December 14 - 7:00 Program - Images and Music of the Adirondacks

Dan Berggren, Dan Duggan, Peggy Lynn and Casey Filiaci are seasoned solo performers with more than 25 albums among them. Their combined accomplishments include national public radio airplay, regional TV specials, documentaries, movies, TV specials, two Emmy nominations, awards from the Adirondack community and even music for Disney. With traditional folk roots and original songs, they perform with unique arrangements and striking harmonies.

Dan Berggren (www.berggrenfolk.com) is an award-winning educator and musician who grew up in the Adirondacks and has been entertaining audiences for more than 35 years while producing albums with his recording company, Sleeping Giant Records. His songs come from the stories of friends and neighbors and focus on human nature, love, hard work, failure and success.

Casey Filiaci (caseyfiliaci.com/home.htm) is an accomplished composer, arranger, pianist and producer who resides in Pittsford, NY, and whose credits include HBO's Main Movie Theme, NBC Olympic Themes, multiple Silver Mic and Telly awards for his jingles, and two Emmy nominations for “Best Sports Music.” His only goal is to create music in a variety of musical genres that will deliver memorable results.

Dan Duggan (www.esperanceproductions.com/index.html), a national hammered dulcimer champion and award-winning composer, is recognized from Maine to California for his wizardry on the instrument; his Esperance Recording Studio specializes in Acoustic Music. The Erie Daily Times calls the music produced by his studio as “timeless . . . the sort which restores your soul.”

Peggy Lynn (www.quercusmusic.com/index.html), singer, songwriter and arts educator, brings an infectious enthusiasm to all her endeavors. With a sultry, yet powerful alto voice, she gives a clear message of the passion underlying her songs: the contributions and burdens of women. Her music ranges from folksy to blues with equal ease, alone or harmonizing with others. Her honors include the Arthur E. Newkirk Education award from the Adirondack Mountain Club in 2005.

“I Am the Adirondacks" is Carl Heilman II's (www.carlheilman.com) most recent, digital, multi-image production and is an evocative, visual journey that speaks of our relationship with wilderness and our spiritual connection with the Earth as we venture into the spectacular landscapes of nature and find wonder in the details. Carl has photographed the Adirondacks for more than 30 years, working to meld his passion for wildness into his landscape and panoramic photography (www.naturepanoramas.com). His work has been presented on regional PBS stations and has been published in many national and regional publications, including his coffee table books: The Coast of Maine (2009), Lake George (2009), Backroads of New York (2007), The Adirondacks (2006), Our New York (2006), Wild New York (2005), and Adirondacks: Views of An American Wilderness (1999). His highly acclaimed, digital, panoramic presentation, "The Wild Adirondacks," is shown daily at The Wild Center Natural History Museum of the Adirondacks in Tupper Lake.

This magical evening will conclude with sales of CDs from the musicians, plus DVDs, posters, books, Adirondack puzzles and calendars from Carl. 

6:30 – Workshop – TBD

September 14 – 7:30 – Program – Tom Wemett: Trekking the Northville-Placid Trail

May 11 – 7:30 – Program – Tim McDonnell: New York Waterways: Geologic Formation and How They Shaped Our History

As avid paddlers, hikers and photographers, we treasure NY's extensive waterways for their beauty and recreational value. Tim McDonnell previously gave us an overview of the geologic formation of the major features of our NY landscape. He's returning now to focus on its waterways - starting with their formation, and giving particular attention to the role of the Adirondack Mountains. From there, he'll show how those waterways shaped New York's political, economic, religious, and social history; and how strategic use of those waterways at critical junctures in our history, (including the French and Indian War, the American Revolutionary War, and later, the campaign to abolish slavery), were crucial to the success of those early national struggles.

Tim could be described as a geography activist. As co-coordinator of the New York Geographic Alliance (NYGA), a partner with the National Geographic Society, and as a teacher at MCC and OSHER Lifelong Institute for Learning at RIT, he has dedicated himself to promoting multi-disciplinary investigation of the connection between the physical landscape and its people, history, religions and economy, and the need for geographical literacy to meet the challenges of today's world. He teaches geography, geology, and astronomy at MCC in the Chemistry/Geosciences Dept., and at OSHER, where he has also recently taught courses in plate tectonics, evolution, and the Underground Railroad.

Tim has his own personal website “Geography of New York” (http://www.nygeo.org). His message is “Geography is not an indoor sport”; you have to get out and explore, and he provides interactive maps and geological guides designed to do so.

6:30 – Workshop – Steve Tryon: ADK-GVC website tour

Join webmaster Steve for a tour of the chapter website -- one of the best in the state if we do say so ourselves.  Find out where he hides things and how you can how you can help un-hide them.  Questions, comments and, especially, suggestions are welcome.

The biggest change in the past few months is the way we handle the various trip schedules.  Come see how the new calendars work, and how you can view the schedules in your personal calendar.

April 13 7:30 – Program – Neil Woodworth: Can We Protect our State Forests and the Finger Lakes Trail?

Neil Woodworth, executive director of the Adirondack Mountain Club (ADK), will discuss the threats posed from a new state proposal to lease our DEC managed state forests in Western and Central New York to energy companies to extract natural gas using high volume hydraulic fracturing gas exploration and exploitation. He will speak at a meeting of the ADK Genesee Valley on April 13. He will discuss the potential threats to our ground and surface waters as well as the surface impacts to the state forests that are the setting of the Finger Lakes Trail and the North Country National Scenic Trail.

Woodworth, who is also a renowned environmental attorney, will also discuss ADK’s recent efforts to protect Allegany State Park and other wild areas from gas exploration using high-volume hydraulic fracturing. He will show aerial photography of hydrofracturing sites southwest of Rochester in the Allegheny National Forest. He will discuss what ADK and each of us can do to protect our public lands, state parks and state forests from this highly intensive, destructive industrial activity on lands legally set aside for watershed protection, wildlife habitat and public recreation.

Neil Woodworth, Executive Director and Counsel of the Adirondack Mountain Club works directly with the Executive Chamber and Legislature in New York, and Congress to advocate for the acquisition, preservation and wise management of the Adirondack and Catskill Forest Preserves, New York’s state parks and for public lands and open space throughout New York.

Mr. Woodworth has been an instrumental advocate in numerous land projects that have taken place over the last few years. In 1998, the Whitney acquisition brought New York over 14,700 acres of land that would otherwise have been developed into corporate summer homes on Little Tupper Lake in the Adirondacks. Mr. Woodworth advocated for both state and federal money for the acquisition and creation of Sterling Forest State Park, Orange County, New York. He also lobbied Governor Pataki for the preservation of Schunemunk State Park near Woodbury, NY, a new 2,400-acre state park that’s also within an hour’s drive of New York City. And every year, as part of the partnership, Mr. Woodworth lobbies extensively for increases in New York’s Environmental Protection Fund and the federal Forest Legacy appropriation, the state and federal budget funds that make such land acquisitions possible. These efforts have helped make the recent acquisitions of Tahawus/Upper Works, International Paper Lakes, Sable Highlands and Champion Rivers possible.

Mr. Woodworth, is an environmental lawyer who has served in many official capacities in conservation affairs, including service on the Congressional Northern Forest Lands Council, the Empire State Task Force for Land and Water Conservation Funding, New York Open Space Advisory committee, Governor's Task Force on Military Overflights and the Governor's Task Force on the Adirondack Park Agency.

He has worked on a variety of legal cases involving wilderness protection of the Adirondack and Catskill Forest Preserve, public navigation rights on rivers (Moose River case) and presents ADK in a pending legal action against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to repeal recent EPA regulation that would weaken the acid deposition prevention provisions of the Clean Air Act. The case is currently pending in the Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

Mr. Woodworth spent ten years as a litigation lawyer before assuming his duties with the Adirondack Mountain Club in 1989. He is a graduate of Hobart College (1975) and Albany Law School of Union University (1978). He is Martindale Hubbell Peer Review rated for Legal Ability with an AV Preeminent rating of 5.0 of a possible 5.0.

The Adirondack Mountain Club, founded in 1922, is the oldest and largest organization dedicated to the protection of New York’s Forest Preserve. ADK is a nonprofit membership organization that helps protect the Forest Preserve, state parks and other wild lands and waters through conservation and advocacy, environmental education and responsible recreation.

6:30 – Workshop – Dave and Lisa Mundie: Leave No Trace

Dave and Lisa Mundie will be presenting an ADK Leave No Trace Workshop. The Genesee Valley Chapter sponsored the Mundie's attendance at the Leave No Trace workshop offered by the main club. Now they will share this valuable information with us. Learn methods of being in the wild and having no one know you were there ~ Isn't that the way you would like it after the last wild lover enjoyed that special spot?

Looking Back: March Program

Have you ever wondered what to do if you run into a black bear when you are hiking on a trail?  ”Do I really need that bear canister or to hang that bear bag” when on a backpack or a canoe camping trip?   Or…”does it seem like we are having more sightings of black bears in our area recently”?

Ron Newell, Level III Fish and Wildlife Technician assigned to the DEC’s Black Bear Research Team in the Region 8 office, presented an informative program on the conservation efforts to deal with the growth of the black bear population in NYS over the last 20 years.  Ron gave tips on ways to prevent habituation of black bears in our area.  As we all know, ‘a fed bear is a dead bear’!  Ron saved plenty of time at the end to answer many questions from the lively crowd of hikers, paddlers, backpackers and active outdoors enthusiasts. 

February 16 – 7:30 Program – Wayne Gall: The Deer Tick & Lyme Disease

Lyme disease is the most frequent tick-borne infection of humans in the United States. During each of the last ten years approximately 4,000-5,600 cases of Lyme disease have been diagnosed in New York State alone. Lyme disease, and the deer tick that transmits the causative bacterium, historically have been most prevalent on Long Island and in the Hudson Valley. However as part of a recent statewide effort, the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) initiated field surveillance for the deer tick in the western 17 counties of New York State. Wayne Gall, Western Regional Entomologist for NYSDOH, will present the results of surveillance conducted during Fall 2008 and 2009. These results demonstrate not only the presence of deer ticks in a number of the western counties, but infection rates for the Lyme disease bacterium in those ticks that range as high as approximately 31-44%. In addition to discussing the epidemiology of Lyme disease and the biology of the deer tick, Wayne will relate protective measures that you can take to reduce your risk of acquiring this tick-borne illness during your outdoor activities.

Wayne Gall has been Western Regional Entomologist for the NYSDOH in Buffalo since 2001. Prior to that he served on the staff of the Buffalo Museum of Science for nearly 19 years, first as Administrator of the Museum's Tifft Nature Preserve (1983-1987) and then as Research Fellow and Curator of Entomology (1987-2001). Wayne earned his Ph.D. in Zoology at the University of Toronto, M.S. in Entomology at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, and B.A. in Biology at SUNY Buffalo. Wayne and his wife, Susan, have three children and are long-time members of the Niagara Frontier Chapter of ADK.

6:30 Workshop – Outdoor Cooking with Erv Tschanz

Food you eat on backpacking trips does not have to be boring! Erv Tschanz will show us how to prepare backpacking meals that are out of the ordinary! He will share his cooking and dehydrating techniques utilizing a variety of goods available in a local grocery store. You will learn to make meals that are very tasty. Come join us ~ Erv offers this workshop only about once every 3 or 4 years ~ so you won't want to miss it!! See you there!

IMPORTANT NOTE: The date of the February meeting will be February 16 rather than the usual second Wednesday of the month due to a conflict with another RMSC event.

Looking back to the January 2011 Chapter Meeting

Looking back to the November 2010 Chapter Meeting

November's program treated the audience to a splendid prelude to the upcoming outdoor Winter hiking season. Len Pratt, ADK Winter Mountaineering School instructor, and elected member of the school's advisory committee started the presentation by talking about the school's history (50 years running), program offerings, and what to expect when you sign up for winter instruction at the ADK Mountaineering School. Len also shared some incredible winter photos of the students and instructors climbing High Peaks, practicing self arrest skills and enjoying the rustic and cozy ADK Loj accommodations. He followed the presentation with a more personal, hands-on, discussion and demonstration of gear necessary when hiking and climbing in the winter. Len's enthusiasm, educational and organizational skills, as well as, his love of the outdoors captivated the audience. Judging by the many questions after the presentation, I suspect there will be many hikers on the trails this coming winter season.