A publication of the SUNY-ESF Adirondack Ecological Center

Spring 2011

Adirondack Interpretive Center: Nature, Recreation, Culture

By Claire B. Dunn

The SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) took over programming at the renamed Adirondack
Interpretive Center in Newcomb Jan. 1,
expanding services to both visitors and area
residents with programs that will explore
science, recreation, natural history and
culture.
The interpretive center at ESFs Huntington Wildlife Forest in Newcomb will remain
open all winter, with 3.6 miles of trails available for those wishing to snowshoe, crosscountry ski or look for signs of winter wildlife.
Trails are open dawn to dusk daily.
The interpretive centers main building
is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through
Saturday, providing a place for visitors to
warm up and watch winter birds, such as
finches, nuthatches and boreal migrants,
at the feeders outside the lobby windows.
Visitors wishing to ensure the building is
open when they arrive are advised to check in
advance by calling 518-582-2000.
The facility was formerly operated by the
Adirondack Park Agency and was known as
the Visitor Interpretive Center. When ESF
assumed ownership, the name was changed
to reflect both its location and its mission
to serve regional residents as well as visitors
from beyond the parks boundaries.

The AIC offers a rich educational environment

with many hands-on displays.

We want to carry forward the legacy of the

Adirondack Park Agencys interpretive program, said Paul Hai, an AEC educator who
is planning programs for the interpretive center. We want the facility to be more than a
nature center. We want to offer educational

and recreational programs that are based on

a foundation of natural history and science.
Plans have been finalized for three programs that will be among those held through
the spring and summer.
Fly-fishing: A series of workshops will
explore the natural history of fish and the
culture of fly fishing and teach fly-fishing
techniques. Participants will have an opportunity to fish waters in the AECs Huntington
Wildlife Forest that are otherwise inaccessible to the public. Participants can choose to
attend one session or all in the series, which
will be held periodically through the spring
and summer.
n

Working Forests Working for You: This

series will bring experts to the center for programs and presentations on various aspects
of forestry and the forest products industry,
from silviculture to forest management and
pulp and paper mill operation.
n

n Northern Lights: This series on luminaries in the Adirondacks will include presentations on famous people whose work had a
relationship with the Adirondacks. Subjects
will include John Burroughs, Ralph Waldo
Emerson and Winslow Homer.

Other programs include professional development workshops, a series exploring the role
of the Adirondacks in modern philosophy, a
book club and canoe skills training.
For more information about the Adirondack Interpretive Center, go to:
[Link]/aic.

What and Where Is

Wilderness in the
Adirondacks?
By Abigail Larkin

Wilderness is a fundamental characteristic of the

Adirondack Park, which is the largest protected landscape in the contiguous United States and a classic
example of wilderness conservation internationally. But
what really is wilderness?
Working with AEC ecologist Dr. Colin Beier, I am
keenly interested in the driving forces of wilderness perceptions and how they vary between stakeholder groups
and geographic locations within the Adirondack Park.
The Adirondack Park consists of 17 wilderness
units defined by the State Land Master Plan. These
units protect important natural resources and ecosystems and attract a vibrant visitor base that supports
local economies. However, wilderness protections can
inhibit some forms of economic development desired
by local residents.
My research investigated the significance of wilderness to different stakeholder groups within the
Adirondacks; I did this by conducting a survey and
translating the results using a geographic information
system to create maps of perceived wilderness.
While based at the AEC, I collected 687 surveys
at trailheads, boat launches, community events and
town centers in Old Forge, Lake Placid, Lake George,
and Newcomb during the summers of 2009 and 2010.
My goal was to compare the wilderness perceptions of
residents, seasonal residents, and visitors. The survey
asked respondents to rate the desirability of certain
features, such as maintained campsites, roads, and evidence of human impact. Respondents were grouped
into four categories non-purist, neutralist, moderate
purist, strong purist on a scale that represents an
increasingly strict perception of what is, and what is not,
wilderness.

Moderate Purist

Strong Purist

Results indicated that age, education and politics are

important factors that explain how different people perceive wilderness in the Adirondack Park. The highest
concentration of strong purists was in Newcomb and
among seasonal residents, while residents were mostly
non-purists.
To visualize wilderness for each group, a wilderness
perception map was created, consisting of four layers, one for each of the four purism groups. Based on
the 16 features in the survey, undesirable features were
excluded or buffered out of the map for each purism
group layer, creating a map of perceived wilderness and
non-wilderness areas.
Wilderness perception maps will be used to compare
differences among residents, seasonal residents and
visitors; to compare responses from different regions
in the park; and to compare the extent of perceived
wilderness and the areas currently designated as
wilderness to illustrate similarities and differences
between perceptual and legal wilderness. These maps
can serve as management tools by increasing our
understanding of the publics perception of wilderness
landscapes such as the Adirondacks.
Abigail Larkin is pursuing her Masters Degree at SUNY-ESF
in the Department of Environmental and Forest Biology and
can be reached at amlarkin@[Link].

Common Thread
Interdisciplinary
Research Focuses
Students on
Water Issues
By Joseph Hoover

What do graduate students studying ecology, economics, geography, history and hydrology have in
common? The common threads for 12 graduate
students from three countries include the Adirondack
Ecological Center (AEC) and a passion for researching
water issues.
Graduate students in the physical and social sciences
and the humanities were brought together last summer
through the Humans Transforming the Hydrologic
Cycle Summer Synthesis Institute supported by City
University of New York, the Consortium of Universities
for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science Inc. and the
National Science Foundation. Our aim was to conduct
interdisciplinary hydrologic research during our seven
weeks together. For the first three weeks we bunked and
did research together at the AEC. Our mission was to
document and analyze the environmental, social, and
economic impacts of humans on the hydrologic system
in the Northeast United States between 1920 and the
present. Our challenges were daunting: construct and
implement an interdisciplinary research project while
dealing with capricious weather and black flies.
Upon arrival in Newcomb, the research benefits of
spending three weeks in the Adirondacks were difficult to identify. We initially felt isolated because we
had no cell phone service, and the population of the
closest town was 471 people. We were brought to the
AEC so we could focus almost exclusively on our
research without distraction and to become acquainted
with our fellow scholars. As we quickly realized, living
in a one-room bunkhouse for three weeks provides a
unique opportunity to get acquainted with others personal and academic values and to exchange ideas.

During the day we worked in groups at the AEC,

discussing research ideas, narrowing questions and
designing methodologies. As we learned, when 12
people work in one room with eight tables, they have
unusual conversations and gain insights into how
researchers from other disciplines approach environmental issues. Within a 15-minute period, I was able to
speak with a hydrologist about stream flow, an economist about the water stress index, and a historian about
dam construction patterns in the Northeast during the
20th century. The ability to immediately access and
share disciplinary information that would be otherwise arduous to obtain proved to be one of the greatest
benefits of our time in the Adirondacks.
At the conclusion of each day, weather permitting,
we explored the Adirondacks by hiking, biking, canoeing or kayaking. The beauty I observed and serenity
I found sitting in a kayak in the middle of Rich Lake after
a long day of conversation and research is indescribable.
The rejuvenation we found through the charm and
magnificence of the Adirondacks enabled us to sustain
intense 10- to 12-hour research days for three weeks.
Our time at the AEC enabled us to spend three weeks
living near the headwaters of the Hudson River, where
we developed our understanding of water resource
issues in the Northeast and the challenges and benefits
of interdisciplinary research. The progress we made in
the Adirondacks enabled us to complete our project
during the remaining four weeks of the program spent
in New York City at the mouth of the Hudson River.
Joseph Hoover is a doctoral candidate in the Department of
Geography at the University of Denver. For more information
on the Summer Institute, see: [Link]
edu.

AEC to Donate
Proceeds to
Sage Apprentice
Fund

Cait discovers a toad while searching for salamanders.

Examining a
salamanders menu
By Stacy McNulty

Does the early salamander really get the worm? To find out,
Caitlin Snyder captured salamanders near dawn to study the
influence of a calcium gradient on the diet, habitat, and abundance of woodland salamanders, with attention to potential
impacts of non-native earthworms. This past summer, Cait sampled
diets of 177 salamanders across 12 Adirondack sites. She was assisted
by Tivona Renoni, an undergraduate conducting independent research
supported by ESFs Roosevelt Wild Life Station. Earthworms were
not often consumed by salamanders, on these sites, regardless of soil
calcium and acidity. Tiny snails, mites and larvae were typical prey
items of red-backed and dusky salamanders foraging in the cool, wet
leaf litter.
Cait, a masters candidate in conservation biology in the Department of Environmental and Forest Biology, shows great promise as a
scientist and educator. During SUNY-ESFs Take Your Kids to Work
Day, in Syracuse, N.Y., she shared her enthusiasm for field biology
with a hands-on presentation, The Dirt on Worms, with more than
30 children. She also provided information to hundreds of people on
earthworm invasion ecology during the Adirondack Park Invasive
Species Program Awareness Week. Caitlins research received support
from the Walker Fellowship of SUNY Potsdam and a Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Grant from the American Museum of Natural History
(a fitting connection to ESF).
The calcium gradient is important to plants and wildlife in Adirondack forests still recovering from acidic deposition. Look for more
research results in future issues.

The Adirondack Ecological Center staff is donating proceeds from

the sale of the official AEC T-shirts to a fund that is dear to their
hearts. The Richard W. Sage Jr. Apprenticeship Fund was established by the family of Dick Sage in an effort to continue to enrich
the educational experience of ESF students at the AEC. Dick was
a forest ecologist at Huntington Wildlife Forest for 38 years, for a
time serving as associate director. Dick was passionate about teaching and bringing science to students in exciting and engaging ways
to enrich their educational experience.
The recipient of this award gains valuable field and management experience at
the AEC, typically having research coordination and monitoring responsibilities
during summer. Staff member Charlotte
Demers, who had the privilege to work
with Dick, said, If we can continue to
add to this fund, someday we may be able
to fund the Sage Apprentice for an entire
year. AEC is pleased to be able to contribute to this fund and to continue his legacy.
For more information, please see http://
[Link]/development/.

Mike Gooden shows

off some stylish AEC
apparel.

AECs Wish List

We seek equipment in good condition for research projects
and classes. Items include:

13-foot aluminum canoes

12 or 14-foot aluminum rowboats

4-stroke outboard motors

Oars and oar locks

Life vests (adult and child size)

Waders (no leaks)

Please contact Charlotte Demers at 518-582-4551 x103

How Do Beavers Affect Our Forest ?

By Anna Harrison

The presence of beavers in a body of water can be a product of

both the natural features of the landscape and the changes produced by beavers themselves to make the landscape more suitable
to their needs. My research uses a set of data, collected over 30
years, that tells the story of beaver presence at Huntington Wildlife
Forest to learn about the relationships between landscape features
and occupancy of beaver colonies.
My hypothesis was that long-term beaver occupancy at a site
is related to three main factors: the landscapes ability to support
suitable beaver habitat, the effort required for dam construction
and maintenance, and the quality and quantity of available food.
I evaluated these influences on beaver occupancy at 14 pond and
wetland sites in Huntington Wildlife Forest.
I learned that sites with the highest beaver occupancy had more
habitat area and deciduous stands and required minimal effort
to maintain ponds. Large ponds are advantageous, allowing the
animals greater access to both dam materials and forage in the
uplands adjacent to the pond.

Beavers not only altered ecosystems by impounding water and

creating ponds but also by removing woody vegetation from
the surrounding area. To better understand the forest community surrounding beaver ponds, I analyzed tree size and species
preferences of beavers and characterized the impacts of proximity to beaver ponds on tree density, basal area, and seedling/
sapling recruitment within the beaver foraging area. Beavers
harvest trees most heavily near their ponds. Intense foraging
adjacent to ponds has resulted in reductions of preferred species,
like striped maple and American beech, near ponds; lower densities of small stemmed trees (2-5cm in diameter); high densities of
multistemmed, shrubby trees adjacent to the beaver ponds, indicating a long-term structural effect on vegetation; and seedling
regeneration dominated by sugar maple, the less preferred species
of beaver. The cumulative effect of decades of beaver foraging has
resulted in a gradient of impacts on forest composition, where
impacts decrease with increased distance from the pond edge.
Anna Harrison is a masters student in the Department of Forest and
Natural Resources Management at ESF working with Dr. John Stella.

HWF Dedicates New Lean-To Site

A site on Deer Lake has been designated for recreational and
research-related camping. The new lean-to site recognizes Bill Porters legacy, his appreciation of the Huntington Wildlife Forest and
his dedication to working with students in this fantastic setting. The
private roadside location will permit seasonal camping in addition to

Photo by Carl Heilman II

the Birch Point Lean-to, which is accessible by boat. The traditional

Adirondack lean-to will be installed once the necessary funds are raised.
With your help, future students and alumni will be able to enjoy a lakeside retreat in a beautiful spot. To contribute to the lean-to construction, please contact AEC at 518-582-4551 or aechwf@[Link].

Andy Saunders A Look Back

Andy Saunders

There are lots of clichs about endings:

how they are really new beginnings, or the
opening of a new door with the closing of an
old, but the truth is they still have a core of
finality, even if they are a cause for celebration.
This summer we celebrated a significant ending, the retirement of D. Andrew Saunders,
creator of and quiet force behind ESFs environmental interpretation program.

Andy started his ESF career at HWF in 1985, building and running
the Adirondack Wildlife Program using natural history as the touch-

stone for teaching the process of science in regional public schools.

Since he started here, it was appropriate we celebrate his retirement
at HWF, too, with a barbeque picnic on Rich Lake beach Saturday,
Aug. 21. More than 45 colleagues, current and former students, friends
and family from across New York and as far as Ohio came to share
their appreciation for and memories of working with Andy during his
25-year tenure. We are thankful that he will continue to be involved
with ESF in between fishing trips and time with wife Gail. While his
daily presence in Illick Hall has ended, his program and legacy will
continue through the countless students, teachers and professionals
he taught and inspired.

Seasons of Change
One of the primary values of a field station
like the AEC is the ability to witness changes
to a system over time. Marked changes have
occurred at the AEC this year, not in the flora
and fauna, but in the staff and administration.
Our longtime director, Dr. William Porter,
retired from ESF after 29 years at the AECs
helm. Bill is now the Boone and Crockett
Dr. William Porter
Endowed Chair of Wildlife at Michigan State
University, a prestigious position focused on wildlife ecology research.
At the alumni reunion weekend the staff presented Bill with a memory
book and beautiful photo of Deer Lake by famed Adirondack photographer Carl Heilman II. We dedicated a new lean-to site in his honor
(see story above) and a group of current and former graduate students provided a plaque detailing Bills contributions to the AEC. It was a lovely
weekend and a fitting sendoff. (see next page)

Dr. Douglas Allen

Dr. Douglas Allen has been named interim

director of the AEC. Doug is a forest entomologist who taught at ESF for 37 years and until
retiring four years ago; he maintains active

research on pests of sugar maple and a keen interest in Adirondack

research. We wish Bill well and welcome Doug to the fold!
We have had a number of staffing changes.
Stacy McNulty was named associate director
in July and oversees day-to-day operation and
station activities. ZoeAnn Jeffery joined us
in March as the business manager. Zoe has a
wealth of experience in accounting, budgeting
and office management and she and her husband, Dell (a DEC forest ranger), have lived in
Newcomb for more than two years.

ZoeAnn Jeffery

We bid adieu to three former staff members. Kathy Poulton took

a new position with Newcomb Central School this fall after handling
administrative and housing needs for three years. Marianne PatinelliDubay is pursuing her doctorate in philosophy. Marianne is still a
part of program offerings through the Northern Forest Institute.
Erin Vinson has moved on to a new job as well.
We thank Bill, Kathy, Marianne and Erin for their dedication to
serving students, researchers and visitors to the Huntington Wildlife
Forest. The entire AEC staff welcomes Doug and Zoe and looks forward to a bright future.

AEC Alumni: Yesterday and Today

70 Attend Reunion

Alumnus Looks Back

The Huntington Wildlife Forest Alumni

Reunion was held August 13-15, 2010. Nearly
70 former students, researchers, and alumni
and their families attended and the weather
was spectacular all weekend. Alumni traveled
from across the country to relax and enjoy the
barbeque on Rich Lake, as well as catch up on
current research.

Dr. Karl Wolter (ESF 58) visited the AEC

last autumn to share his memories of HWF.
After returning from the Korean War like
many he went to school at SUNY-ESF on the
G.I. Bill. Dr. Wolter brought video footage of
summer 1956 when he was a HWF technician tagging fish, capturing mice and reseeding logging roads. He retired from a career
as a plant physiologist at the University of
Wisconsin and now volunteers at a wildlife
rehabilitation center.

The wine and cheese social was held in the

Huntington Lodge; alumni marveled over its transformation. Field
trips and presentations on current research and Adirondack history,
hikes, canoeing, games and campfires were enjoyed by all. Plan now
for the next alumni reunion to be held in two years!

Alumni: Do you have photos of your time at HWF? Share them on the
AECs Facebook site or send them to aechwf@[Link]

The Summer that Changed My Life

By Timothy Watson

I arrived at the Huntington Wildlife Forest the day after I graduated from ESF to be the Sage Apprentice for the summer. I had been
to HWF a few times and had fallen in love with it. I wasnt really sure
what to expect from the job but I knew that this would be a summer
to remember.
The Sage Apprenticeship is a position set up in honor of
the late AEC Associate Director Richard Dick W. Sage. I
had never met Dick, but from what I hear, he was an amazing biologist and forester who was at home in the field. Working with AEC ecologists, as the apprentice, I conducted a variety of
surveys and supervised the summer work-study students. (See page 4.)
I had a week to get organized for the summer before the workstudy students arrived. I was a little worried about being in charge of
students not much younger than me but I couldnt have asked for a
better group. All six students worked hard day in and day out no matter what job they were assigned.
Our work included loon surveys, salamander surveys, small mammal trapping, marten trapping, and deer telemetry. We accomplished
a lot that was credited to me but without the students, almost nothing
would have gotten done.

The Spruce Moose is a publication of the Adirondack

Ecological Center. The mission of the AEC is to provide
an understanding of the Adirondack ecosystem through
research. The AEC is located on Huntington Wildlife
Forest, a 6,000-ha research facility in Newcomb, N.Y.,
operated by the SUNY College of Environmental Science
and Forestry since 1932.

This summer I
learned more than
I ever thought possible, made some
amazing friends
along the way, and
connected w ith
professionals who
offered me future
employment.
One of Dicks
famous quotes is a
comment he often
made to visitors
to the Hunting- Tim Watson takes in the view from the Goodnow
ton Wildlife Forest: Mountain fire tower overlooking Rich Lake.
Give me an afternoon and I can change your mind, give me a summer and I can change your life. Despite never having met me, he definitely changed my life this summer.
Tim Watson is a 2010 EFB graduate who recently worked on Gulf oil spill
damage assessment and Adirondack marten ecology.

Spruce Moose Staff

Editor:
Publishing/Layout:
Content editor:
Interim Director:

Contact Us
Stacy McNulty
Vance Blackburn
Claire Dunn
Douglas Allen

Web: [Link]/aec

Adirondack Ecological Center

6312 State Route 28N
Newcomb NY 12852
Phone: 518-582-4551
E-mail: aechwf@[Link]

Source to Sink:

Hudson Watershed Coordination

By Stacy McNulty

The Hudson River, flowing 315 miles from

Adirondack wilderness to the nations most
populated city, is Balkanized by disjointed
management, according to ESF researcher Karin
Limburg.
The river, integral to the founding of our
country, becomes tidal at the Federal Dam in
Troy, halfway from its High Peaks origin. The
watershed is managed in three sections by
the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and its long run from
the Adirondacks and its Mohawk River tributaries to urban New York City makes contemplating, studying and managing the
entire watershed challenging, Limburg says.
In an effort to solve that problem through
expanded networking and coordination of
research and education in the Hudson Watershed, a two-day conversation was held in October at the Huntington Wildlife Forest. Sponsored
by the AEC and the Environmental Consortium
of Hudson Valley Colleges and Universities, the
gathering drew representatives from nearly 20
organizations who discussed ways to share information and explored the Hudson headwaters.
With its lakes draining into the Hudson,
HWF was an ideal place for the Source to Sink
meeting. Arbutus Lake is part of national
atmospheric deposition, mercury, and other
monitoring networks. The restored Huntington Lodge is nestled on the shore of Arbutus Lake and was the location for the poster
session and evening festivities. Also included in
the constellation of upper Hudson resources is
ESFs Northern Forest Institute, an education,
training and outreach center. Limburg, who
helped organize the meeting, teaches a weeklong
course in which she and her students travel from
HWF down to Manhattan to study the river. The
course is an excellent example of a whole-watershed activity (for more on these topics see the
Spring 2010 and Fall 2008 Spruce Moose).
Some of the next steps include distributing
the new Hudson Educator Resource List, a complilation of facilities and organizations that host
river-related programs for K-16 and public edu-

cators; creating a journal and web-based Hudson

River Communication Website showing locations and topic areas of activities; coordinating
existing research networks; and increasing participation in whole-watershed community and
educational activities such as the Hudson River
Almanac.
Our understanding of the ecological functions
and attendant ecosystem services and economic
benefits of the Hudson River has increased over
the past decades; however, many threats impact
the entire basin, requiring innovative and
collaborative solutions. Interested parties are
invited to engage in this network focused on the
entire Hudson Watershed from source to sink.
Visit [Link]
news/source_to_sink.html.
The Source to Sink Hudson Watershed meeting was
supported by a SUNY Conversation in the Disciplines
Grant.

Swift or smooth, broad as the Hudson

or narrow enough to scrape your
gunwales, every river is a world of its
own, unique in pattern and personality. Each mile on a river will take you
further from home than a hundred
miles on a road.
~ Bob Marshall , ESF graduate
and wilderness advocate

Newcomb Winter Meeting:

A Continuing Tradition
By Jerry Zaykoski

Its a beautiful late-winter Friday in March as

I drive east on Route 3 from Watertown toward
Tupper Lake. My destination is the remote
hamlet of Newcomb, nestled in the heart of
the Adirondacks. The closer I get, the more my
anticipation builds. Today
the trip seems to be taking longer than it ever has
before.

a living room and a couple bathrooms. In the

middle was a stairway to the second floor. Midway up was a moose-head mount in the middle
landing . I chose a bedroom, tossed my belongings onto the bed and went back downstairs to
check out the rest of the
lodge.

The first thing to do was to explore the place. It

was mostly a rustic lodge with several bedrooms,

I was one of the last to leave and while driving back toward Route 28N a thought entered

My friends had said

there was this one room
that had to be seen to be
Driving down bumpy
believed. It is a large great
Route 28N, the familroom with a high ceiling
iar Huntington Forest
and a dominating fireplace
sign appears and Arbutus
where a fire was roaring.
Road is to my left. TurnHuntington Lodge hosts meetings and
A geologist by training, I
ing north, the drive continsmall conferences.
had to marvel at the rocks
ues down what seems like a
long one-mile road that ends at a familiar lodge. that made up this impressive feature. The room
Home at last. Well, thats kind of what it feels like. had three elk mounts on the walls, many deer
mounts, and several small stuffed animals on
Im here because I work for the Department of shelves around the room. It was a lovely setting
Environmental Conservations Mined Land Rec- for our meetings.
lamation Program and my job entails meeting
The snow ended overnight and by morning the
with program members from around the state.
skies were clear and sunny. It was a spectacular
Back in 1993, the winter meeting was sched- Adirondack winter morning, including the temuled for a place that was new to me: Huntington perature which was far below zero! Our meetLodge at the SUNY College of Environmen- ing commenced at 1 p.m. with a comforting fire
tal Science and Forestrys Adirondack Ecologi- in the background. Our only real concern was
cal Center in Newcomb. Many of my colleagues if we had enough wood to keep the fire ablaze.
wondered about this remote place and what kind A quick look onto the back porch revealed a
of activities it might offer when our business was plentiful supply.
completed.
When the first days business ended, several
That first Newcomb meeting began Sunday, of us decided to go snowshoeing on some of
Jan. 31, 1993. It was Super Bowl Sunday and I the trails around the facility. (In later years we
was driving on State Route 30 through the mid- cross-country skied around Arbutus Pond.) We
dle of the Adirondacks. It was late afternoon, returned to the lodge as several colleagues were
dark with heavy snow and cold temperatures preparing dinner. We ate and relaxed around the
that made the driving difficult. Entering Long lodge, mostly in the great room. This routine
Lake, you see a road sign, Route 28N New- continued through noon Wednesday when the
comb. Almost there, I mused. Eleven miles later, meeting concluded and we decided to do this
I turned onto a narrow, snow-covered road that again next year. We all went room-to-room and
led to a group of cabins and a larger lodge. The cleaned up, wanting to leave the place cleaner
name on the sign said Huntington Lodge.
than when we arrived.

Continued on back cover

An Adirondack
Service Adventure
By Rebecca Mary Long Osborne
Photographs by Aaron Knight

On the morning of March 6, 2010, 50

ESF and Syracuse University students
departed from Syracuse and made the
long winding journey up to the Adirondack Ecological Center. The purpose
was to get away from the hustle and bustle of Syracuse and escape to a retreat in
the beautiful mountains and lakes of the
Adirondacks. The group consisted of
brothers from a co-ed community service fraternity on campus called Alpha
Phi Omega. All 10 cars arrived in Newcomb greeted by sunny weather and zero cell phone service, which may have been initially shocking
for some, but overall it was great for a weekend full of good old-fashioned bonding.
After our arrival we went right to work; as a community service fraternity we are in no way strangers to volunteering and in exchange for outreach efforts we received a place to stay. We split into two
work groups; one went to Goodnow Mountain, the other to the Visitor Interpretive Center nearby
to do some trail work via snowshoes.
I was a part of the first group. We congregated at the base of the mountain and were greeted by
two AEC staff members, forester Bruce Breitmeyer and educator Erin Vinson, as well as staff from
AANet, the organization we were helping. There waiting for us was a lineup of seven batteries, weighing more than 50 pounds each, strapped onto sleds to be hauled up the mountain. The batteries were
to be used as backup for solar panels powering wireless Internet access across the research station. It
seemed like a simple task with more than 30 people and only six sleds to haul to the top. We quickly
learned that this task was anything but simple!
Three burly brothers pushed and pulled a sled holding two batteries all the way to the top, with
the rest of the group all around them lugging their own sleds. There were many different techniques
to observe as we diligently hiked: pushing and pulling, sprinting and resting, collapsing in the snow,
and more. Everyone seemed to figure out their own personal system for making it to the top. It was
definitely my most intense service project to date, and I have never been so relieved to get to the top
of a mountain!
All of the participants were rewarded with an awesome 360-degree view of the Adirondacks along
with enough cell service to send some pictures back home!
The trek down was much less laborious and the rest of the retreat was completely relaxing and
carefree. We were served dinner and dessert, some Boy Scouts in the group made a fire so we were
able to roast marshmallows and even do some stargazing from the frozen lake. The group had a great
time and would like to thank the Adirondack Ecological Center for providing a restoring weekend
getaway to the beautiful Adirondacks.
Editors note: The AEC and AANet would like to extend our gratitude to APO for their hard work,
enthusiasm, and endless supply of energy!

10

Recent Publications
Allen, E., R. Curran, S. Halasz, J. Barge, S. McNulty, A. Keal, and M. Glennon.
2009. Adirondack GIS: Resources, Wilderness, and Management. Marguerite
Madden, ed. Pages 1135-1168 in the ASPRS Manual of Geographic Information
Systems. American Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, Bethesda,
MD. 1352pp.
Beier, C.M. and D. Spada 2010. Forest and Land Management Task Force: An
Agenda for Building Adaptive Capacity to Climate Change in the Adirondacks.
Adirondack Climate Action Plan (ADKCAP) 2010 Conference, Tupper Lake, N.Y.
Beier, C.M., A.L. Lovecraf and F.S. Chapin 2009. Growth and collapse of a
resource system: an adaptive cycle of change in public lands governance and forest
management in Alaska. Ecology & Society 14(2): 5 [online] [Link]
Beier, C.M., T.M. Patterso and F.S. Chapin 2008. Ecosystem services and emergent vulnerability in managed ecosystems: a geospatial decision-support tool.
Ecosystems 11(6): 923-938
Evers, D., M. Duron, D. Yates, and N. Schoch. 2009. An exploratory study of
methylmercury availability in terrestrial wildlife of New York and Pennsylvania,
2005-2006. New York State Electric and Gas Report 10-03. 86pp.
Giencke, L. 2010. Spatiotemporal dynamics of an Adirondack forest.
M.S. Thesis, State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and
Forestry, Syracuse, New York, USA. 72pp.
Haase, C. G. 2010. Characterizing critical thermal environments for moose
(Alces alces) in the Adirondack Mountains of New York. M.S. Thesis, State
University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry,
Syracuse, New York, USA. 104pp.
Jablonski, K.E., S. A. McNulty, and M. D. Schlesinger. 2010. A digital spotmapping method for avian field studies. Wilson Journal of Ornithology 122:772
776.
Karraker, N.E. and J.P. Gibbs. 2009. Amphibian production in forested landscapes in relation to wetland hydroperiod: A case study of vernal pools and beaver
ponds. Biological Conservation, 142(10):2293-2302.
Krichbaum. K., C.G. Mahan, M.A. Steete, G. Turner and P.J. Hudson. 2010.
The potential role of Stronglyoides robustus on parasite-mediated competition
between two species of flying squirrels (Glaucomys). Journal on Wid Life Diseases
45: 229-235.
Smith, M. C. 2010. White-tailed deer migration in the central Adirondack Park:
mechanisms and implications for spreading infectious diseases. M.S. Thesis, State
University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse,
New York, 62 pp.
Stager, J.C., S. McNulty, C. Beier, and J. Chiarenzelli. 2009. Historical patterns and effects of changes in Adirondack climates since the early 20th century.
Adirondack Journal of Environmental Studies 15:14-24.
Researchers: If you have recent publications involving data or resources from Huntington
Wildlife Forest, tell us about it! Please email the details to aechwf@[Link]

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Adirondack Ecological Center

6312 State Route 28N
Newcomb, New York 12852

change service requested

Newcomb Winter Meeting

Continued from page 9

In late January 2010, we found out the lodge was once again available and we would be the first group to rent it. We immediately began
to make arrangements and set the meeting for March 5 through 7.
Upon entering the lodge after that two-year break, I met my colleague, Matt Podniesinski, along with Paul Hai, who provided a tour
of the remodeled facility. We were impressed with the new kitchen:
new cabinetry, stove, microwave, refrigerator and a dishwasher were
in place. The former living room had been remodeled into a dining/
conference room. The old green carpet was gone and the wooden
floors have been renewed. Most impressive is the fireplace that was
discovered behind the closet next to the stairway. With the work of a
local stonemason to do the rehab work, it looks beautiful and is fully
functional. The great room is as great as ever with a new floor and
exquisite new furniture.

Sun shines on the grounds of the refurbished Huntington Lodge.

my mind: Wow, what a jewel this place is here in a remote part of the
Adirondacks. I couldnt wait to come back!
For years we did just that. But in early 2008 we learned the lodge
would soon close for repairs and remodeling. We had no choice but
to cancel our Newcomb meeting for 2009.

As the remaining members of our group arrived, we delighted in

showing them the new place. We settled into our Newcomb routine
for the next couple days and too soon Sunday morning rolled around.
We usually awaken Sunday morning with a melancholy feeling, knowing soon we have to leave. This year, as always, we packed up and went
from one end of the lodge to the other to clean up. As usual, I was the
last to leave. As the drive down Arbutus Road begins, I think to myself,
what a jewel this place is. I cant wait until next year!
Jerry Zaykoski works for the N.Y. State Department of Environmental Conservations Mined Land Reclamation Program in Region 6.