Fish in the Saranac River are about to experience some new-found freedom. Deconstruction to remove the remnants of the Indian Rapids Dam and Frendenburgh Falls Dam in Plattsburgh is just about complete, which means fish will now be able to move more freely on that stretch of river. [Read more…] about Historic Saranac River Dam Removal Projects Underway
Adirondack Dams
Hydro Power Initiative Launched in Glens Falls, NY
A new initiative is bringing Glens Falls residents and businesses the option to choose clean, locally-sourced electricity, with the City of Glens Falls as lead subscriber. The Glens Falls Community Hydro Project is a collaboration between the City of Glens Falls, Boralex, and Northern Power & Light. [Read more…] about Hydro Power Initiative Launched in Glens Falls, NY
Boquet River Farm Easement Protects Salmon Fishery
294 acres of farmland with more than two miles of natural forest along the Boquet River and associated tributaries, have been brought under a permanent conservation easement in a deal between the Adirondack Land Trust and the landowners, the Gillilland family.
The Boquet River, a major tributary of Lake Champlain that drops 2,700 feet over its 47-mile course from the Adirondack High Peaks to the lake, provides critical spawning habitat for salmon and other native fish. [Read more…] about Boquet River Farm Easement Protects Salmon Fishery
Cracked: The Future of Dams in a Hot, Chaotic World
Throughout history, humans have dammed rivers at the cost of wild fish, Indigenous people, forested land, and healthy watersheds. Adding to the havoc of today’s climate-change-induced weather extremes and water shortages, science says there’s no future for the business of dam-building.
A new book offers hope for the dam removal movement and how it will contribute to the mitigation of the climate crisis: when we free the rivers, watersheds are restored and Earth heals itself. In Cracked: The Future of Dams in a Hot, Chaotic World (Patagonia, 2023) author Steven Hawley, an Oregon-based environmental journalist and documentary filmmaker, delivers the full, ugly truth about dams and offers a pathway toward freeing our rivers. [Read more…] about Cracked: The Future of Dams in a Hot, Chaotic World
Adirondack Logging History: Wood’s Lake & Beaver River Stations
After Hudson River logging sharply declined by 1905, the Adirondack railroad line known as the Mohawk & Malone kept NYS lumber companies in business for at least another twelve years. A big part of this was due to logging north of Big Moose, shown on this New York Central & Hudson River railroad map, with eight station stops northward toward Tupper Lake (shown at left), three of them as junctions for logging railroads — Wood’s Lake, Brandreth, and Nehasane.
Beaver River Station was shifting from logging to tourism. Little Rapids was a flag stop, Keepawa unlisted in an 1895 train schedule. This article will describe the logging history of Wood’s Lake and Beaver River stations, beginning with a new lumbering operation just north of Big Moose. [Read more…] about Adirondack Logging History: Wood’s Lake & Beaver River Stations
Rehabilitation of Lows Lake Lower Dam Has Begun
The gate on the access road leading to the Bog River Dam, also known as Lows Lake Lower Dam, in the town of Piercefield, St. Lawrence County, closed December 6th, to allow for construction to maintain the Adirondack dam. [Read more…] about Rehabilitation of Lows Lake Lower Dam Has Begun
Lows Lower Dam Rehabilitation Will Close Road
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced the gate on the access road leading to the Bog River Dam, also known as Lows Lower Dam, will be closed starting December 6th, to allow for construction to maintain the dam, located on the Bog River near Tupper Lake, NY in the Adirondack Park. [Read more…] about Lows Lower Dam Rehabilitation Will Close Road
The 1903 Hudson River Spier Falls Dam Disaster
In the spring of 1903, more than a thousand men were at work on the final stages of the Spier Falls hydroelectric project on the Hudson River near Glens Falls.
A large number of skilled Italian masons and stoneworkers were housed in a shantytown on the Warren County (north) side of the river.
Most of the remaining work was on the Saratoga County (south) side, which they accessed by a temporary bridge. But the company feared that the high waters of springtime had made the bridge unsafe. To avert a potential catastrophe, they destroyed it with dynamite. [Read more…] about The 1903 Hudson River Spier Falls Dam Disaster
At Spier Falls Immigrants Built America, Or Died Trying
Adirondack history is naturally rife with river-related stories — wildly successful fishing trips, damaging floods, wilderness exploration, and dam construction.
Rivers were the lifeblood of development: settlements sprang up along waterways, where partial diversion of streams provided the wheel-turning power necessary to many industries. But freshets were so common and destructive that dams were introduced as flood-control measures, and then for hydropower as the electrification of society unfolded. [Read more…] about At Spier Falls Immigrants Built America, Or Died Trying
The 10 Deadliest Accidents in the Adirondack Region
Some of tragic accidents have occurred in the Adirondack region.
Here is a list of the ten believed to have been among the deadliest: [Read more…] about The 10 Deadliest Accidents in the Adirondack Region