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March 24, 2008
Press Release
Contact Howard M. Fish
hfish@wildcenter.org
The
Wild
Center
NEW
YORK
STATE’S
WILD
CENTER WILL BE
SITE OF MAJOR
CLIMATE CONFERENCE ON
CUTTING
U.
S. GREENHOUSE
GAS EMISSIONS
Tupper
Lake,
NY -
New York
State will be
the site of a major conference to identify actionable
solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the
United States.
Scheduled for June 25th and 26th in the
Adirondack Park, the Conference will convene business leaders
and experts on climate change economics, carbon finance,
selected emissions sectors, and the carbon sink in the United
States. Participants are also expected to produce a slate of
possible policy and regulatory options to overcome market and
other barriers that are inhibiting implementation of
substantial low-cost greenhouse gas emission reductions.
“We know
ways exist to materially cut greenhouse gas emissions. What
we do not yet know is the policy and regulatory framework that
can kick-start these solutions so they take hold across the
U.S.
economy,” said Conference Co-Chair Carter Bales. Mr. Bales
was a member of the McKinsey & Company team that recently
published the report
Reducing U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions: How Much at What
Cost?, which identifies ways to cut U.S. greenhouse
gas emissions by up to 28 percent with positive impact on the
U.S. economy. Additional cuts are available at relatively low
cost (ranging up to $50 per ton of CO2 equivalents saved).
“We finally have the facts in hand to move against greenhouse
gas emissions in an economically sensible way.” said Mr.
Bales, “Achieving these reductions at the
lowest cost to the economy will require coordinated
economy-wide action, which is why we are assembling this group
of climate leaders to work on the task.”
The
Conference is by invitation only, and will be limited to 125
participants. “Many past conferences have focused on
identifying the problem and its causes,” said Ross Whaley, the
other conference Co-Chair. “This is not another of those
conferences. This conference centers on finding the
U.S.
solution.” Robert Socolow, the
Princeton
University
physicist and co-director of the University’s Carbon
Mitigation Initiative called the planned gathering, “a serious
opportunity to prove we can start to get ideas into the
market. We are going to go beyond the theory that this will
work, and into the reality of making it work.”
Judith Enck,
New York
State’s
Deputy Secretary for the Environment is also expected to
attend. “New York
has long been a leader in protecting the environment,” said
Ms. Enck. “This Conference is going to look at the most
cost-effective ways we can bring real reductions in
U.S.
greenhouse gas emissions based on serious and thorough
research. We are especially interested because the conference
will focus on ways we can reduce emissions in a way that will
create net economic benefits.”
Conference organizers said
New York
State
provides an ideal venue for the national conference in part
because the state has offered to help advance a slate of pilot
projects designed to test certain of the recommendations that
might arise from the conference.
More than
70 major businesses and organizations are scheduled to
participate. Businesses slated to date to participate include
AES Corporation,
Brookfield Power, General Electric, McKinsey & Company,
National Grid, Honeywell, Bovis Lend Lease, (one of the
world’s biggest project management and construction
companies), Hellmuth Obata & Kassabaum (the world’s largest
architectural firm), and Credit Suisse Capital Markets.
Conference partners include among others
New York
State, the New
York Academy of Sciences, The National Geographic Society,
Pew
Center on
Global Climate Change, Yale School of Environment and
Forestry, the US Green Building Council, the Rockefeller
Brothers Fund, and the
American
Museum
of Natural History.
"Holding this conference in the
Adirondack
Park
is no accident. It will bring together people from around the
nation to a place where New Yorkers have taken leadership
positions on many critical environmental issues over the
years,”
said
New York
State’s
DEC Commissioner Pete Grannis.
“Moreover, the
Adirondack
Park
reminds us what is at stake if we fail to curb greenhouse gas
emissions.”
The
Conference will be held at The Wild Center
www.wildcenter.org
in
Tupper
Lake. The
new museum complex was recently awarded a Silver LEED
certification from the US Green Building Council. It was the
first museum in
New York to be certified and
the first building in the
Adirondack
Park.
“The
Wild
Center is
dedicated to the future of the
Adirondacks,” said museum
president Donald Clifford Jr. “Science is telling us we have a
problem in our near future, while experts tell us we have
solutions that can mean economic opportunity. The
Wild
Center cares
about the future of the
Adirondacks for all its
residents and visitors, so being the catalyst for a conference
looking at how we can help people and nature achieve a better
balance is something powerful that we can do to fulfill our
mission.”
The
Adirondack Chapter of The Nature Conservancy, responsible for
one out of every six protected acres park-wide, will offer
attendees from outside the region tours of protected areas in
the
Adirondacks the day after the
Conference. “It’s an excellent opportunity to take in this
great, largely intact forested landscape, and to get a feel
for on the ground conservation work that anticipates needs for
species to move upslope and or northward in response to a
changing climate,” said Mike Carr, executive director of the
Adirondack Chapter.
For a
list of conference advisors and participants and more
information about the Conference, please refer to the
Conference website:
www.usclimateaction.org.
For
information on the McKinsey Report,
Reducing
U.S.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions: How Much at What Cost?
see the McKinsey Special Climate Change Initiative at:
http://www.mckinsey.com/clientservice/ccsi/greenhousegas.asp
Sara
Tagliarino
stagliarino@wildcenter.org
Marketing Manager/Buyer
THE W!LD
CENTER
Natural
History
Museum of the
Adirondacks
45 Museum Drive
Tupper Lake,
NY
12986-9712
518-359-7800, ext. 103
March 13, 2008
News from the Adirondack
North Country Association
Nadia Korths, Crafts
Program Coordinator for the Adirondack North Country
Association, would like to inform our business members they
may be interested in Buyer Days, a 22 year old trade show
featuring regional North Country producers of rustic and
nature-theme home accessories, crafts, foods, prints, books,
photography, music and furniture. There is a link on the Buyer
Days page to forward it to your favorite shopowner.
Visit
http://www.adknccrafts.com/buyerdayslist.php for
Buyer Day exhibitor descriptions. Vendor show specials, best
sellers and new product lines are highlighted.
ANCA looks forward to meeting new and returning
shop-owners at Buyer Days! The show is on Wednesday, April 2
(12-6) and Thursday, April 3 (10-4), 2008 at the City Center,
Saratoga Springs, NY.
February 12, 2008
The Wild Center gains
national recognition from U.S. Green Building Council
With the
assistance of Judith Enck Deputy Secretary for the Environment
representing Governor Spitzer's office, and USGBC Upstate NY
Executive Director Tracie Hall we received our LEED Silver award
in a well attended press conference February 8th.
Acknowledgment by the local and national news outlets have been
positive and generous. Thank you to everyone who made this award
possible!
February 11, 2008
JOIN
OPERATION SAFEGUARD
The New York State Office of
Homeland Security in conjunction with law enforcement agencies
throughout New York State, is reaching out to businesses,
organizations, and communities to create a better public awareness
of potential terrorist indicators and suspicious activities. This
outreach promotes the recognition and reporting of potential
terrorist activities within the community to the New York State
Terrorism Tips Hotline @ 1-866-723-3697. Additionally, businesses
and community organizations will benefit from this outreach as
they are provided with ways in which they can better protect
themselves against loss resulting from potential terrorist and
other criminal activity.
NY-ALERT
is subscription-based. If you wish to receive emergency
information, you must register on the NY-ALERT website at
http://www.nyalert.gov. Your email address will be your
identifier. When you register, you will be permitted to list up to
three phone numbers where you will receive the alerts, up to three
email addresses, and one SMS device. Remember, you will receive
information on all of the devices you registered when an alert is
issued for the area to which you subscribed. You also will be able
to select the locations from which you want to receive the
information: your town or village, county, regions of the State or
the entire state itself. However, if you select a large geographic
area, you will receive all of the alerts, press releases and other
information regarding those areas. While NY-ALERT will transmit
information almost instantaneously utilizing all gateways
simultaneously, there is no 100 percent guarantee that the
information will be received in a timely manner because the
existing third party infrastructure may be unavailable (such as
SMS, faxing and phone lines).
Be Prepared Receiving
emergency information is an important step to being prepared as an
individual, a family and a community. Just as important is knowing
what to do, how to do it, and when to do it. In addition to
receiving emergency information through NY-ALERT, two actions that
you can take to become better prepared to protect yourself and
your family are to develop an emergency plan and prepare a
portable cache of emergency supplies that can be used at home or
at work. Learn about your community’s emergency plans that are in
place and how you will be notified of an event. Emergencies may
strike when you and your family members are away from home, so
learn about plans at your workplace, school or anywhere else you
and your family spend time. Remember the special needs of your
family members. Infants, the elderly, and persons with
disabilities need the same planning as everyone else, and
sometimes a little more to be prepared for an emergency. Make
plans now on what to do with your pet in the event you have to
leave your home. Pay attention to the news. Know your local radio
and television stations that can provide you with up-to-date
information during an emergency. Be aware of your surroundings.
Report any out of the ordinary occurrences to the appropriate
local law enforcement authorities or call the New York State
Homeland Security Tips Hotline at 1-866-SAFE-NYS For more
information on what you and your family can to do be better
prepared, visit the website of the New York State Emergency
Management Office at
http://www.semo.state.ny.us http://www.nyalert.gov
New York State’s All-Hazards Alert & Notification System
February 02, 2008
Adirondack Club and Resort
and the re-opening of Big Tupper
* As
of 02/2008 The project is still under adjudicatory review. The
parties have just agreed to a mediation process. It's been a year
now and no work has yet to be discussed concerning the ten issues
raised by the Adirondack Park Agency. Below is the Park Agency
press release from last February of 2007.
February 09, 2007 FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE Further Information Contact: (518) 891-4050
Keith P. McKeever, Public Relations, Raybrook, N.Y. - Adirondack
Park Agency Board votes unanimously to provide comprehensive
review of the proposed Adirondack Club and Resort Project.
At Thursday's Adirondack Park Agency meeting the Regulatory
Programs Committee accepted Park Agency staff's recommendation to
hold an adjudicatory hearing for the proposed resort - residential
project, "Adirondack Club and Resort."
The Regulatory Programs Committee accepted the recommendation
after two days of presentations and discussion. Issues identified
as reasons to proceed to an adjudicatory public hearing were based
on the following criteria:
• Size and complexity of the project;
• Degree of public interest in the project;
• Presence of significant issues relating to the criteria for
approval of the project;
• Possibility that the project can only be approved if major
modifications are made or substantial conditions are imposed;
• Possibility that information presented at a public hearing would
be of assistance to the agency in its review; and
• Extent of public involvement achieved by other means.
The proposal involves 6,236 acres and would result in the
construction of 387 buildings and 759 residential units.
Infrastructure costs were estimated at $45 million for wastewater,
water, roads and electric infrastructure and $600 million in value
of residential units. The board indicated the scale of the project
could have potential impacts to community character, quality of
life, need for local government services and create possible
public vulnerability.
The committee vote was unanimous and the recommendation was
forwarded to the Full Agency for deliberation at Friday's meeting.
On Friday, February 9, the Full Agency voted unanimously, after
careful deliberation, to send the Adirondack Club and Resort
project to an adjudicatory hearing. The agency hereby orders this
matter to public hearing pursuant to Section 580.3 and directed
the following issues be considered at the adjudicatory hearing:
Issue #1. Is the natural resource protection (including visual,
forest resources, habitat and other natural resource
considerations) implicit in Resource Management land use area
adequately protected (section (805(g)(2)); are the proposed Great
Camp lots “substantial acreage...on carefully and well designed
sites.” Are there alternatives, and if so, what are the relative
impacts on these resources.
Issue #2. What are the impacts of the Orvis Shooting School
activities on the noise levels, existing and as proposed; are
there alternatives or conditions which would address those
impacts; are there any associated effects on water quality or
traffic on Lake Simond Road.
Issue #3. What are the impacts of the proposed East Ridge, upper
portions of the West Slopeside, and the Westface developments on
the existing land topography, vegetation and soils; will the
development as proposed cause excessive stormwater run off,
erosion and slippage in these areas; what will be the visual
impacts during the day and night of these proposed sections.
Issue #4. What impacts does the proposed on site sewage treatment
facility at Lake Simond have on neighboring water bodies.
Issue #5. What are the fiscal impacts of the project to the
governmental units should any phase or section of the project not
be completed as proposed; what is the public vulnerability should
the project either fail or not proceed at its projected pace
relating to on and off-site infrastructure for which cost-sharing
has been proposed between the developer and local governments
(e.g. drinking water plant improvements, road maintenance)or
on-site private infrastructure that may be subject to eventual
operation by the Town; what is the ability to provide municipal
and emergency services to any section in light of the road design
or the elevation (e.g., East Ridge booster pump station).
Issue #6. Section 805 (4) requires the consideration of the burden
on and benefits to the public. What are the positive and negative
fiscal impacts of the project to the governmental units? What are
the impacts of the project on the municipalities’ electric system
ability to meet future demand? To what extent will energy
conservation mitigate demand impacts? What are the assumptions and
guarantees that the Big Tupper ski area can be renovated and
retained as a community resource; what are the current and
expected market conditions relating to available housing for the
project’s workforce; what are the impacts of the proposed project
on the local housing market?
Issue #7. What are the impacts, alternatives and appropriate
conditions on the use of Forest Preserve such as State facilities
in Intensive Use areas?
Issue #8. Are there alternatives to minimize interference with
wetland values and functions including ground water infiltration,
wildlife habitat, stormwater control and other values, and the
need for mitigation in the areas of Cranberry Pond wetland
complex, the marina, and the base lodge footprint?
Issue #9. Are there undue adverse downstream stormwater impacts
associated with the base lodge subcatchment area? Specifically,
the water quantity components (i.e., overbank flood and extreme
flood) included in the stormwater pond designs.
Issue #10. What are the appropriate mechanisms to coordinate and
ensure project compliance with application commitments and permit
conditions as the project is undertaken over time?
The Adirondack Park Agency will now begin the process of
scheduling the adjudicatory hearing. It is anticipated the hearing
will begin before March 20.
This type of hearing provides the permit applicant; the public,
neighbors, local government, other involved state agencies and
Agency staff an opportunity to present evidence and to argue
contested issues before an impartial hearing officer. The
resulting record, including the permit application, public
comment, exhibits, testimony and written submissions from
participants in the hearing, provides the sole basis for the
Adirondack Park Agency Board's final determination on this
proposed project.
The adjudicatory hearing includes four components:
1) pre-hearing conference which initiates the hearing;
2) an informal session for unsworn public comment on the record;
3) the formal hearing at which evidence is advanced and testimony
accepted for the record and
4) the closing argument and/or briefs.
The pre-hearing conference provides an opportunity to identify
“parties” to the hearing, issues to be adjudicated and other
procedural matters. At the informal session, any member of the
public is invited to speak or ask questions of the applicant.
The length of the adjudicatory proceeding depends upon the number
and complexity of the environmental and legal issues, the number
of witnesses, the result of the pre-hearing direction of the
Agency and the deliberation before the hearing officer at the
issues conference.
An independent hearing officer will be assigned to oversee the
adjudicatory proceedings. The role of the hearing officer is to do
everything necessary to assure that the hearing is fair and
impartial, as well as efficient and orderly. Specifically, the
hearing officer is responsible for the following:
• Initiate the hearing with a conference to establish parties,
issues and initial hearing schedule
• Administer oaths or affirmations
• Set/adjourn hearing dates and schedule for testimony and
argument
• Rule on all motions and requests until the close of the hearing
• Issue, quash or modify subpoenas for the appearance of persons
or the production of documents
• Admit or exclude evidence offered for the record
• Limit the number of witnesses and cross-examination
The Adirondack Park Agency Board will ultimately render final
decision on whether or not to approve the proposed Adirondack Club
and Resort project. Their decision will be based solely on the
hearing record. The hearing record will include the transcripts of
the hearing, the application, all exhibits as admitted to the
record by the hearing officer, any letter, petitions or comments,
stipulations and the briefs filed by parties and the Agency
hearing staff during the hearing and any determinations of the
hearing officer. The hearing record is closed upon the receipt at
the Agency of the full transcript, and briefs or any documents the
parties agreed to submit at the hearing, whichever occurs later.
The
Adirondacks Under Glass
by Caleb Kenna for The New York Times
By Lisa W. Foderaro
Published: July 7, 2006
The Great Hall at the museum in Tupper
Lake, N.Y.
FROM space, the Adirondacks at night appear
as a black void amid a sea of glittering lights. Established
more than a century ago, the six-million-acre Adirondack Park —
a mix of public and private lands roughly the size of Vermont,
with huge stretches of wilderness — has grown ever more
remarkable as development has fundamentally altered much of the
Northeast.
With hundreds of lakes and seemingly endless
mountains that support bears and moose, alpine tundra and
centuries-old trees, the Adirondacks can generate the same rush
of wonder that the West does — a dizzying appreciation of time
and space. But apart from the backcountry hiker or expert
naturalist, few visitors come to know the Adirondacks in any
meaningful way.
Now, with the opening of the Natural History
Museum of the Adirondacks, there is a chance to grasp the
science behind the scenery: the complex relationships
underpinning a wilderness landscape that is also host to humans.
The museum, nicknamed the Wild Center, opened
on Tuesday, the $30 million brainchild of a former
New York State environmental employee with deep family roots
in the Adirondacks. It marries stunning design, paying homage to
the great-camp vernacular with local stone and timber, and an
educational philosophy that seeks to inject science with sizzle
through high-tech multisensory exhibitions.
The museum sits on 31 acres, part of which
functioned years ago as a gravel mine, a fact that the founders
felt good about because it meant not having to disturb a
pristine environment to construct their building. A trail wends
gradually down to the Raquette River, with two attractive
lookout points, and a staff naturalist is available to lead
museumgoers on guided walks.
Visitors enter via the Great Hall, a
nine-sided space studded with nine birch trees. Directly ahead
is a wall of glass overlooking an artificially created pond and
wetland. In an opening ceremony, the pond was stocked with brown
trout, rainbow trout and painted turtles. (Gov.
George E Pataki and Senator
Hillary Rodham Clinton released one each.) Even before
opening day, however, another painted turtle had wandered in on
its own and was seen swimming the pond.
THE museum is not large compared with the
Adirondack Museum 30 miles to the south in Blue Mountain Lake,
which has 22 buildings and focuses on the human history of the
Adirondacks. But the natural history museum makes an ideal
companion to the older institution and is smartly laid out,
taking visitors on a stimulating tour of the natural
characteristics of Adirondack landscapes, from bogs to trout
streams to mountain summits.
A living river exhibition runs along one
wall. It begins with a trout pool and then turns into a lower
trout stream, then an upper trout stream and then a plunge pool
before finally culminating in a waterfall where river otters
cavort over faux boulders. An exhibit about marshes presents
snapping turtles, smallmouth bass, northern pike, yellow perch
and pumpkinseed sunfish. Psychedelically hued wood ducks and
giant waterbugs are on their way.
There are so many live creatures — 75 species
will be represented — that the center almost feels more like a
mini-zoo than a museum. Children are allowed to touch. They can
dip their hands in the river exhibition, which includes a
shallow tank with rocks, tiny fish and tools in front of a large
aquarium containing rainbow trout.
At the marsh exhibition, there is a whimsical
keyboard that enthralled my 7-year-old daughter and 4-year-old
son. Each key made a different animal or insect sound, from the
haunting vibrato of the loon to the whine of the mosquito. Their
duet was surprisingly jazzy, thanks to the bass note of a
bullfrog. "You can play your own natural symphony," a staff
biologist, Leah Filo, said.
The architect, the St. Louis-based firm of
Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum, has festooned the museum with huge,
color-saturated nature photographs, along with projected images.
There are also quotations worth pondering, blown up and
illuminated, like one from Johann Gottlieb Fichte (1762-1814):
"Nature is one connected whole. At any given moment every part
must be precisely what it is, because all other parts are what
they are."
The managing director, Elizabeth M. Lowe, who
worked in public affairs for the state's Department of
Environmental Conservation for almost 20 years, conceived of the
museum in the late 1990's. Her family's ties to the Adirondacks
go back 100 years. Her great uncle owned a resort on Long Lake,
and she has a remote cabin there, accessible only by boat.
Ms. Lowe was fascinated by the forces of
nature in the park, which showed their power in a "microburst"
windstorm in 1995 that felled and injured trees over more than
400,000 acres and an ice storm a few years later that damaged a
million acres. Those events inspired educational displays that
she created while working at the state agency. "The Adirondacks
is such an incredible place, with so many unique natural
features," she said "It struck me that we needed our own natural
history museum."
She capitalized on two decades of
professional contacts with environmentalists, sportsmen and
political leaders, making 200 phone calls to anyone who might
have an opinion on the potential for a museum.
The first fund-raising effort, a simple
letter offering membership in a museum that existed only in
theory, brought in $500,000. Eight years and more than 5,000
donations later, the museum has raised about $30 million (about
a third of it from government sources), a staggering amount in a
region that still has pockets of poverty despite the affluence
of some of its second-home owners.
"The most important thing about the
Adirondacks is the fact that it is the world's best model for
humanity and nature living together," said Donald K Clifford Jr.
(a k a Obie), the president of the museum's board. Mr. Clifford,
a Westchester County resident and former member of the
American Museum of Natural History's executive committee,
owns a house on Big Wolf Lake, a private association created by
his grandfather in 1916.
The exclusive association, with only 31
members, contributed $5 million to the museum project, an act of
generosity that earned it a weighty plaque embedded in the floor
of the Great Hall, which is dedicated to Big Wolf Lake.
The outpouring of support reflects the deep
affection of residents and visitors for the Adirondacks, as well
as concern for its future. Acid rain has taken a toll on the
scenic lakes, and the park's growing popularity has translated
into a spike in homebuilding on property that was previously
untouched.
The successful fund-raising also enabled Ms.
Lowe and her team to execute their vision with first-rate talent
and sumptuous building materials. In a corner of the museum
called the Naturalist Cabinet, which is the equivalent of a
discovery room, floor-to-ceiling shelves are fashioned from
satiny birch and cabinets have wrought-iron drawer pulls shaped
like twigs.
This is where museumgoers of all ages are
encouraged to slow down and probe the natural world more deeply.
There are taxidermy specimens, bones, plaster-cast animal
tracks, pelts, microscopes, scientific literature, children's
books, games and puzzles. There are even art supplies in case
anyone has an urge to capture the tranquil pond outside the
window.
One educational game called "Guess What I
Ate?" explores scat, or, as Lisa Rodriguez, a naturalist,
translated for my children, "animal poop." Children read clues
like this one: "I live in an evergreen forest. I eat plants and
bark from high up in trees. I'm an herbivore." They then try to
identify the animal, in this case a porcupine, and find its scat
from a box of realistic-looking rubber models.
The museum is still a work in progress.
Landscaping work remains to be done around the building and the
wetland. And some of the exhibitions were still awaiting animals
as the museum officially opened.
But the contents of the museum are perfectly
complemented by the trail leading down to an oxbow in the
Raquette River, where ruby-throated hummingbirds moved silently
among birch trees, Scotch pines and meadowsweet. Brad Donahue,
one of the museum's naturalists, pointed out the flute-like
refrain of a wood thrush in the distance.
By the river, all seemed still. A green frog
peered out from the muddy bank. Two dragonflies mated. A
pumpkinseed sunfish guarded a nest she had carved in the river
bed. Whirligig beetles skated between lily pads, and white
admiral butterflies flitted around us. All seemed still, that
is, until we really looked.
If You Go
The Natural History Museum of the Adirondacks
(518-359-7800;
www.wildcenter.org, informally called the Wild Center, is at
45 Museum Drive in Tupper Lake, N.Y., about a 300-mile drive
north of New York City. To reach it from Interstate 87 (called
the Northway north of Albany), take Exit 30 and turn left on
Route 73 toward Lake Placid. Stay left at the fork a few miles
before Lake Placid, taking Old Military Road, which ends at
Route 86. Turn left onto Route 86 West, toward Saranac Lake, and
merge with Route 3 at the first light. Continue on Route 3 to
Tupper Lake. As you enter Tupper Lake, turn left on Hosley
Avenue. The museum entrance is on the left.
The museum is open daily except for
Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's Day and two weeks in April.
Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in summer and fall and 10 a.m. to 5
p.m., Friday, Saturday, Sunday & Monday from Columbus Day to
Memorial Day. Admission is $14 for adults, with discounts for
children and people over 65
Health Insurance News
Support During Tough Times
by Sharry Schrader
Essex County Business Council
Ph: 518-523-2445 Ext. 153 Fax: 518-523-2605
Email:
ecbc@northcountrychamber.com
Web: www.goessexcounty.com
Hospice programs can help patients and their families cope with
end-of-life care.
Despite the amazing advances in modern medicine, not all diseases
can be cured. There comes a time when treatment is no longer an
option. Doctors must step aside and let palliative, or
end-of-life, are take over. That’s where hospice can help.
Hospice care is special treatment for someone who is terminally
ill. Patients can spend their last days with loved ones in their
own homes or a homelike setting. Hospice care ensures that the
patient feels no pain and he or she is never alone.
Care and comfort are provided by family members, friends and
professional caregivers, not hospital staff. Your doctor, nurses
and hospice staff oversee everything.
Because caring for someone who is dying is emotionally and
physically demanding, social workers are available to help provide
emotional, spiritual and social support. Trained volunteers can
help with housework, cooking and running errands.
Hospice can improve the quality of life for the patient and family
during these difficult but unavoidable times. For more information
about hospice services please contact your local hospice
organization or talk to your doctor directly.
Tupper Lake Renaissance
MAJOR PARTNERSHIP LAUNCHES
DRIVE TO PRESERVE AND
ENHANCE RAIL IN THE ADIRONDACKS
*
The new governor has been in office for a year now and there has
been no clear communication concerning the status of the
$5,000,000 dollars to upgrade the rails from Saranac Lake to
Tupper Lake. The funding that was promised by the Pataki
Administration has not yet come through from Governor Spitzer.
In April of 2006 more than forty key interests came together at
the Saranac Lake train station to launch a major advocacy campaign
on behalf of rail service in the Adirondacks.
The Adirondack On Track Partnership called for critical new
investment by the State of New York in the Adirondack rail line
from Remsen, near Utica, to Lake Placid, guaranteeing its future
preservation and opening the door to potential new services.
Specifically, the Partnership is targeting the Transportation Bond
Act approved by state voters last fall. There is unallocated
funding in the Bond Act for upstate rail projects, and the
Partnership is pointing to the Adirondack line as an important
target for those available funds.
Currently, the line supports tourism train services between Lake
Placid and Tupper Lake and one in the Thendara area. The Lake
Placid operation needs to be extended from Saranac Lake to Tupper
Lake to fulfill its potential, making the run longer while also
adding one of the most scenic stretches of railway in the entire
Adirondacks. The tri-lakes have been pointing to Tupper Lake
service as a way to promote area tourism by linking the three
villages and all of their attractions, including the new Natural
History Museum of the Adirondacks and other developments in Tupper
Lake. Next Stop Tupper Lake is a grassroots initiative which is
already raising funds to build a new station in the village in
anticipation of restored service, demonstrating local commitment.
The Partnership is supporting the rehabilitation of the Saranac
Lake-Tupper Lake segment as a first priority, but is also seeking
the repair and rehabilitation of the entire line, all the way to
Utica. They note that it is the only surviving line into the
central Adirondacks and its tourism destinations, and holds the
potential for other future passenger and tourism services if it is
preserved. If restored to acceptable levels, it could also
accommodate freight shipments to existing companies such as Jarden
Plastic Solutions in Tupper Lake and support other economic
development efforts, reducing the need for costly truck movements.
The Adirondack On Track Partnership believes timing is critical,
both because of the current availability of rail improvement funds
as a result of the Bond Act and because the railway is
deteriorating and could be lost forever if it is not saved now.
This would include losing the benefits of the $12 million
committed by Governor George Pataki several years ago to rebuild
the Lake Placid-Saranac Lake segment.
The Partnership is requesting that the State Transportation
Department embrace the rehabilitation of the Adirondack rail line
as the rail priority for the Adirondack-North Country region and
start efforts this year to design and begin a comprehensive
rehabilitation project. The overall project should start with the
Saranac Lake-Tupper Lake stretch as the first priority, given its
severely deteriorated condition and the immediate benefits which
will result from its restoration. It is estimated that
rehabilitation of the entire line from Remsen to Lake Placid will
cost approximately $20 million, of which $6.7 million is required
for the Tupper Lake segment.
The Partnership characterizes this effort as a strategic
investment that will preserve rail access in the Adirondacks for
decades to come, while failure or delay will cost the region a key
piece of transportation infrastructure which can never be
replaced.
The Adirondack On Track Partnership has been organized by the
Plattsburgh-North Country Chamber of Commerce along with the
Tupper Lake Chamber, the Saranac Lake Area Chamber and the Lake
Placid/Essex County Visitors Bureau. Its current membership, which
is continuing to grow each week, includes State Senators Betty
Little and Raymond Meier, State Assembly Members Chris Ortloff,
Teresa Sayward and Dierdre Scozzafava, the Adirondack North
Country Association (ANCA), the Franklin County Legislature and
Essex County Board of Supervisors, the Adirondack Council, the
Adirondack Association of Towns and Villages, all of the tri-lakes
local governments, and area business, economic development and
tourism groups.
For more information:
Sharry Schrader at the
Essex County Business Council
Ph: 518-523-2445 Ext. 153 Fax: 518-523-2605
Email: ecbc@northcountrychamber.com
Web: www.goessexcounty.com
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