Hamilton County, NY

It doesn’t get any better than educating kids on a hike, bringing in some creativity with a journaling activity, and appreciating the wild energy of a waterfall. I teamed up with staff from the Hamilton County Family First Program and Trail Blazers to host a hike and outdoor journaling adventure to Auger Falls for students from Wells, Lake Pleasant, and Indian Lake.

Originally from: Ohio, N.Y. Occupation: I work for Hamilton County Soil and Water as a conservation technician. I oversee the district’s lake monitoring program, among other things. Our lake monitoring program is quite unique. Since 1993, the district has been collecting data from 21 lakes in Hamilton County, resulting in a robust data set that is publicly owned.

I’ve had a few folks write me asking about the progress of the Adirondack Rail Trail. Phil Brown actually rode some of it! In case you missed his story, take a look here. The state legislative session is winding down, but that just means the work is ramping up. There are so many bills to keep track of, and I doubt legislators will get to all that were proposed this year. For example, I haven’t seen any movement around the conservation design bill. I also haven’t seen any movement on some of the constitutional amendments in the pipeline, such as Hamilton County’s request to put an emergency communications tower on Cathead Mountain.

A Brook Trout Conservation Field day presented by Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Hamilton and Herkimer Associations will be held on June 4-5 in collaboration with Trout Power and Great Camp Sagamore. The Field Day invites all to come to learn about the tremendous strides in research and conservation practices that are helping to restore the heritage strains of brook trout that were once abundant throughout the Adirondacks.

Caitlin Stewart is Conservation Educator at the Hamilton County Soil and Water Conservation District (. ). One of HCSWCD’s largest programs is their Invasive Species program and Caitlin will be sharing her field experiences, as well as the efforts and results of forest surveys, and monitoring and management. Caitlin has...

The Hedges on Blue Mountain Lake is commemorating its 100th season in 2021. In recognition of this milestone, Hamilton County and the Town of Indian Lake have designated May 28 as “The Hedges Centennial Day.” The NYS Legislature also recognized the anniversary. Richard and Margaret Collins welcomed the first lodging...

BLUE MOUNTAIN LAKE — The Hedges on Blue Mountain Lake is commemorating its 100th season, and in recognition of this milestone, Hamilton County and the town of Indian Lake have designated this Friday as Hedges Centennial Day. Richard and Margaret Collins welcomed the first lodging guests on May 28, 1921,...

The Tug Hill Commission and its partners at the Lewis, Jefferson, Hamilton, Herkimer and Oneida County Soil and Water Conservation Districts and the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation Region 6 are pleased to bring you “Watershed Wednesday Webinars,” in May and June, as the in-person Black River Watershed Conference has been postponed again this year. All webinars are free, pre- sented via Zoom and require preregistration. This information is also available on the commission’s website at tughill.org/black-river-watershed-wednesdays-2021/.

Hamilton County is loaded with waterfalls, and with rain and spring melt, those waterfalls are loaded with water, and that opens some serious opportunities for scenic hiking and photography. While out exploring you can also work on a popular hiking list called the Waterfall Challenge, put on by Hamilton County....

Rural Hamilton County in Upstate New York leans heavily Republican, yet it bucked trends to become one of the most vaccinated counties in the country. Sixty-five percent of Hamilton County residents have been vaccinated, compared with 36 percent of Americans nationally. Its success stemmed from a robust preparation plan and a decoupling of politics and public health.

On May 14 at 11:52 a.m., DEC’s Ray Brook Dispatch was contacted by Hamilton County 911 requesting Forest Ranger assistance for a wildfire off of Starbuck Road in the town of Indian Lake. Forest Rangers Lomnitzer, Temple, Miller, and Scott responded to assist. Over the course of several hours, Forest Rangers worked with the responding volunteer fire departments to suppress and control the fire. After approximately seven acres burned, the fire was placed in patrol status later in the evening. The fire was patrolled and monitored for several days before being declared out. The cause of the fire was traced back to an illegal debris burn by a nearby homeowner. The individual was issued several tickets for illegal burning and related charges.

A rural county in Upstate New York has one of the nation’s highest vaccination rates, according to a new report from ABC News. Two-thirds of Hamilton County residents — 66.1% as of Monday morning — have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19, according to data from the U.S. Centers for the Disease Control and Prevention. The number’s even higher for adults, as 76.1% of Hamilton County residents 18 and older are fully vaccinated.

An upstate New York county has one of the highest COVID-19 vaccination rates in the country. Some 65 percent of Hamilton County residents are fully vaccinated against the virus, way better than the 36 percent of people nationwide and 41.6 percent across the Empire State, according to an ABC analysis of figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

– On May 14 at 11:52 a.m., DEC’s Ray Brook dispatch was contacted by Hamilton County 911 requesting forest ranger assistance for a wildfire off of Starbuck Road in the town of Indian Lake. Forest Rangers Bruce Lomnitzer, Jenifer Temple, Gary Miller and Jason Scott responded to assist. Over the...

LONG LAKE – When schools across the state were preparing to reopen during the pandemic, expenses shot up. Air filters, masks, hand sanitizer and technology for remote learning pushed up the cost of educating students. Thus, when the American Rescue Plan was passed earlier this year, schools everywhere were welcoming...

In the days before the riots at our nation’s Capital that temporarily stopped certification of Joe Biden’s election as President, I wrote a. piece for the Almanack detailing all the ways that our Adirondack and North Country Congresswoman Elise Stefanik had lied to her constituents about the 2020 election. Then, after the rioters were cleared from the Capitol on January 6th, which included dead bodies, Elise Stefanik took to the floor of the House of Representatives and lied some more.

The Hamilton County Soil and Water Conservation District held our 41st annual and first virtual Conservation Field Day event last fall where students learned about natural resource conservation from the experts and entered the fifth-grade essay and sixth-grade poster contests. I scheduled virtual and in-person awards ceremonies this winter with all participating schools to reward students’ knowledge and creativity.