Housing Trends in Franklin and Brighton Townships (Franklin County, N.Y.), 1990-2000

Housing conditions in US. Census Tract 9508, the Towns of Franklin and Brighton in Franklin County New York, potentially reflect the influence of being situated inside a high-amenity area, the Adirondack Park. I used data from the US. Census Bureau to compare County Level housing character­istics to Tract Level characteristics. All analy­ses were conducted in Excel. At first glance, the Tract appears to be doing quite well with high homeownership rates and increasing house values. However, evidence of increasing housing costs, transience, and undercrowding suggest that community officials must explore the potential negative impacts of two emerging issues resulting from these three problems. First, an unstable community may result from aging structures housing an aging population who arrived prior to 1980 combined with an influx of newer and possibly smaller or retiree families. Second, rising house values and gross rents coupled with a decline in multiple family units, mobile homes, and other options far Low and Lowest income families suggest gentrification may be occurring. Officials should consider the following recommendations: confirm trends through a more in-depth analysis of the Tract compared to other Adirondack Tracts, assess the impacts of a changing population on existing community services, and implement more inclusionary housing practices to provide Low-cost housing opportunities

State of the Birds in Exurbia

Low density rural sprawl, or exurban development, results in significant negative impacts on wildlife including birds. We describe the results of a decade of field studies to document the response of birds and other taxa to exurban development in the Park. We have investigated: the size of the ecological impact zone associated with exurban houses and roads in the Adirondacks, the characteristics of avian communities before and after residential construction, whether exurban development alters the health of individual birds, whether the ecological context of the development regulates the intensity of its impacts, and how individual land ethics and land use decisions, operating with a regional land use context, shape human impacts on biological communities. We briefly describe these studies and draw conclusions across them to provide insight into the state of the birds in the exurban Adirondacks. Broadly, we find that: the size of the impact resulting from exurban development can exceed its physical footprint significantly, changes in avian communities associated with exurban development do not appear to be driven solely by the associated road network, these changes can be very rapid and are consistent across some taxa and ecosystems, predation pressure may be a key mechanism, the attraction effect of exurban development may be stronger than the deterrent effect, and the most prevalent pattern of change is one of simplification of avian communities. Neotropical migrants may be a particularly sensitive group in the Adirondacks

Science to Inform Policy in the Adirondacks: Case Studies from the Great Experiment

The abundant natural resources of the Adirondack Park, positioned in a setting of interspersed public and private ownerships and multiple jurisdictional layers of management, make for a place in which the competing interests of human use and enjoyment of the landscape and protection of its resources can create significant challenges. It is also a place where there is a critical role for applied science in informing policy and management decisions. Here we describe four examples in which applied science, combined with education and outreach, have been used to inform management responses to critical threats impacting the Adirondack landscape. This paper describes the work of two organizations who have invested heavily in the region, using place-based and collaborative approaches to inform important policy issues. We describe each as a case study and draw conclusions across all of them that provide useful lessons for conservation in the region

SCAT-DETECTION DOGS SURVEY LOW DENSITY MOOSE IN NEW YORK

The difficulty of collecting occurrence and population dynamics data in mammalian populations of low density poses challenges for making informed management decisions. We assessed the use of scat-detection dogs to search for fecal pellets in a low density moose (Alces alces) population in the Adirondack Park in New York State, and the success rate of DNA extraction from moose fecal pellets collected during the surveys. In May 2008, two scat-detection dog teams surveyed 20, 4-km transects and located 138 moose scats. In 2011 we successfully amplified DNA from 39 scats (28%) and were able to uniquely identify 25 individuals. Improved storage protocols and earlier lab analysis would increase the amplification success rate. Scat-detection dogs proved to be a reasonable, non-invasive method to collect useful data from the low density moose population in the Adirondack Park

Why human rights matter for marine conservation

Human rights matter for marine conservation because people and nature are inextricably linked. A thriving planet cannot be one that contains widespread human suffering or stifles human potential; and a thriving humanity cannot exist on a dying planet. While the field of marine conservation is increasingly considering human well-being, it retains a legacy in some places of protectionism, colonialism, and fortress conservation. Here, we i) provide an overview of human rights principles and how they relate to marine conservation, ii) document cases where tensions have occurred between marine conservation goals and human rights, iii) review the legal and ethical obligations, and practical benefits, for marine conservation to support human rights, and iv) provide practical guidance on integrating human rights principles into marine conservation. We argue that adopting a human rights-based approach to marine conservation, that is integrating equity as a rights-based condition rather than a charitable principle, will not only help meet legal and ethical obligations to respect, protect, and fulfil human rights, but will also result in greater and more enduring conservation impact

Why human rights matter for marine conservation

Human rights matter for marine conservation because people and nature are inextricably linked. A thriving planet cannot be one that contains widespread human suffering or stifles human potential; and a thriving humanity cannot exist on a dying planet. While the field of marine conservation is increasingly considering human well-being, it retains a legacy in some places of protectionism, colonialism, and fortress conservation. Here, we i) provide an overview of human rights principles and how they relate to marine conservation, ii) document cases where tensions have occurred between marine conservation goals and human rights, iii) review the legal and ethical obligations, and practical benefits, for marine conservation to support human rights, and iv) provide practical guidance on integrating human rights principles into marine conservation. We argue that adopting a human rights-based approach to marine conservation, that is integrating equity as a rights-based condition rather than a charitable principle, will not only help meet legal and ethical obligations to respect, protect, and fulfil human rights, but will also result in greater and more enduring conservation impact