The Force was with our intrepid volunteers and friends on Saturday, May 4, 2024, as the 13th I Love My Park Day took place across New York. More than 150 state parks, historic sites, and public lands welcomed thousands of volunteers to help rake and plant flower beds, clear trails, paint benches, build birdhouses, clean up beaches and public spaces, clear away invasive species, and get the parks looking fantastic for the busy season ahead.
Environmental conservation was a driving force in creating New York’s state parks system that you know and love today. From protecting Niagara Falls from industrial development to preserving the views outside of Albany at Thacher State Park, our agency has been working to preserve our lands and make them available for public enjoyment since its founding. This simple mission has taken on a different meaning in the face of climate change and the shift to clean energy. Here are some ways we’re meeting the challenges of environmental conservation in the 21st century.
New York State Parks is charged with shifting all operations to renewable energy by 2030, either through the purchase of renewable energy or through generating our own.
Statewide, Parks operations consume around 45 million kilowatt hours of electricity (the same annual usage as about 4,000 homes). The agency currently has 50 solar arrays around the state generating more than 6MW, which help reduce carbon emissions and save money. This includes everything from roof-mount arrays to large ground-mounts built in pre-disturbed areas like the back of parking lots.
Continue reading Environmental Stewardship At NY State ParksGather ‘round, New Yorkers. The New York State Park and Historic Site system’s Centennial Celebration is underway, and we want to make sure visitors near and far understand: this system was built for you.
When most people think of “NY State Parks,” they likely think of hiking trails, summer swimming and cookouts, or fall and winter staples like leaf peeping and cross-country skiing. But our park and historic site system encompasses so much more. Through the fun statistics below, learn about the impact our parks have on communities, the environmental progress we’re making, and fun factoids State Parks facilities are hiding in plain sight.
250: properties we have throughout New York State. That includes not only parks and historic sites, but trails, campgrounds, golf courses, and beaches, too. There’s always more to discover. Find one near you at parks.ny.gov.
54: State Parks with beaches. From the oceanfront vistas at Jones Beach, Sunken Meadows and other Long Island parks, to the endless expanses of the Great Lakes beaches like Southwick and Evangola, to the friendly feel of smaller beaches like Delta Lake, our parks are the perfect place to enjoy the surf and sand!
Continue reading By The Numbers: NY State Parks and Historic SitesSaratoga Spa State Park is remarkable not only for its heralded mineral springs, but also for its architecture and historic theater. Now known as the Spa Little Theater, the space was originally designed for the scientists who studied the surrounding mineral springs to share their findings.
In September, the Spa Little Theater and nearby buildings and grounds were once again a place of scientific knowledge sharing, hosting the 2023 New York State Invasive Species Expo that brought land managers, researchers, and the public together for an immersive three-day interactive learning experience and conference.
Art and artifact conservators are the guardians of our cultural heritage. Their fascinating work blends art and science to protect the treasures of the past for future generations. But that work is often invisible to the public.
The American Institute for Conservation showcases this field through the annual Ask A Conservator Day. This year, NY State Parks and Historic Sites’ Department of Historic Preservation conservators Elizabeth Robson (Paintings) and Paige Schmidt (Wooden Objects) took a break from their labs to answer questions about their work.
What do conservators do? What is outside the scope of their field?
Conservators are highly skilled, highly trained professionals who care for art and artifacts. They assess the condition of a particular object and carry out a course of treatment for it. They also provide guidance on how to store and exhibit an object or work of art.
Conservators also specialize in one area of expertise, such as paintings, paper, objects, textiles, or architecture. There are further specialties within these categories, like murals, books, photographs, frames, wooden objects, archaeological objects, metals, and more. While a conservator’s treatment may improve the aesthetics of an object (e.g. replacing missing paint), they never do so at the expense of any original material. Nor do they give appraisals of artworks or artifacts.
Continue reading Where Art and Science Meet: A Q&A with Art Conservators
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