As the decade of the 1990s began, noted Adirondack conservationist and wilderness coalition leader Paul Schaefer’s eyesight was failing. He had macular degeneration. We had noticed that this skilled carpenter, home and cabin builder and historic restorationist was no longer hitting the nail squarely on its head. We worried about him continuing to drive. [Read more…] about Adirondack Advocate Paul Schaefer’s Influence On The Northway
development
Comments Sought On Ashokan Reservoir Water Release Plans
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has released of two draft documents related to water releases from New York City’s Ashokan Reservoir for public review and comment. DEC is also hosting a virtual public hearing on these draft documents on February 4th, 2021. [Read more…] about Comments Sought On Ashokan Reservoir Water Release Plans
The First (Short Lived) Suspension Bridge Across The Hudson River
Robert Codgell Gilchrist was born into an extremely wealthy well-connected Charleston family in 1829. The oligarchic families of South Carolina had made their wealth on tobacco, rice, indigo, and shipping and Charleston harbor was one of the centers of the southern slave trade. Robert Gilchist’s father had received a federal Judgeship from President Martin Van Buren and he owned an opulent home.
Each summer the wealthy Gilchrist family journeyed north to avoid the hot humid subtropical summers of Charleston. They stayed with maternal family members in the Great Northern Wilderness of New York. (The term Adirondacks is said to have been first used by geologist and surveyor Ebenezer Emmons in 1838 and took some time to come into general use). [Read more…] about The First (Short Lived) Suspension Bridge Across The Hudson River
Comments Sought On Removal of Historic Adirondack Camp
The Adirondack Park Agency (APA) and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) have announced a 60-day joint public comment period on the Draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) for the Debar Mountain Complex (DMC) Draft Unit Management Plan and a proposal to reclassify approximately 41 acres of the Wild Forest as Intensive Use.
The plan would also demolish and remove a rustic 1940s Adirondack camp at the north end of Debar Pond that is listed on the State and National Registers of Historic Places. [Read more…] about Comments Sought On Removal of Historic Adirondack Camp
State Parks Releases Draft Greenway Trails Plan
The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (State Parks) has released a Draft Statewide Greenways Plan/Draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement (DGEIS) for review and public comment.
This Statewide Greenway Trails Plan provides a vision, goals and recommendations to guide future planning and development of greenway trails, including expanding greenway trails in underserved communities and improving connections between trails and other transportation modes. [Read more…] about State Parks Releases Draft Greenway Trails Plan
State Proposes Removal of Historic DeBar Lodge Great Camp For Day Use Area
The NYS Adirondack Park Agency (APA) and Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) are holding a joint public comment period on plans to tear down a rustic 1940s Adirondack camp at the north end of Debar Pond that is listed on the State and National Registers of Historic Places.
The camp commands a view of DeBar Pond and the adjacent mountains which frame the water. The main lodge is a rambling two-story rustic building by architect Saranac Lake architect William Distin. The site also includes a guide/caretaker house, and several barns and outbuildings. [Read more…] about State Proposes Removal of Historic DeBar Lodge Great Camp For Day Use Area
Plans Afoot For Historic Victory Mills Near Saratoga Battlefield
Private developers are planning for the clean-up and reuse of the historic Victory Mills complex located on Fish Creek in the Village of Victory, Saratoga County.
Developers are working to turn the 1918 cotton mill into 186 apartments and a brewpub at a cost of about $60 million. [Read more…] about Plans Afoot For Historic Victory Mills Near Saratoga Battlefield
Army Proposal For Air, Ground Training On Forest Preserve Problematic
In June, the 10th Mountain Division of the U.S. Army, based at Fort Drum in Jefferson County, released a draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA) that outlined ambitious “air and land-based training activities” to possibly take place across nine counties in Upstate New York, including four (St. Lawrence, Lewis, Oneida, Herkimer) that are partially within the Adirondack Park, and two (Hamilton, Essex) that are entirely within the Adirondack Park Blue Line. [Read more…] about Army Proposal For Air, Ground Training On Forest Preserve Problematic
Former NY Central Adirondack Division Rails Being Removed
The New York State Department of Transportation (DOT) has begun tearing up the former NY Central Adirondack Division tracks connecting Lake Placid, Saranac Lake and Tupper Lake, part of a $1.9 million State project to build a rail trial suitable for use by bicyclists and snowmobilers.
The 34-mile rail corridor being removed was key to a once-thriving 119-mile railroad which operated almost continuously from 1892 until 1972, first as the Mohawk & Malone, and then by the New York Central starting in 1913. [Read more…] about Former NY Central Adirondack Division Rails Being Removed
Plans for Kildare, Five Mile Tracts Include Roads
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has released for public review and comment revised draft amendments to the Kildare Recreation Management Plan and the Five Mile Interim Recreation Management Plan (RMP).
The revised draft amendments to the Kildare Tract Conservation Easement and the Five Mile Tract Conservation Easement RMPs will provide for public motor vehicle/overland access to the Kildare tract for the first time since it was acquired in 1989. The Tract is located in Hopkinton, St. Lawrence County. [Read more…] about Plans for Kildare, Five Mile Tracts Include Roads