November, 2014
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Water Quality
Nearly 80 town, county, and state leaders, as well as representatives of the leading environmental and research groups, met on September 16th at Paul Smith's College for the third Winter Road Maintenance Conference. Sponsored by AdkAction.org, the Adirondack Council, and Paul Smith's College, the conference included presentations by the transportation departments of New York and Colorado, each offering different views on the use of deicers, plus current research done by the Cary Institute and the Adirondack Watershed Institute.
An experiment in Lake George involving porous roads was presented as an example of one non-chemical approach to keeping roads clear of surface water and ice. The legal liability issues associated with changing methods and techniques in an attempt to reduce salt use and increase safety were presented by a leading legal expert and became a component of the three break-out sessions where the next steps needed to solve the growing problem of salt pollution were debated.
It was agreed that enough is known to quickly take action to further reduce our use of road salt.More information is needed on the toxicity of alternative chemicals, and the impact current salting has on ground water and human health. We also lack sufficient data on the cost of current practices, notably the corrosion of vehicles and infrastructure and the comparative cost of alternative strategies, including abrasives like sand. Specific actions proposed by the participants include improving communications between the various state, county, and municipal agencies involved in winter road maintenance. A new look at road design was listed as an imperative, particularly seeking the "low hanging fruit" that can be implemented at low cost such as better management of run-off, passive filters, and where possible opening up the tree canopy to let the sun do more of the de-icing job. A five-year plan to adopt these new technologies was suggested, including additional test runs to try techniques used elsewhere, e.g., the use of liquid magnesium chloride in place of sodium chloride, the technique used successfully by Colorado.
A Working Group of nine conference participants was formed to further study the issues raised at the conference during the interim period until the next conference. Follow-on actions for the Working Group will include engaging the Common Ground Alliance, the Adirondack Research Consortium, regional educational institutions, and the North Country Regional Economic Development council in their actions.
Birth through three (BT3)
AdkAction.org has a new area of interest which seems to dovetail with our ongoing interest in improving the use of technology in area schools. This time we are concentrating on our youngest citizens and the ways the community can improve their little lives before they enter school.
Multiple studies now show that the three most important years in a child’s life are birth through three (BT3). Infants who are socialized, verbalized, and nurtured physically and emotionally will do better not only in school but through their entire lives. Intervention with at-risk kids has, in several long-term longitudinal studies, demonstrated not just superior grades but much longer-term effects. Studies that followed kids who received special language and social training showed reductions in criminality, drug use, divorce, and higher income levels, thirty years after infant intervention! For this reason AdkAction.org is participating in a study that can lead to a formal program to help our at-risk BT3 population.
There are two separate constituencies for BT3: parents and providers. The providers include nurses and social workers who interact with the parent(s) from before birth to shortly thereafter, day-care workers, community social service workers, and neighbors or family who provide informal day care. The intersection of the parents and providers is critical if things are to be improved.
A model program developed in Chemung County (New York) suggests that access to the parents can be improved and extended if a bond is created between the healthcare and social service workers who interact with the mother during her pre-natal care through a time after she is discharged, the longer the better. This suggests that mimicking the Chemung experiment would be a proven way to get to any other program that we wanted to implement. The steps needed to do this seem to involve education of these workers and incentives (possibly nothing is needed beyond proof-of-concept) to make the agencies involved adopt new practices that would let these workers or others who could gain trust through early involvement with the mother continue to have post-natal access.
The second set, providers, seem to be a different challenge. A program of awarding ‘stars’ based on meeting set criteria has demonstrated great promise. Raising levels of professionalism has to be a part of any program, and the “Stars” approach has a lot of appeal when the providers are already professionals. Giving these people the incentive to become better trained and therefore better providers is a clear goal for whatever AdkAction.org will do. This will be especially true for the informal care providers, e.g., near relatives and neighbors who provide care for a few infants.
So what’s next? There are obviously things that could be done without further study, e.g., figuring out how to extend the Chemung experiment to our area. And there is also obviously more research to be done, e.g., on what the best curricula would be for these kids. And there is the key process of designing experimental programs to see if they can improve access to and productive interaction with the target population.
AdkAction.org’srole, along with the Adirondack Foundation, several family foundations and community representatives, will be to help in the creation of the charter of the next phase, decide on the scope of undertakings (programs, geography, staffing), and create a check-list for assessing progress against whatever goal we agree on.
Adirondack Art and Artists
AdkAction.org has been promoting both Adirondack art and its artists. Earlier this year we sponsored banners depicting the work of local artists which were hung in Saranac Lake. In September we arrangedfor Canadian Artist Holly Friesen to give a lecture and workshop at The Wild Center. She discussed “The Wilderness Within” in which she gave the audience an idea of how she selected what to paint and how to approach the subject. At the workshop she outlined her successful use of social media to promote her work. In August we sponsored a pop-up show and sale of her work. This three day event was well attended with a portion of each sale donated to AdkAction.org. This event was so popular that it is planned to repeat the show next summer, perhaps in Lake Placid. Holly’s artwork can be seen at
Transportation to and from Adirondacks
The difficulties in travel by public transportation by any mode is a new project for AdkAction.org. Currently information is being collected from many sources and a day-long conference is planned for next June in Lake Placid. The issue is that by bus, plane or train, the Adirondacks is a difficult location to get to.
Monarch Butterflies
There were reports from several observers that monarch butterflies were more plentiful in the Adirondacks this summer, but the real answer will depend on the counts to be performed during this coming winter at their over-wintering sites in Mexico. Due to the continued interest in this fragile creature, AdkAction.org is planning to have another large supply of its brochure explaining the life cycle and containing a packet of milkweed seeds to plant along the eastern flight path of the monarch butterfly.
Adirondack Village Revitalization
At last years’ conference in Lima, NY, an architect, Roger Brown, led a discussion on revitalizing villages which reflected the loss of population and jobs.AdkAction.org sponsored the attendance of two members of Saranac Lake local development corporation to this conference.As a follow-up AdkAction.org has arranged for Roger Brown to come to Saranac Lake next spring. He will review the current status, the plans already in place and make suggestions for the future.
Annual Meeting
Finally, the annual meeting held at the end of July at a lovely private camp on Upper Saranac Lake was a great success. This year we had our first silent auction with items both new and old covering a wide range of interest. All items had multiple bids with the proceeds benefiting AdkAction.org.
AdkAction.org welcomes any suggestions in improving or in addressing the concerns of not only our members but of all the people who live in and love the Adirondacks. In addition we welcome volunteer help in any of the projects which interest you.
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