On March 19, a Massachusetts Department of Public Works plow driver noticed a car at the Berlin Pass trailhead in Williamstown that had been parked at that location for eight days, 700 feet from the New York border near Taconic Ridge State Forest.
Over the next three days, 18 New York State Department of Environmental Conservation forest rangers, along with personnel from other law enforcement agencies in NY and Mass., searched for the car’s 40-year-old owner, who was last seen on March 7.
After three days, Massachusetts State Police suspended the search due to weather. However, rangers continued searching the area of Taconic Ridge State Forest over the next few weeks. On the morning of April 15, a ranger found the missing person’s dead body on the Taconic Ridge, nearly a mile from where their vehicle was located. The body was turned over to NY state police.
Rangers last week conducted a number of controlled burns across the state, including this one in Three Rivers Wildlife Management Area, Onondaga County.NYSDEC
Last week rangers also conducted a number of controlled burns in Albany, Livingston, Onondaga, Saratoga, and Suffolk counties. Controlled burns help prevent the spread of invasive species and reduce the risk of uncontrolled wildfires.
- On April 16, rangers and DEC staff from Region 7 conducted a prescribed fire on 26 acres in the Three Rivers Wildlife Management Area, Onondaga County; 12 acres in the David A. Sarnoff Pine Barrens State Forest, Suffolk County; 75 acres in Sonyea State Forest, Livingston County; and 66 acres of the Saratoga National Historical Park, Saratoga County.
- On April 17, DEC personnel conducted a prescribed fire on 38.5 acres in the Albany Pine Bush, as well as 32 acres in the Rocky Point Pine Barrens State Forest.
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Steve Featherstone covers the outdoors for The Post Standard, syracuse.com and NYUP.com. Contact him at sfeatherstone@syracuse.com or on Twitter @featheroutdoors. You can also follow along with all of our outdoors content at newyorkupstate.com/outdoors/ or follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/upstatenyoutdoors.