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The early snow and cold weather are providing good conditions for winter outdoor recreation in the Adirondacks, Catskills, and other backcountry areas, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Basil Seggos announced today. Visitors should be prepared with proper clothing and equipment for snow, ice, and cold to ensure a safe and enjoyable winter experience.

Snow depths range greatly in the central and northeastern Adirondacks, with the deepest snows in the higher elevations like the High Peaks region and other mountains over 3,000 feet. Snow depths are thinner in the southeastern and northwestern Adirondacks. Much of the Catskill Mountains are covered in snow, with icy trail conditions. 

DEC recommends visitors to the backcountry carry snowshoes and trekking poles and use them when snow depths warrant. Snowshoes or skis ease travel on snow and prevent “post holing,” which can ruin trails and cause sudden falls resulting in injuries. Crampons or other traction devices should be carried for use on icy portions of the trails including summits and other exposed areas.  An ice axe may be necessary above tree line in the High Peaks. Forest Rangers strongly advise that current trail conditions will make travel without properly fitting traction devices extremely difficult. Check out DEC’s website for further details on traction devices.   Continue reading →

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation announced the release of a draft Deer Management Plan for New York State for public review and comment. The plan builds upon the progress made by DEC’s first deer management plan, released in 2011, and will guide DEC’s deer management actions to balance natural resource protection, public safety, and recreational and economic interests for the next 10 years. The draft plan is available on DEC’s website and public comments will be accepted through Dec. 28, 2020.

The plan includes proposals for extending legal hunting hours to be from one half our before sunrise until one half hour after sunset. It also contains a proposed regulation change to extend the late bow and muzzleloader season in the Southern Zone to include the period from December 26 to January 1. DEC received several thousand comments through Nov. 8, 2020 on this proposed regulation, and those comments are presently under review as part of that public regulatory process.

The draft plan details a new method for setting deer population objectives that integrates an assessment of deer impacts on forests with public preferences for deer population changes. It emphasizes new and adaptive approaches for harvesting antlerless deer by recommending strategic hunting season and tag changes in rural landscapes where additional harvest is needed and developing new opportunities for community-based deer management in suburban and urban landscapes.

A summary of the accomplishments from the first plan, many of which have become integrated into DEC’s deer management program, is also included. In addition, the plan provides greater transparency into the processes behind deer management including the methodology for setting Deer Management Permit (DMP, antlerless tag) quotas and the calculations for estimating annual deer harvest totals. Finally, this plan identifies a series of statutory recommendations that would improve deer management capacity throughout New York.

Significant elements of the Draft Plan include:

• Establishing desired deer population trajectories (more deer, fewer deer, stay the same) for 23 regions of the state by aggregating existing deer management units, including deer impacts on forest regeneration with new tools like AVID (see below), and considering public preferences for deer population change;
• Monitoring deer populations for diseases such as Chronic Wasting Disease and taking steps to reduce disease risk;
• Recommending several hunting-related changes to provide additional hunter opportunity such as a Southern Zone holiday hunt, special seasons to meet local objectives, and increasing antlerless harvest where deer population reduction is warranted;
• Maintaining a voluntary approach for letting young bucks go and re-evaluating the existing mandatory antler restriction program for consistency with hunter values and management objectives;
• Encouraging voluntary use of non-lead ammunition (such as copper) by deer hunters to reduce human and wildlife exposure to lead by ingestion;
• Pursuing regulatory mechanisms to improve the Deer Management Assistance Program and Deer Damage Permit program so landowners and municipalities can reduce deer damage and deer-human conflicts;
• Providing technical assistance for community-based deer management including local hunting programs, suburban/urban hunter-training workshops, and other management tools;
• Exploring the potential for a small grants program to assist communities in developing local deer management plans and implementing actions from those plans;
• Promoting the Assessing Vegetation Impacts of Deer (AVID) protocol for citizen science monitoring of deer browse impacts on forests; and
• Better understanding and addressing public values and interests regarding deer populations, impacts, and deer management decisions.

Comments on the draft plan should be sent to wildlife@dec.ny.gov (using “Deer Plan” in the subject line) or by mail to: DEC Deer Management Plan, NYSDEC, 625 Broadway, Albany, NY 12233-4754. The public comment period closes on Dec. 28, 2020. After reviewing public comments on this draft, DEC will amend the plan before adopting and publishing a final version. Some recommendations will require new or amended state regulations and these regulatory proposals will be subject to an additional public comment period during the formal rulemaking process.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has released the State’s final Trout Stream Management Plan that will improve the management of trout streams across the state. The final plan is the product of extensive public engagement and sound science that embraces simplicity, encourages angler participation, and recognizes the value of managing trout streams for self-sustaining populations of wild trout. In addition, to support implementation of the Trout Stream Management Plan, today DEC issued proposed regulations that are available for public comment until Jan. 25, 2021.

Significant aspects of the plan are the result of more than 20 public meetings held with anglers in 2017 to identify desired outcomes for the state’s numerous and diverse trout streams. The plan covers a broad spectrum of management areas and angler interests associated with trout stream management in New York. To view the plan and the categorization of managed trout stream reaches visit DEC’s website.

The management plan draws a distinct line between stocked and wild trout management and prioritizes habitat management as the primary tool to improve and restore wild populations of trout. It also creates the foundation to learn and build upon for continuous improvement of the State’s trout stream fisheries resources, solidifying DEC’s commitment to protecting and promoting the health of wild trout fisheries.

The plan also takes into consideration the hundreds of thousands of New York anglers who enjoy the State’s ongoing stocking efforts and balances protecting natural populations while supporting a robust hatchery network and partnerships that expand recreational opportunities and meet anglers’ diverse needs. The plan extends the duration of stocking on select stream reaches, increases the size of stocked fish, and ensures that each stocking contains some fish that are 12 inches or larger. It also seeks to improve the vigor of hatchery brown trout for increased survival.

Anglers would also be provided with the ability to fish year-round through the creation of a statewide catch-and-release season. DEC has preliminarily concluded that fishing during the spawning season will not result in negative fishery impacts, and DEC will evaluate the potential impact of the catch-and-release season with a study on select streams.

DEC seeks continued angler engagement to support efforts moving forward, including developing a new angler-friendly interactive map for information on stream reach management and fishing access locations. DEC will also expand public outreach about the significance of wild trout populations and the water they inhabit.

The proposed regulations are published in the State Register today and are available at DEC’s website. DEC is accepting public comments on the proposed rule changes from Nov. 25, 2020, to Jan. 25, 2021, by emailing: regulations.fish@dec.ny.gov.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) today announced that a 0.3-mile trail has been completed in the Cedarlands Conservation Easement Tract, located in the town of Long Lake, Hamilton County. The trail connects the public parking lot with a canoe put-in on the northeast shore of Mud Pond, providing a shorter route to the pond and easier access to three primitive campsites established on the easement earlier this year. 

Two campsites are located on the east side of Mud Pond and one on the north shore. The tent-only sites are available on a first-come, first-served basis and cannot be reserved. Designated sites are marked with a yellow “Camp Here” disc. The 590-acre Mud Pond Area, which is open to public use year-round, also offers hiking, biking, paddling, fishing, hunting, and winter recreation opportunities. Campers and other visitors to the Cedarlands Conservation Easement are reminded to carry out what they carry in, be careful with campfires, and follow the seven Principles of Leave No Trace. 

The 4,890-acre Cedarlands Conservation Easement Tract features two water bodies, Mud Pond and McRorie Lake (previously known as Rock Pond), and two prominent mountains, Rock Pond Mountain and Mud Pond Mountain. The public portion of the easement lands is divided into the Mud Pond Area and the 3,300-acre McRorie Lake Area, which is open to public use from August 24 through June 23. An additional designated campsite and a lean-to are located on the shores of McRorie Lake. There is no public use of the adjacent Base Camp Area.  

There are more than 900,000 acres of conservation easement lands managed by DEC’s Division of Lands and Forests in New York State. Conservation easements are partnerships between DEC and private landowners wherein the private landowner retains the right to manage the property for purposes such as sustainable timber production while providing additional outdoor recreation opportunities for the public and protecting open space by limiting development. Before visiting a conservation easement please review the specific regulations that apply to that place. Additional information about public recreation opportunities on the Cedarlands Conservation Easement Tract can be found on DEC’s website.