april

April

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April Showers; Bring May Flowers. —Common Folk Proverb

The month of April is when in Albany we see the last snow showers of the year, and the winter is washed away by the occasional rain showers that dot the days. April in Albany is not a particularly rainy month, and indeed with the rapidly warming temperatures and dry weather leaves us with the highest wildfire danger of year.

By the end of the month, the valleys will start to show the first signs of green, and our world will start to return to it’s “technicolor” beauty. It will largely be a month of browns and grays in the mountains, occasionally with the lack of shade, the weather will be hot and brutal. We will all get bad sunburns in the next month, often the worst sunburns of the year, with no place to hide from the sun that is getting higher over our heads every day.

Sidewalk

Over the next month, the daylight will grow by almost 2 hours, with the sun not setting until after 8 PM by the time May rolls around. The sun will start rising an hour earlier to. This bright springtime sunlight will start waking up nature’s cycles and engaging spring time weather by the end of the month. Green will be popping up everywhere.

Sunset Brush

April is in many ways November in reverse. November takes us from the delightful color of October into the wintry December. April leads us from the cold harsh weather of March back into the delightful color of May. Warm weather is heading our way, as is the beauty of springtime.

Rainy Skies

Enjoy the month, get out, and enjoy some of the bright clear days that make April such a charming month.

State Land Acreage By Classification

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All figures are in acres except where noted. Table updated April 2011. Reprinted from the DEC Website.

Inspiration Point

Land Classification Region
1		 Region
2		 Region
3		 Region
4		 Region
5		 Region
6		 Region
7		 Region
8		 Region
9		 Catskill
Park Total		 Adirondack
Park Total		 State
Total		 Percent of Total
State Land and
Conservation
Easements
State Forest 16,056 758 31,763 102,248 58,354 221,924 200,419 55,581 99,121 – 16,264 ** 786,224 17%
Forest
Preserve 		Wilderness – – 89,352 53,482 954,601 206,151 – – – 142,834 1,160,752 1,303,586 28%
Wild Forest – – 75,588 60,368 938,664 ** 367,123 – – – 135,956 1,305,787 1,441,743 31%
Primitive – – – – 31,309 15,704 – – – – 47,013 47,013 1%
Primitive Bicycle
Corridor		 – – 15 283 – – – – – 298 – 298 0.006%
Canoe – – – – 18,989 – – – – – 18,989 18,989 0.4%
Intensive Use – – 4,104 1,542 21,591 1,828 – – – 5,646 23,419 29,065 0.6%
Administrative – – 392 0 *** 384 7 – – – 392 391 783 0.02%
Historic – – – – 531 – – – – – 531 531 0.01%
Pending
Classification		 – – – – 259 111 – – – – 370 370 0.007%
Under Water*
(Unclassified)		 – – – – 17,395 6,534 – – – – 23,929 23,929 0.5%
Detached
Parcel		 – – 1,382 4,141 1,441 4,318 – – – – – 11,282 0.2%
Total Forest Preserve – – 170,833 119,816 2,001,313 601,776 – – – 285,126 2,597,267 2,893,738 61%
Wildlife Management Area 6,007 – 12,021 18,518 6,524 ** 46,371 49,562 41,462 17,178 407 *** 2,755 ** 197,643 4%
Conservation Easement 108 21 7,264 7,286 488,463 336,783 436 – 10 9,437 769,579 840,371 18%
TOTALS: 22,171 779 221,881 247,868 2,554,654 1,206,854 250,417 97,043 116,309 294,970 3,385,865 4,717,976 100%

Blue Ridge and Blue Mountain

Notes from the DEC.

* Certain lake beds are considered Forest Preserve, despite some level of private ownership adjacent to the lakes. These underwater lands are not classified. For the purposes of this table, however, lakes and ponds that are completely surrounded by Forest Preserve have been classified the same as the adjacent land.

** Where State Forests and Wildlife Management Areas exist within the Adirondack Park, the Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan also classifies these lands as Wild Forest. However, since these lands are not Forest Preserve, State Forest and Wildlife Management Area acreages within the Adirondack Park were NOT included in the Wild Forest category.

*** Where Wildlife Management Areas exist within the Catskill Park, the Catskill Park State Land Master Plan also classifies these lands as Administrative. For calculation purposes in this table, however, Wildlife Management Area acreage within the Catskill Park was NOT also included in the Administrative category.