Mary Esch

Read the latest stories and analysis from Mary Esch.

In this Oct. 14, 2014 photo, Perry Loyola sorts apples before they are pressed for juice and used for cider at Samascott Orchards in Kinderhook, N.Y. Apple growers are tapping into the hard cider revenue stream after sales of hard cider in the U.S. have tripled over the last three years to $1.3 billion in 2013. (AP Photo/Mike Groll)

Artisanal ciders give growers a new revenue stream

Mary Esch · October 16, 2014 6:01 am

General Electric to study Hudson shore for PCBs

Mary Esch · October 1, 2014 8:28 pm

Donn Hewes leads his work horses back toward the stables from the pasture at The Northland Sheep Dairy Farm in Marathon, N.Y., Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2014. (AP Photo/Heather Ainsworth)

Horse power gains favor among small-scale farmers

Mary Esch · September 18, 2014 2:35 pm

File-This July 8, 2014, file photo shows canoeists paddling between Third and Fourth lakes in the Essex Chain Lakes tract near Newcomb, N.Y. The Department of Environmental Conservation says it's revising its proposed recreation plans for new state land in the Newcomb area of the central Adirondacks in response to public comments. (AP Photo/Mary Esch, File)

NY agency to revise plans for new Adirondack lands

Mary Esch · August 11, 2014 9:33 pm

Winemakers want NY to deny gas storage permits

Mary Esch · July 30, 2014 8:39 pm

John Rhodes, left, president of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, stands beside a wood-pellet heating system along with Lou Okonski, center, CEO of the Evoworld heating system company, and Joe Martens, commissioner of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, on Tuesday, July 29, 2014 in Troy, N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has launched a $27 million initiative to build the market for high-efficiency wood heating systems in New York. The program is aimed at developing more clean technology manufacturing in the state along with a skilled heating system installer base and sustainably harvested wood fuels from state forests. (AP Photo/Mary Esch)

Energy and Environment

NY commits $27 million to build wood heat industry

Mary Esch · July 29, 2014 7:31 pm

Surik Mehrabyan, a physicist from Armenia, spades soil to make a raised bed for growing potatoes on his quarter-acre plot at the Groundswell Center incubator farm in Ithaca, N.Y., on Wednesday, July 23, 2014. The farm is one of dozens that are springing up around the country to give a head-start to career-changers and others who want to get into farming. (AP Photo/Mary Esch)

Incubator farms nurture agriculture entrepreneurs

Mary Esch · July 26, 2014 4:41 pm

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, left, and his girlfriend Sandra Lee paddle with teammates during a rafting competition during the Adirondack Challenge on the Indian River on Sunday, July 20, 2014, in Indian Lake, N.Y. Cuomo and Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin are squaring off in the rafting race meant to highlight the Adirondacks' recreational opportunities. (AP Photo/Mike Groll)

Vermont’s Shumlin, Cuomo tie in NY rafting race

Mary Esch · July 20, 2014 11:08 pm

FILE - This July 9, 2013 file photo shows miners using heavy equipment to dig wollastonite ore from a pit mine in the Adirondacks. Mining company NYCO Minerals, must delay test drilling on Adirondack Forest Preserve land under a temporary restraining order issued Wednesday, July 16, 2014 from a state judge after environmental groups filed a lawsuit. (AP Photo/Mary Esch, File)

Judge halts mining tests in Adirondack forest

Mary Esch · July 16, 2014 9:02 pm

Railroads say up to 44 oil trains weekly cross NY

Mary Esch · July 16, 2014 12:34 am

Court dismisses challenges to NY fracking review

Mary Esch · July 14, 2014 8:57 pm

In this photo taken on Tuesday, July 8, 2014, paddlers prepare to launch their canoes at a rugged launch site on Deer Pond in the Essex Chain Lakes tract near Newcomb, N.Y. The tract, which includes more than a dozen small lakes, was purchased by the state in 2012 and opened for canoe camping this summer. (AP Photo/Mary Esch)

New York canoe camping area comes with new rules

Mary Esch · July 13, 2014 1:41 pm