitive Area, the Pine Lake Primitive Area, recently classified portions of the Blue Mountain Wild Forest, and three State Administrative areas.

FRIDAY

At 9 a.m. Friday the Economic Affairs Committee will hear a presentation from Ollie Burgess, owner of Specialty Wood Products Inc. in Bloomingdale, on his business. Specialty Wood Products is a major source of building materials for architects, builders, interior designers, manufacturers, and craftspeople.

At 9:45 a.m. the Park Policy and Planning Committee will deliberate the Town of Wilmington’s (Essex County) proposed amendment to the Adirondack Park Land Use and Development Plan map for private lands.

At 10:45 a.m. the full board will come to order for committee reports, Adirondack Park Local Government Review Board comment, and public and member comment.

Use http://www.apa.ny.gov and click Webcasting from the Contents List to watch the meeting or see the complete agenda.

The commissioners’ next meeting is scheduled for July 9-10 at APA Headquarters.

 An AP report says that the NY State Department of Environmental Conservation is accepting comments on its 10-year state wildlife action plan until July 17.

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 ALBANY (AP) – New York state environmental officials are seeking feedback on their plan to protect rare and declining wildlife species.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation is accepting comments on its 10-year state wildlife action plan until July 17.

The plan identifies 366 species that require conservation actions to thrive, animals ranging from moose to lake sturgeon. Almost half the species are identified as high priority, such as little brown bats and the American bumblebee.

Another 113 species are seen as possibly needing conservation actions. That list includes the tiger shark and the monarch butterfly.

State environmental officials will hold public information sessions around the state over the next month on the draft plan.

 Reporter Chris Knight reports that Loon Gulf, Inc. is selling off it’s holdings of thousands of acres on and around Loon Lake, including a swath of undeveloped shoreline and the former Loon Lake Golf Course.

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LOON LAKE – Thousands of acres on and around Loon Lake are up for sale, including a swath of undeveloped shoreline and the former Loon Lake Golf Course.

Loon Gulf Inc., based in Italy, is selling off its holdings in the town of Franklin. It’s asking $5.95 million for the 13 lots containing roughly 2,600 acres, according to the company’s real estate agent, Brian Draper of Say Real Estate in Saranac Lake. The property went on the market last month.

"They would prefer to sell the whole thing as one parcel, which is the most attractive thing to any developer that would want to do anything out there," Draper said. "However, they have said they would sell off individual parcels."

Draper said one lot has already sold, two more are under contract and offers have been made on others, including one on the former golf course that wasn’t accepted. He wouldn’t identify the buyers or potential buyers. Among the parcels of various sizes up for sale is a 380-acre lot on the back side of the lake that Draper says has a lot of potential for waterfront development.

Loon Gulf’s bid to sell its acreage comes two years after it submitted a conceptual plan to the state Adirondack Park Agency to reopen the golf course and subdivide its holdings into 160 residential lots and three open space lots. The plan never went any further with the agency.

Draper said didn’t know why the company has decided to put the property on the market.

"I know they were talking to a developer and that they had plans set up and they had quite a bit of information prepared to do something," he said. "Loon Gulf is not closed to the idea of them doing something out there. It’s just they’re familiar with the struggles it would take to get a very large resort out there, i.e. (the Adirondack Club and Resort in) Tupper Lake."

Loon Lake was a popular resort destination for the affluent in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, anchored by the Loon Lake House. It began in 1878 as a 31-room-hotel, built on a bluff overlooking the lake, and eventually grew to accommodate 800 in two hotels and 60 private cabins spread across roughly 3,000 acres. The golf course, built in 1895, was one of the first in the Adirondacks. The resort hosted writer Oscar Wilde in 1882 and three presidents: Benjamin Harrison in 1892, Grover Cleveland in 1895 and William McKinley in 1897. The hamlet that grew up around the resort featured a general store, a post office and a large train station.

The resort went bankrupt in the early 1930s but continued to operate until the 1950s, when it was used as a summer camp. It burned to the ground in September 1956. Within the next two years, the property had been auctioned and many of its homes had been sold to families who had rented them while the hotel was operating. The golf course closed in 2003. Loon Lake’s population now is largely seasonal.

"Obviously the lake is a very quiet, family-oriented place," Draper said.

He thinks there’s a chance Loon Lake could see some of its prior prosperity return again.

"There’s a lot of potential out there, for sure, for a number of different things," he said. "I could see the golf course coming back and the old inns coming back and getting a cafe that would bring people out there again. You could have horseback riding and cross-country ski trails and other winter activities out there. Any kind of development in the Adirondack Park or in this area that can bring jobs and can bring stability to our economy here is a positive."

"Ultimately the goal would be to find a solution that works best for everybody out there, because there’s a number of people who do not want any (development) whatsoever, and then, of course, there’s the people who would welcome something."

Loon Lake resident Keith Silliman, who writes an online blog about life and happenings on the lake, said he doesn’t want to see any development around the lake "that would degrade the quality of this resource, both upland and aquatic.

"I would love to see the golf course reestablished, along with the Inn," Silliman wrote in an email to the Enterprise. "I am not opposed to some additional housing within the hamlet of Loon Lake. It would be great to see sustainable forestry practices used on the adjoining lands.

"It will be interesting to see what actually happens down in Tupper Lake. We have more challenges here – very short golf season, forty minutes to Whiteface, via back roads, forty minutes to quality grocery shopping."

Town of Franklin Supervisor Art Willman said he hadn’t heard about Loon Gulf putting its acreage up for sale until an Enterprise reporter told him about it, although he said he had heard rumors.

"I’ve actually been having conversations with some of the homeowners there, and I suggested, ‘Why don’t you guys buy up the shoreline. Then you control it,’" Willman said. "They’d like to leave it as is with no building up there. A bunch of them were talking at one point about getting a

Reporter Rick Karlin reports that the sale of shuttered Camp Gabriels has hit a snag from New York’s own laws regarding the Adirondack Forest Preserve, where the former minimum-security prison is located.

Dave Gibson says that the APA is failing to think and to plan comprehensively and transparently, and commends State Land Committee Chair Richard Booth for his efforts to convince his colleagues to tackle and to resolve big policy questions early, comprehensively and publicly.

Chris Knight reports that the New York State Mesonet has planned a statewide network of 125 weather stations that would include nearly 20 sites inside the Adirondack Park.  

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 A planned statewide network of 125 weather stations would include nearly 20 sites inside the Adirondack Park.

The New York State Mesonet, funded by a $23 million grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is designed to provide emergency management officials with access to real-time, high-resolution data – more than they’ve ever had before – to use in preparing for and responding to natural disasters like hurricanes. Organizers also say the network will have applications for day-to-day weather forecasting, farmers, airplane pilots and others.

The push for the mesonet started in 2011 after heavy rains brought by tropical storms Irene and Lee triggered flooding that caused millions of dollars in damage to infrastructure across the state, including here in the Adirondacks.

"The funding wasn’t provided until after Superstorm Sandy (in 2012), but the genesis for the mesonet started with those flooding events," said Jerald Brotzge, the mesonet’s program manager. He’s based at SUNY Albany.

The program is modeled off of similar mesonets already in operation in other states like Oklahoma and Kentucky, Brotzge said. Each of the 125 primary stations will measure air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and direction, solar radiation, atmospheric pressure, precipitation including both snowmelt and rain, and soil moisture and temperature at three different depths.

"Between all those different measurements, we hope to create a weather network that’s valuable to a number of different sectors: agriculture, emergency management, aviation, ground transportation and education," Brotzge said. "Every county will have at least one station, and the larger the county, the more stations they’ll have."

There is a current weather station system in New York, the federally operated ASOS and AWOS network, but it consists of just 25 sites and only provides data on an hourly basis, Brotzge said. One of those sites is located at the Adirondack Regional Airport in Lake Clear.

"All 125 of our sites will report data every five minutes," Brotzge said. "We will collect all that data immediately and send it back out to emergency managers in an instant. For example, we’ll be able to track and monitor rainfall around the clock. Right now, you miss a lot of rainfall in the valleys, particularly in the more mountainous terrain, because we simply can’t see it. The mesonet allows us to fill in those gaps."

Twenty of the 125 weather stations will also measure snowfall. Most of them will be within the boundaries of the Park, Brotzge said.

"Right now there’s a snow network deployed across the Catskills, monitoring the watershed for New York City," he said. "But what we don’t have is a similar program for monitoring the hydrology and snowmelt across the Adirondacks.

"Another aspect of the project is vertical profilers. Seventeen of the 125 sites will have additional equipment providing vertical information on temperature, moisture, windspeed and direction every five minutes. Right now we only have three places across the state that launch weather balloons twice daily. That just doesn’t provide the atmospheric info the weather service needs for truly accurate modeling and forecasting."

The raw data provided by the weather stations will be available for the public to view for free in real-time, but there will probably be a fee for viewing archived, analyzed or "value-added" data, Brotzge said.

Brooke Tabor, a Burlington, Vermont-based National Weather Service meteorologist, said he’s aware of the project and thinks it will be a benefit.

"We’re going to have more data available, and that will lead to better analysis of conditions, especially in complex terrain like the northern Adirondacks or the St. Lawrence River Valley," he said. "It’s also supposed to include a profile up Whiteface (Mountain), so we’ll get a vertical profile of the weather. That will be helpful. It will also help with snow depths and for the flood potential in the spring time: How much snow is in the mountains and how much, when it releases (and) could come into the waterways and cause flooding?"

Each mesonet site will include a 30-foot-tall tower, where most of the sensors will be located, surrounded by a fence. So far, organizers have identified 50 of their planned 125 sites, and they’re looking for more.

"We’re looking for a 30-by-30 foot piece of property where we could put a weather station," Brotzge said. "We have a number of criteria. For example, the sites can’t be in flood zone or wetland. It really needs to be on a generally flat area with no trees preferably within 300 feet. Most of the sites so far will be placed on private land.

"We have 19 sites planned right now inside the Park boundaries. We’re working closely with the (state Adirondack Park Agency) to approve those sites, and we’re trying to be very careful where we deploy them so as not to interfere with views or wildlife or the environment."

Of the 19 planned sites in the Park, between five and seven have been selected, Brotzge said. The goal is to have all 125 sites across the state selected by the end of the year.

For more information, visit www.nysmesonet.org.

Brian Mann, in Tupper Lake, says that the international resort development company run by golf legend Greg Norman has confirmed it will play a major role in developing the 6,200 acre Adirondack Club and Resort project in Tupper Lake, N.Y.