Find Your Adventure - Celebrate the Great Outdoors Month & Pride Month!

Join DEC in Celebrating the Outdoors and Pride Month!

In June, DEC celebrates both Pride Month and Great Outdoors Month. One way we celebrated was at Get Outdoors & Get Together Day on Saturday, June 11. Check out our recap below. Whether you are embarking on your first hike or bird walk, or pitching a tent at a beloved campground, there are plenty of ways to get outside and celebrate pride. 

DEC is also proud to celebrate our LGBTQIA+ teammates, whose contributions advance our environmental protections and advocacy as well as the greater human experience. Several of our staff members are profiled on our website and show how they are living unapologetically and in solidarity throughout their communities.

Photo credits: Hans Isaacson (National Association of State Foresters)

Thank you to all who attended Get Outdoors & Get Together Day!

Thousands celebrated Get Outdoors & Get Together Day on Saturday, June 11, at free events across the state. Get Outdoors & Get Together Day events brought people of all abilities, ages, identities, and backgrounds together for fun, healthy activities as part of the launch of a new Governor’s initiative to broaden the diversity of users and ensure inclusivity of access to state public lands. There were 21 events hosted across the state where thousands of New Yorkers spent the day trying new activities, including, paddling, fishing, archery, bird watching, and more. Thank you to all those who attended! Check out photos in our Flickr album.

If you attended and would like to help us improve future events, please take a moment to complete a survey for a chance to win outdoor prizes. 

Take an 'I Bird NY' Challenge

It’s that time of year again! The annual I BIRD NY Challenges are now live and open to birders of all ages and abilities across the state. To complete the Beginner's Birding Challenge (PDF), participants 16 years old and younger must identify 10 common New York bird species, while more seasoned birders are also encouraged to complete the Experienced Birding Challenge (PDF), in which participants of any age must identify 10 or more different bird species found across New York. Both entry forms are also available in Spanish.

Entries can be submitted via email or mail until October 14. All challenge participants will be able to print a certificate of participation and be entered for a chance to win birding accessories. New this year: participants will also receive an extra entry for identifying half of the birds (5) on NYS Birding Trail sites! As an extra bonus, the first 50 participants from either challenge will also receive a special goodie bag of birding swag items.

Birding enthusiasts can visit I Bird NY to access this year's challenge sheets, as well as find information on birding, upcoming birding events, a downloadable Beginner's Guide to Birding (also available in Spanish), and additional resources.

Visit the Capital Region Segment of the NYS Birding Trail

The Capital Region segment of the NYS Birding Trail is now open and is the sixth region to be completed. The region includes 29 sites on a mix of public and private lands throughout five counties. Visit Peebles Island State Park for its multiple spectacular bald eagle observations, or the Albany Pine Bush Preserve, a nationally significant forest community where many bird species can be observed. A top birding hotspot in Albany County, Five Rivers Environmental Education Center is a great location to observe the New York State bird, the eastern bluebird, while nearby at the Tivoli Lake Preserve, visitors can observe woodpeckers, turkeys, red-winged blackbirds, and red-tailed hawks. Further north, check out Washington County Grasslands, an Important Bird Area (IBA) that plays host to many grassland bird species, which are in sharp decline. Birders here will observe snowy owls, threatened northern harriers and upland sandpipers, and snow buntings during the winter months.

With more than half of the trail now announced, we invite you to enjoy birding along the New York State Birding Trail and across New York’s pristine lands. Learn more and start planning your adventure!

Sign up for our birding newsletter, Words of a Feather, for more birding updates and information. 

Take a ride on the Nature bus

The Mohawk Hudson Land Conservancy (MHLC) and the Capital District Transportation Authority (CDTA) have partnered together again to offer a free Saturday CDTA bus service to connect City of Albany residents to parks and outdoor spaces around Albany. Ride the Nature Bus to places from DEC’s Five Rivers Environmental Education Center to MHLC’s Normans Kill West Preserve or the Albany County Rail Trail, these locations offer ways to appreciate and learn more about nature.

Snap a photo for the Outdoor Photo Contest 

DEC and State Parks announced the launch of the 2022 Outdoor Photo Contest to highlight the best of New York's natural beauty and special destinations among the state's campgrounds and parks. The online contest runs for four months through mid-October with the winning images to be featured in statewide digital and print campaigns. The online contest is being held from June 15 to October 15. A grand prize winner will be selected along with six individual category winners. Learn more about the photo contest categories and submissions. 

Photo credits: John J. Marino Sr. 

A New Recreational Trail Bridge on Morgan Hill State Forest

In partnership with the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry’s (ESF) Sustainable Resources Management Department (ESF), DEC recently installed a new trail bridge on Morgan Hill State Forest in the Town of Fabius, Onondaga County. The new bridge is a key feature in the more than 10 miles of a primarily single-track mountain bike and multiple-use trail system on the 5,300-acre public forest.

ESF students Charles Stuart, Tom Berberich, Harry Barclay, and Travis Roller designed and constructed the bridge in their Applied Structures course in the Construction Management program. The course challenges students to design, create, and test a bridge for entry in a national competition. Region 7 Operations staff transported and installed the bridge at a stream crossing site on the multiple-use trail. This great collaboration led to the efficient production of a high-quality feature that supports public recreation and protects water quality in the forest and in the Upper Tioughnioga River watershed.

A local mountain bike group, CNY D.I.R.T., provides stewardship services for the trail system on Morgan Hill State Forest through an active volunteer stewardship agreement with DEC. The volunteers routinely donate time and materials to support maintenance and upgrades on these public trails. Anyone can support the maintenance and enhancement of hiking, biking, horseback riding, and other non-motorized trails on State lands by ordering a trail supporter patch.

Road Trip to Adventure: Sagamore Hill National Historic Site

Road Trip to Adventure has returned! Each month we will bring you creative ways to travel to and connect with nature and outdoor places close to home. This month we’re featuring one of the newest additions to the New York State Birding Trail, Sagamore Hill National Historic Site in Nassau County. The 83 acres surrounding this site include excellent bird habitats such as open fields, vernal ponds, woodland, salt marsh, and an open beach. Sagamore Hill, home of President Theodore Roosevelt, is visited by all types of birds, including osprey, orioles, warblers, wading birds, winter ducks, and much more. Check out some of the most recent sightings on eBird and use Merlin to help identify species.

Sagamore Hill features a visitor center, trails, wheelchair-accessible paths, a viewing platform, and parking. This site is also accessible via public transportation. There is no fee for visiting the grounds, however, there is a fee to visit the Theodore Roosevelt home. The historic site is located on the north shore of Long Island in Oyster Bay and is close to Planting Fields Arboretum to the west and Caumsett State Historic site to the east, another stop on the NYS Birding Trail.

Photo Credit: National Park Service

Upcoming Events

Thur. June 30, July 21, Aug. 11, Aug. 25 - First Mile/Next Mile on the Erie Canal
Sat. July 16 – Sun. July 24 – Latino Conservation Week
Sat. July 16 - Oswego Paddlefest 2022
Sun. July 17 - Albany & The Erie Canal: A Skyway Tour

Visit I Bird NY for upcoming birding events and DEC's website for other outdoor recreation events.