Adirondack Park Agency visitor interpretive centers
The Adirondack Park Agency visitor interpretive centers (or VICs) were established in 1989 and 1990, respectively.[1] They were designed to introduce visitors to the special features of the Adirondack Park, which, at 6 million acres (24,000 km²), is the largest park in the lower 48 United States. The centers help orient visitors to the park via educational programs, exhibits, and interpretive trails. Educational programs are available for school groups as well as the general public. The trails are open daily year round, from dawn to dusk.
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Paul Smith's center
The Paul Smith's center opened in 1989. Located on approximately 2,700 acres (11 km2) in Paul Smiths, New York, near Paul Smith's College, the Paul Smith's College Visitor Interpretive Center (Paul Smith's VIC) has approximately six miles of interpretive trails and eight miles (13 km) of backcountry trails. Throughout the property visitors will encounter every habitat type found in the Adirondack Park except alpine. Historically, each spring the center hosts the Great Adirondack Birding Festival. Throughout the year visitors can partake of guided interpretive walks, regular outdoor activities, naturalist-led canoe paddles on Barnum Pond, and assorted lectures and slide presentations. In the winter the trails are open for snowshoeing and cross-country skiing. The Paul Smith's center is open daily from 9:00am to 5:00pm.[2]
Newcomb center
The Newcomb center, known as the Adirondack Interpretive Center, opened in 1990. Located on 236 acres (0.96 km2) at the outlet of Rich Lake, the center has approximately three and a half miles of interpretive trails. Habitats include lakeshore, wetlands, old growth forest, and mixed northern forest. Throughout the year staff conduct naturalist-led trail walks, guided paddles on Rich Lake, and assorted workshops and lectures. All trails are open in the winter for snowshoeing; cross-country skiing is permitted, and requires varying degrees of skill depending on trails and conditions. Dogs are allowed on leash year round, and owners are asked to please clean up after their dogs to preserve trail conditions for all users. The Adirondack Interpretive Center is open from 10:00am to 4:00pm, Tuesday through Saturday. It may occasionally be closed; calling first is advised.[3]
Participation of colleges and universities
Due to state fiscal and budgetary constraints, Governor David Paterson marked the VICs for closure on December 31, 2010.[4]
Management of the Newcomb center was assumed by the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF) on July 1, 2010, with program responsibility beginning January 1, 2011.[5] The Adirondack Interpretive Center is situated on ESF's Huntington Wildlife Forest, a 15,000-acre (61 km2) biological field station the college has operated in Newcomb since 1932,[6] and also home to the College's Adirondack Ecological Center.[7]
Management of the Paul Smith's center was assumed by Paul Smith's College.
Notes
- ↑ How the VICs came to be - AdirondackDailyEnterprise.com | News, Sports, Jobs, Saranac Lake region — Adirondack Daily Enterprise
- ↑ "Paul Smith's College VIC Hours," Paul Smith's VIC website. Accessed: March 12, 2014.
- ↑ "The Center for Nature Interpretation in the Adirondacks," Adirondack Interpretive Center website. Accessed: March 12, 2014.
- ↑ NCPR News - Both Adirondack Interpretive Centers to go
- ↑ ESF Takes Over Adirondack Visitor Center
- ↑ SUNY-ESF: Adirondack Ecological Center
- ↑ SUNY-ESF: Adirondack Ecological Center
External links
- Adirondack Interpretive Center (Newcomb, NY)
- Paul Smith's College Visitor Interpretive Center (Paul Smiths, NY)
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