Thank you Stream Steward Volunteers!

Here is a message from Cornell Cooperative to all those who volunteered to plant trees last Saturday.

Thanks to the Ashokan Stream Stewards who helped plant 425 trees and 624 plants last Saturday to restore this streamside area with native trees on the Esopus Creek in Big Indian! Past flooding removed a buffer zone of trees leaving only bare lawn. The trees and plants were installed to reconnect a continuous forested buffer through the property. The planting was sponsored the Catskill Streams Buffer Initiative. For more information about the program, see http://catskillstreams.org/CSBI/


To see more photos of the event or join them on Facebook click here.

More Dive Photos from Tommy Healy

Here are a couple more dive photos from Tommy Healy's Cozumel vacation. It makes me want to dust off my diving gear and hop a flight to Mexico! Here is what Tommy had to say:

"Cozumel is known for it's drift diving. most of the reefs parallel the shore line. The dive boat takes you out and drops you in the water, you drop down between 60 and 100 feet to the reefs and drift for up to a mile before coming up and having the boat pick you up. The closest description would be is if you ever seen the Apollo moon landings as the lunar module drifts over the surface of the moon before landing. Today it was - hang out relax watch the marine life and let the current take you. Lots of reefs with nice overhangs and lots of fish."














"When diving and your dive master starts banging on the back of his tank with a metal rod, you pay attention. It usually means it's something good that he has spotted. In this case, we had just jumped in off the back of the boat and dropped down to about 60 feet or so just reaching the top of the reef. Looking to my... left was a large eagle ray with 5 foot wing span and a tail a lot longer, gracefully gliding along the top of the reef into the current. Black and white photography has it's merits with this shot. I'll try and put a you tube thing together and post it when I can. Take care."

- Tommy

Thanks for sending up these photos! Can't wait for the video!

Streamside Planting Tomorrow

Michael Courtney sent this to me last week and, unfortunately, it got lost in my email box until now. I am sure that if you wanted to participate you could just give them a call in the morning.

Volunteers Sought for Streamside Planting
Along Esopus Creek

Get some fresh air and exercise by the gorgeous Esopus Creek! Catskill Streams Buffer Initative (CSBI) is looking for volunteers to complete a tree planting project along the Esopus Creek in Oliverea to restore a streamside forest area on Saturday, November 13 from 9:00 am to 2:00pm.Lunch will be provided.

Volunteers will meet at the site, which is at 338 Oliverea Rd. at 9:00am. Please dress appropriately and bring gloves. Holes will be pre-dug for easy planting. Go online to www.ashokanstreams.org for a map to the site. Volunteers should RSVP with Colleen Griffith at 845-688-3047.

Volunteers for this project will restore a section of trees that were torn away by the April, 2005 flood. The restoration is designed to reduce the chances of future damage. Streamside vegetation is essential to the health of streams as they filter runoff, maintain the stability of streams, slow flood flows and provide essential habitat.

The landowner for this site, John Michelotti, has worked with CSBI to create a riparian corridor management plan that provides prescriptive measures. Landowners who complete a riparian corridor management plan can then apply for plant materials to restore their riparian buffer. The landowners provide in kind support of the project and learn skills needed to keep their riparian buffer in an optimally functioning condition. For projects like this one with over 500 trees to plant, volunteers are essential to completing the projects which in turn, provide a public benefit by protecting the creek.

Catskill Streams Buffer Initative is sponsored locally by Ulster County Soil and Water Conservation District, Cornell Cooperative Extension and New York City Department of Environmental Protection.

Dive Photos From Tommy Healy

While all of us are here in the Northeast are braving the onset of winter, WV resident Tommy Healy is down in Mexico (Cozumel, to be exact) having a great time. He is on a diving vacation and just to taunt me, he is sending underwater photos from his deep sea adventures. Here are a few photos that he sent in the past couple of days. I thought you all might like to see them too. Even though it is making me very jealous, thanks for sending them Tommy!

Wet Snow and Sleet

Well, I thought I was going to have a brief rest before I had to start blogging obsessively about the weather but it looks like I was wrong. Here in the valley we have been getting light snow and sleet (mostly sleet) for a couple of hours now. You can see it on the Woodland Valley webcam (look at the roof of the barn). It is not really sticking at this point but it is certainly making a mess. Please take care if you have to venture out. These are the kind of conditions that make for very slippery roads. Drive carefully!!

Great Tip For Discouraging Bears

After my last post Linda McDonald wrote me this note with a suggestion for discouraging bears from raiding your garbage. Here is what she had to say:

"I wanted to offer a suggestion that I have had GOOD luck with regarding the bears & trash cans. Ruth (Lindsay) told me years ago to spray the cans inside & out with Ammonia & Pine-sol (a generic pine cleaner is fine). I keep 2 spray bottles by the trash cans and, as I add trash, spray it and then give the outside a final dousing after taking them to the road. Really seems to keep them away."

- Linda

Thanks for the tip Linda!!

Lions and Tigers and Bears OH MY!!

OK, so maybe Woodland Valley doesn't have lions and tigers but we do have plenty of bears and more than a few coyotes. This post is just to let people know that they need to take extra care putting out their garbage and should try to put it out the morning of the pickup if possible. There has been a very persistent animal knocking over garbage cans all through the upper half of the valley in the last couple of months. They have strewn the refuse all over the road and front yards and have generally made a huge mess. So if you can take extra precautions with your trash it would be wise.

Besides the bears there has also been a very large and very bold coyote at the end of the valley. He/she doesn't seem to be very afraid of humans and stops and stares at me when I have seen him/her and stopped my car. I have never seen a coyote do that before. So keep an eye on your small dogs and cats if you let them out of the house!

And another reason to keep an eye on your small animals is the fishers that live in this area. For those of you who don't know what a fisher looks like I have linked the name to the Wikipedia definition. One of our neighbors up on Patherkill road has reported a family living in their yard. They are very mean and will kill and eat cats if given the chance.

Bottom line is that we can co-exist very well with these amazing creatures but we need to be careful. So take extra care with your garbage and animals.

Weather Cam in Woodland Valley

Our friendly neighbor who installed a weather station here in the valley has added a new feature to his page on Weather Underground, a WEATHER CAM!! This is very exciting to those of us who are weather obsessed (like me). Now, through the miracle of technology, we don't have to just look out the window to see the weather we can view it over the internet at our neighbor's house. LOL! I am just kidding. This is really a GREAT tool for people who are traveling to get some visual information from back home. I have put a direct link to the weather cam on the right side of the blog, which is the permanent section of this site. You can view it small or you can click on the cam photo and it will bring you to weather underground Woodland Valley weather cam page and you can view it larger. This is an excellent tool for all of us. Thanks so much to our gracious neighbor for installing this helpful device and sharing it with your community!!!

VOTE!!!!!!

OK, so you are hearing it everywhere else you might as well hear it from me too. It is critical that everyone gets out and votes today. There is a lot at stake in this election!! You can go to the Ulster County Board of Elections site to view a demo of the new voting machines, look up the ballot for our area or see where your polling place is located. As usual, Woodland Valley votes in the M.F. Whitney firehouse on Rt 214. PLEASE take the time to make your voices heard!!!

Phoenicia Times Ceases Publication

In the past day or so I realized that, since the closing of the Phoenicia Times was such a hot topic around town, I forgot to post it on the blog for those of you who have not been in the area recently. The October 7th issue of the paper was the last (although you can still view the archives at http://www.phoeniciatimes.com/).

Shandaken is now without a local newspaper, a sad state of affairs indeed. The Woodstock Times is giving a special discount to Shandaken residents in an effort to pick up the local customer base. They are offering a 6 month subscription for $10.00. Also the Wathershed Post will be posting some news of our area online if you want to check them out. And for those of us here in the valley, I will still be keeping you up to date on this blog.

Last Friday night was the closing party for The Phoenicia Times at the Emerson Spa & Resort and from all accounts it was well attended and great fun! I was trying to go myself but I didn't get back from my assignment in time (yes kids, your blogmistress has to work once in a while). I am very sad to see the paper go and wish the entire staff best of luck in the future!