A Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) initiative in the Hudson River watershed and Adirondacks has resulted in ticketing or formal warning of 117 people for a variety of fishing-related infractions.

According to the DEC, between March 16 and April 30, DEC Environmental Conservation Officers wrote 105 tickets and issued 26 written warnings in Greene, Columbia, Rensselaer, Albany, Saratoga, Warren, Washington, Hamilton, Franklin, Essex and Clinton counties.

The initiative was designed to coincide with the spawning run for walleye, an important recreational fishery in New York. In addition to ticketing for illegal walleye fishing, officers tickets people for taking too many striped bass, fishing in closed areas, taking smelt illegally, possessing loaded firearms in vehicles, taking undersized fish and the reckless operation of vessels.

The DEC Five Rivers Environmental Fair will take place Thursday, May 17 at the Five Rivers Environmental Education Center.

The public is invited to join DEC staff and school children from selected area elementary schools around the region. They will visit different DEC exhibits to learn about environmental stewardship.

Five Rivers Environmental Education Center is located at 56 Game Farm Road in Delmar and the event will take place at 12:30 p.m.

Click here to see more information.

More than 600 local travel suggestions have been submitted to the Lakes to Locks Passage website, www.lakestolocks.com.

The submissions are just in time for the summer travel season and the site is co-branded with National Geographic. It emphasizes travel and tourism opportunities that are submitted by local residents and locally-owned business owners.

The national advertising and marketing campaign is promoting the Lakes to Locks Passage that stretches from Albany to Quebec, along the interconnected waterway of the Hudson River, Champlain Canal, Lake George and Lake Champlain and includes Albany, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Washington, Warren, Essex and Clinton counties. 

“This website shines a spotlight on the region’s hidden gems, those places that provide local character to a destination. It is exciting to see the local commitment to delivering a distinctive travel experience,” said Executive Director Janet Kennedy.