Department of Environmental Conservation

A report from the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics is offering a number of recommendations to help reduce overcrowding on popular trails in the Adirondacks. One of the most controversial may be a suggestion to require permits in the High Peaks region.

The Adirondacks have been extremely popular for outdoor enthusiasts in the past few years, and overcrowding on some trails and the roads leading to them is a major concern.  The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has outlined additional plans to deal with traffic flow during what’s expected to be a very busy Columbus Day holiday.

A new effort has been launched to educate hikers about overcrowding and how it impacts the Adirondacks. The Adirondack Mountain Club, the New York state Department of Environmental Conservation and the Colorado-based Center for Outdoor Ethics are partnering to educate hikers about “Leave No Trace” principles to help address overcrowding in the High Peaks region of the Adirondacks.  WAMC North Country Bureau Chief Pat Bradley was at the launch of the initiative.

Although there has been no official announcement, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s office has confirmed to the Times Union newspaper that the state commissioner of Environmental Conservation will leave his post.

Following Governor Andrew Cuomo’s State of the State address last week, members of his cabinet are being dispatched across New York to review the plan before local and regional officials and field questions.  On Monday, Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Basil Seggos was in Plattsburgh.  Following the presentation he said the governor and his administration will continue to aggressively address the issue of storing rail cars in the Adirondacks.

The Department of Environmental Conservation announced the final management plan for 18,000 acres of northern Adirondack forest land in Franklin County on Monday.

State officials say more than 318 million pounds of electronic waste was diverted from landfills in the first three years of New York's electronics recycling law, but discarded televisions and computer monitors pose a challenge.

A dam that provided an iconic view of the Adirondack High Peaks is being dismantled.  While some environmentalists say removal of the Marcy Dam will be good for the ecosystem, others are disappointed to see it go.

One day after the statewide ban on hydraulic fracturing was made official, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joseph Martens announced he will leave his position. 

Two young boys remain hospitalized after they and their mother became lost on New York's highest peak and were rescued by forest rangers.

The Department of Environmental Conservation says it's revising its proposed recreation plans for new state land in the Newcomb area of the central Adirondacks in response to public comments.

Environmental groups and residents are trying to stop a project that they believe will make Albany a key hub in the transport of heavy crude oil from western Canada's tar sands to refineries on the East Coast.

Over the past two years, the Port of Albany has become a major shipping point for highly explosive crude oil from North Dakota's Bakken Shale region. Hundreds of tanker cars arrive daily from the north and west on Canadian Pacific and CSX rail lines.

A landowners' group is challenging the state's delay in finishing its environmental analysis on the potential impact of drilling for natural gas through hydraulic fracturing in New York.

The suit was filed on behalf of the Joint Landowners Coalition of New York claiming 70,000 members and owners of two Broome County properties. One had and one was seeking a drilling permit, both blocked from proceeding.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation is proposing new regulations to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species. The new rules are welcome, but lake defenders say they don’t go far enough.

Groups dedicated to keeping fracking out of New York want the Department of Environmental Conservation to withdraw its proposed regulations for liquefied natural gas facilities, citing safety concerns and other issues.

New Yorkers Against Fracking has chartered buses to bring protesters to Albany today for DEC's public hearing on the regulations, which would end a 40-year moratorium on new LNG storage and fueling facilities.

The state hasn't allowed the facilities since a 1973 explosion at an LNG storage facility killed 40 workers in Staten Island.

Officials in New York state are giving the public another month to weigh in on a proposal to allow new liquefied natural gas facilities in the state for the first time in 40 years.

The comment period on the proposed regulations had been slated to end on Nov. 4, but it's been extended until Dec. 4.

A public hearing on the regulations is scheduled for Wednesday in Albany.

An environmental committee and subcommittee of the New York State Assembly are holding public hearing Friday morning in Albany. The purpose is to assess the budget’s impact on the Department of Environmental Conservation and the need for a new Environmental Bond Act.

New York conservation officials say their ban on importing, selling or possessing bighead carp is now in effect statewide, including downstate areas that had an exception.

The Department of Environmental Conservation says the state prohibition against the invasive species now extends to all of New York City and Westchester County, where they previously could be sold at live markets as long as they were killed before being taken by a customer.

That follows a federal ban on its interstate transportation.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo says he'll make a decision on whether to allow shale gas fracking before the 2014 election.

Cuomo says he's waiting for his state health commissioner, Dr. Nirav Shah, to report on his own health review. The Democratic governor told the editorial board at the Post-Standard in Syracuse on Wednesday that he had expected Shah's review to be finished by now, but it should be done in the next several weeks.

He made similar remarks in February.

NEWBURGH – The environmental remediation of the DuPont-Stauffer state Superfund site at 750 South Street in Newburgh is going to begin within the next few months, the state Department of Environmental Conservation announced.

GOSHEN – The Orange County Democratic Alliance has released a report documenting some 40 toxic sites in the county, many of which have been on the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s cleanup list for years and have yet to be remediated.

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) —  A poll shows New York voters nearly evenly divided on  "fracking" the same day the state's top environmental official declared his agency has no "timetable" for finishing shale gas drilling rules.

Elected officials questioned Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joe Martens about the environmental review at a legislative budget hearing on Monday. He says he expects to get a report from Health Commissioner Nirav Shah in "a few weeks."