Recreational fishing contributes $41 billion dollars in economic output in the Gulf Coast region annually and supports over 300,000 jobs. A disaster of this magnitude will certainly significantly impact the ability of anglers to get out on the water and for businesses to thrive. MORE>

Members of the Chenango County Bullthistle Hiking Club gathered early Sunday morning, March 21, for their weekly hike, and to honor one of their leaders, Don Windsor, for his continued commitment to the club. Club members expressed their amazement at Windsor’s expertise of the historical sites of Chenango County and its many varieties of flora and fauna, and commented on his unique sense of humor and storytelling abilities.

NYSDEC Commissioner Grannis's Report to Legislators on Gas Drilling

Ed Sidote of Norwich will be one of nine to be inducted into the NYS Outdoorsmen Hall of Fame. Induction ceremonies will be conducted at the annual banquet in Canastota April 24, 2010.
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2009 proved to be a record-setting year for peregrine falcons in many productivity categories according to a new report released today by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). DEC surveys found that there were 73 territorial pairs of state endangered peregrine falcons present in the state in 2009, with 42 pairs recorded upstate. That's a slight increase from 2008, when 67 pairs were recorded statewide MORE>

The Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation (OPRHP) has put forward a recommended list of closures and service reductions in order to achieve its 2010-11 agency savings target and help address the State's historic fiscal difficulties. Among these are 41 parks, including Hunts Pond State Park, 14 historic sites, and service reductions at 23 parks and 1 historic site. MORE>

China vaulted past competitors in Denmark, Germany, Spain and the United States last year to become the world’s largest maker of wind turbines, and is poised to expand even further this year. China has also leapfrogged the West in the last two years to emerge as the world’s largest manufacturer of solar panels. And the country is pushing equally hard to build nuclear reactors and the most efficient types of coal power plants. MORE>

The Copenhagen Climate Change Summit that was held in Sweden produced few unexpected agreements to reduce global pollution and slow climate change. Of course supporters of global warming theories and studies pleaded their cases, as did naysayers and supporters of global cooling via climate change theories and studies. But in the end, for each point, there was a counterpoint brought up by each side of the various debates. The problem is, no one really understands how all the many pieces must come together worldwide to accomplish anything truly worthwhile. MORE>

A new EPA study shows concentrations of toxic chemicals in fish tissue from lakes and reservoirs in nearly all 50 U.S. states. For the first time, EPA is able to estimate the percentage of lakes and reservoirs nationwide that have fish containing potentially harmful levels of chemicals such as mercury and PCBs. More >

Asian Carp DNA samplings have been found in multiple locations Beyond O’Brien Lock, MI

During a press conference call held Friday morning, November 20, it was confirmed that multiple samples of Asian carp DNA have been found substantially north and east of the existing carp barrier, and in another water body that has a direct connection to Lake Michigan. If the invasives invade Lake Michigan, they will quickly spread throughout the Great Lakes. More >

Bill Number A8055A, S5850A.
Adds non-carbonated beverages such as bottled water, iced-teas, and sports drinks. The legislation is similar to years past in that it would add a 5-cent deposit to non-carbonated beverages such as bottled water, iced-teas, and sports drinks. The legislation also calls for the state to recover unclaimed deposits from the beverage industry for use in New York's Environmental Protection Fund. Revenue projections include $25 million for the 2008-2009 budget (the bill would go into effect for the last 1/4 of the fiscal calendar year) and $100 million in subsequent years. More >

“Mohawk: Discovering the Valley of the Crystals,” just published and to be distributed by North Country Books, contains the area's.natural and human history, legend, lore and myth, plus fishing and hiking and family adventures. Authored by well-known writer M. Paul Keesler, North Country’s news release calls it “the most expansive and comprehensive book ever written on this historic and unique American geographic region. More >

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Pete Grannis today announced the release of the 2008 state peregrine falcons report, which shows it was a record-setting year in nearly all productivity categories.  The report documents the presence of sixty-seven territorial pairs of state endangered peregrine falcons, of which slightly more than half were recorded in upstate New York.   In 2008, 60 of these pairs bred and hatched 130 young. More >

Touted as a budget-deficit measure, Governor Paterson's executive decision to axe the state's pheasant program made feathers fly among the sporting community. The main reason was the fact the sportsmen of the state, whose license money annually funded the program never had the opportunity to comment first. An accounting of the pheasant program by the US Fish & Wildlife Service showed the program actually made a profit for the State's Conservation Fund of more than $300K in addition to an estimated $600K in related tax and sales income. Under threat of a lawsuit, the governor & DEC have since reversed the decision, and the program will continue.

The emergence of China as a dominant economic power is an epochal event, occasioning the most massive and rapid redistribution of the earth's resources in human history. The country has also become a ravenous consumer. Its appetite for raw materials drives up international commodity prices and shipping rates while its middle class, projected to jump to 700 million by 2020, is learning the gratifications of consumerism.
The catch is that China has become not just the world's manufacturer but its despoiler, on a scale as monumental as its economic expansion. A fourth of the country is now desert. More than three-fourths of its forests have disappeared. Each year, uncontrollable underground fires, sometimes triggered by lightning or mining accidents, consume 200 million tons of coal, contributing massively to global warming. A miasma of lead, mercury, sulfur dioxide, and other elements of coal-burning and car exhaust hovers over most Chinese cities.

In a parallel situation to the NY natural gas land rush, a quiet land rush is underway among the buttes of southeastern Wyoming, and it is changing the local rancher culture. The whipping winds cursed by descendants of the original homesteaders now have real value for out-of-state developers who dream of wind farms or of selling the rights to bigger companies. (Reported by New York Times)

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has finalized logistics for a series of meetings to give the public an opportunity to participate in the analysis of the potential environmental impacts of high-volume hydraulic fracturing of horizontal wells in New York's natural gas-bearing Marcellus and Utica shale formations. More >