Adirondack Park Invasive Plant Program November 2025 Newsletter

Last month, the APIPP team did a short hike up Baxter Mountain in Keene to enjoy a little break while taking in the beauty of the now-fallen autumn leaves. The 180-degree view from the summit ledge encompasses at least a dozen High Peaks and the Green Mountains in Vermont. It’s a breathtakingly expansive landscape, one that puts into perspective the purpose and the magnitude of the work we do as we strive to maintain the health of the Adirondacks’ lands and waters.

To accomplish our goals, APIPP staff are always looking for new ways to reach the public and to collaborate with our many partners. On Tuesday, October 28, one of those collaborative projects came to fruition with an event called Sips and Science: Love Your Lakes, held at the Hotel Saranac in Saranac Lake. It was organized by APIPP's Communications Manager Shaun Kittle, Adirondack Watershed Institute's Environmental Educator Anne Arnold, and Adirondack Center for Loon Conservation's Director of Education and Communications Denise Silfee. Eight organizations participated in the event, which featured a variety of educational, hands-on activities and three talks, all focused on how people can contribute to keeping our waterbodies healthy. The event was also the launch of a new Love Your Lakes brochure that contains eight simple actions people can take to help maintain the health of their favorite aquatic ecosystems. If you'd like to order some free brochures, email Shaun at shaun.kittle@tnc.org.

And speaking of events, mark your calendars for the Adirondack PRISM 2025 Year-End Partner Meeting on Thursday, Dec. 4 at The Nature Conservancy office in Keene Valley. The meeting will begin at 10:00am with a year-in-review and volunteer appreciation presentation by APIPP staff, but everyone is welcome to show up any time after 9:30am for coffee, snacks, and networking. The afternoon session will be a round-robin of updates from APIPP’s partners. The morning session will have the option of attending virtually via Zoom; the afternoon session will be in-person only. We ask everyone to please register via Zoom, even if they plan on attending in-person.

Keep reading to get a sneak peek of our aquatic and terrestrial seasons. More information on all things APIPP will be available in our 2025 Annual Report, which will be released at the end of January.

Aquatic Season Recap

APIPP staff, partners, and volunteers had another busy field season working together to monitor aquatic invasive species (AIS) across the Adirondack Park. From large lakes to small ponds and streams, collectively our Lake Protectors partnership was able to conduct a yearly census of AIS. APIPP, partners, and volunteers reported a combined total of 167 surveys that represented over 120 waterbodies across the region. Thanks to these extensive monitoring efforts out on the water, we can maintain a current picture of AIS distribution and the subsequent health of our incredible aquatic ecosystems in the Adirondack region. We greatly appreciate our partners and volunteers who take the time to monitor for AIS!

Terrestrial Season Recap

Much like our AIS work, APIPP’s terrestrial invasive species (TIS) projects are only made possible through a combination of dedicated staff, partners, and volunteers. Our Forest Pest Hunters survey seasons—for hemlock woolly adelgid in winter and beech leaf disease in summer—logged more than 1,500 survey points to iMapInvasives, representing an inspiring 400 hours of survey time on more than 70 adopted trails. Our seasonal crew also did impressive work, conducting survey and control efforts at 25 NYS Department of Environmental Conservation campgrounds and 88 trailheads. And last but not least, APIPP's terrestrial and contract crews had a safe and productive season, mapping over 2,500 new infestations and conducting control at over 400 priority sites covering 25 acres.

Volunteer with APIPP