The New York Botanical Garden’s hugely popular orchid show continues through 6 p.m. April 6.

Thousands of orchids are on view, and there’s supplemental programming to enhance your visit.

For example, on March 22 and 23, you can learn about orchid conservation at 12 p.m. and the history of orchids at 3 p.m., and check out a demonstration on how to pot and divide orchids at 1:30 p.m.

There’s stuff for the kids, too: “Chocolate and Vanilla Adventures,” in the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden, allows kids to learn about the origins of both flavors, examine products, and sample chocolate and vanilla treats.

Go online (www.nybg.org) or call (718-817-8700) before heading out to verify schedules and any fees.

COMING UP: In late April, the NYBG will host a massive exhibit on Charles Darwin, called “Darwin’s Garden: An Evolutionary Adventure.” We’ll provide details as the exhibit nears.

The Hackensack Riverkeeper tells us they held “A Citizen’s Guide to Protecting the Hackensack River’s Category One Waterways” last week.

The organization, which advocates to keep The Hack and its tributaries healthy, partnered with United Water New Jersey for the program. Municipal officials, planners and regular Joes attended and learned about New Jersey’s Category One Rule.

Among other requirements, this rule, something Hackensack Riverkeeper fought hard to see implemented, requires a 300-foot buffer around sections of the river and its tributaries that lie between the New Jersey-New York state line and the Oradell Dam, which provides drinking water for more than 750,000 people.

On the downside, of course, is the fact that New Jersey’s rules don’t dictate behavior toward The Hack in New York.

The river begins on the Ramapo-Clarkstown border and flows south through the Lake Deforest reservoir and into New Jersey.

Whatever gets into the river in New York can be carried into New Jersey.

The Hackensack Riverkeeper, Capt. Bill Sheehan, also tells us he’ll post an electronic copy of the seminar’s handbook on the organization’s web site in short order.

The Piermont Trail has become part of the state Greenway Trails system.

The 4.6 mile stretch also links other trails in Rockland: the Hader Trail, Tallman Mountain State Park Bike Trail, Bike Route 9, the Joseph B. Clarke Rail Trail, and the Long Path.

In a statement, Mary Mangione, executive director of the Hudson River Valley Greenway, said, “The Piermont trail will provide users with the opportunity to shop, eat and rest at local establishments while increasing public access to the natural resources along the Hudson River. ”

Piermont Mayor Chris Sanders said the village was proud to join the Greenway.

“The village had its beginnings as a transportation hub in the 19th century and it’s only fitting that Piermont plays a part in this walking trail,” Sanders stated.

The Hudson River Valley Greenway is attempting to create trails on both sides of the Hudson River, from New York City to upstate Saratoga County. The program also encourages open space, the redevelopment of “brownfields,”or polluted sites, and the promotion of tourism and local businesses.

Through June 26, the Greenburgh Nature Center is running an exhibit on biomimicry, the science that studies nature’s models and then imitates or takes inspiration from these designs and processes to solve human problems. Watch how some of the animals and plants that make their homes at the Nature Center have been the inspiration for innovative products and ideas, and learn how people are now looking to nature for clues that may lead to advances in science, economics, sustainability and more. Where do you think Velcro originated? Exhibit includes animals, plants, pictures, hands-on displays and other media that will interest adults and children. Download a description of the program and the world of biomimicry at the center’s Web site.

Art and nature will be the focus of the next meeting of the Rockland County Conservation Association, which just so happens to take place on the first day of spring!

The gathering starts at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at the Rockland Center for the Arts, 27 S. Greenbush Road, in West Nyack.

Daly Flanagan, the center’s school director, will be the speaker.

According to press information provided by the conservation association’s president, Dorice Madronero, the “visual program” will present local and international artists “who create contemporary art inspired by the realm of natural phenomena.”

“The presentation will range from traditional artists interpreting the natural world to contemporary artists making work based on environmental issues and the rapidly changing landscape.”

The program is free and refreshments will be provided by the conservation association’s board of directors.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has notified Westchester County officials that the agency will not disperse Indian Point’s $650,000 emergency siren fine to local emergency responders. “The NRC lacks the statutory authority to…redirect civil penalties to local communities” as Westchester County Executive Andy Spano had requested, agency officials wrote in a letter. The fine was assessed for Indian Point’s failure to deliver a new emergency siren system by an August 2007 deadline. It was the second time the agency fined the nuclear plant on the sirens and rejected a Spano request to share the money with local governments.

Want to spend your summer helping deliver water to some 9 million people?

No, we’re not talking about hefting bottled water but rather getting an inside look at how NYC’s system supplies drinking water. The New York City Department of Environmental Protection is looking for 10 college students or graduating, college-bound high school seniors for internship slots.

The interns “will be placed in assignments that focus on engineering and scientific disciplines and will include tasks in water supply and wastewater treatment operations, water quality, watershed protection, and administration.” Assignments will be at DEP facilities in Delaware, Greene, Schoharie, Sullivan and Ulster Counties

Interested students should submit their resumes to NYCDEP, BWS, P.O. Box 358, Grahamsville, NY 12740 by April 25.

See the announcement here. (Having trouble opening previous link? Right-click on it and choose “Open in new window.)

Maybe it was wishful thinking on my part, but just the other day I was wondering why I hadn’t seen any black squirrels in what seemed like years. Lo and behold, there was one in a field off Route 22 in Southeast this morning.

A black squirrel is nothing more than your average Eastern gray squirrel with extra pigment in its fur. It’s a genetic variation.

The TJN photo shows a black squirrel in Mount Kisco. Here’s a Canadian black squirrel tale.

As an aside, the gray squirrel’s scientific name is Sciurus carolinensis. The genus, Sciurus, always strikes me as such a fitting moniker for the little, scurrying tree rodents.

Want to go up the Hudson River and back in time? Then check out this 1903 movie of a steamboat ride along the Hudson, from about Haverstraw in Rockland County up to Newburgh in Orange County.

Going to bat for bats was how Katie Couric the other night described scientists’ efforts to figure out what’s killing bats throughout the Northeast.

This is the whole “white nose syndrome” issue that came to light back on Jan. 30, with an announcement by the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

The catastrophe that the natural world and bats are facing has now risen to recognition by the national media. Follow the link. There’s a good video explaining the die-off of bats.