Applications are now posted online for the Department of Environmental Conservation Environmental Education Summer Camps.

The DEC Environmental Education Camps offer campers experiences in sportsman education, games, lessons, hands-on activities, swimming, hiking, canoeing and other outdoor activities. Through these activities, campers will learn about forests, water quality, nature and more.

There are four different camps kids can attend, Camp Colby, Camp DeBruce, Camp Rushford and Camp Pack Forest. Campers will participate in discovery groups and will complete six lessons. These lessons include group dynamics, explorations of different habitats and human impacts on the environment.  Science, problem solving, games, journal keeping and wildlife activities are also part of what campers will experience.

Camp starts on July 1, 2012 and goes until August 18, 2012. Campers can attend multiple times during the seven, week-long sessions.

ALBANY - Mayor Jerry Jennings announced Friday he will scratch the Common Council's decision to allow backyard hens.

There hasn't been a peep out of the coop on Grand Street since last year.  Its owners were hopeful they'd be able to fill it with fowl again but the Mayor's veto is instead sending them scrambling.

"It's a reflection of not listening to the people of Albany.  We've presented (them) with facts and public opinion that this is something the people of Albany want," explains the founder of the Albany Chicken Coalition, Mike Guidice.

Earlier this month the Common Council voted to allow up to five hens per property -- no roosters though.  But the mayor doesn't believe the ordinance went far enough.

Don't be surprised if you see a lot of dead fish when the ice melts off your local pond.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation says increased fish kills known as "winterkills" are expected this spring because of the unusually harsh, snowy winter.

Winterkills are the result of oxygen depletion in a water body that has been covered by ice and snow for an extended period of time. The layers of snow and ice block oxygen from entering the water from the air, and prevent sunlight from reaching aquatic plants that would produce oxygen.

The DEC says winterkills are rare in larger water bodies over 20 acres in size, occurring more often in small ponds. The agency says fish populations can often rebound a few years after a winterkill.

DEC says anyone noting a fish kill that they believe cannot be attributed to winterkill should contact their local DEC regional office.