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Forest Preserve

Logging The Adirondacks: A Legal Logjam (1880-1900)

November 14, 2022 by Noel Sherry 4 Comments

Aaron Lloyd v. Moose River Lumber Co;An early 20th century Adirondack lawsuit pitted a small Big Moose Lake sportsman and landowner Aaron Lloyd against a team of powerful opponents, John Adams Dix and his Moose River Lumber Company with Dr. William Seward Webb and his Nehasane Park Association.

A second suit reversed the plaintiff and defendant, Webb vs. Lloyd, and appeared to be linked to the first complaint. Clearly this was a classic David versus Goliath clash. These cases would have been the fodder for conversations around the campfire in the Big Moose area for almost a decade.

On the surface, the complaints concerned the harvest of millions of board feet of virgin timber and flooding Big Moose Lake to get these logs to market, with Webb behind both actions. [Read more…] about Logging The Adirondacks: A Legal Logjam (1880-1900)

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History Tagged With: Adirondacks, Big Moose, Big Moose Lake, Big Moose Tract, Environmental History, Forest Preserve, Hamilton County, Herkimer COunty, Industrial History, John A. Dix, Legal History, Logging, Mohawk & Malone Railroad, railroads, surveying, Totten Crossfield Tract, Town of Webb, Twitchell Lake, Verplanck Colvin, William Seward Webb

Adirondack Voters Join Environmental Bond Act Approval Landslide

November 10, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Adirondack Mountains from the top of Whiteface Mountain courtesy Wikimedia R khotResidents of the Adirondack Park’s 130 rural communities voted overwhelmingly to approve the Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act on Election Day.

The measure won approval by more than a two-to-one margin statewide. [Read more…] about Adirondack Voters Join Environmental Bond Act Approval Landslide

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Nature, Recreation Tagged With: Adirondack Council, Adirondacks, clean air, clean water, Clinton County, Environmental History, Essex County, Forest Preserve, Franklin County, Fulton County, Hamilton County, Lewis County, nature, Oneida County, Overuse, politics, Saratoga County, St Lawrence County, Warren County, Washington County, Whitney Park

Central Adirondacks Lumbering Operations (1880-1900)

November 1, 2022 by Noel Sherry 1 Comment

6b1 Webb Land Sold to NYS in 1896 on Julius Bien MapAfter achieving his railroad dream and completing his Nehasane wilderness refuge – reachable using his own luxury rail car – William Seward Webb found himself in a major conflict with the State of New York.

Inlet historian Charles Herr tells this part of the story expertly, in his history of the Fulton Chain. My map here highlights that land aquisition by the State in yellow, totaling 74,585 acres of Brown’s Tract and in the Totten & Crossfield Purchase. Webb retained ownership of lakes like Twitchell and Big Moose because he intended those for later cottage and hotel sales. [Read more…] about Central Adirondacks Lumbering Operations (1880-1900)

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History Tagged With: Adirondacks, Beaver River, Big Moose, Big Moose Tract, Black River, Forest Preserve, Herkimer, Herkimer COunty, John A. Dix, Legal History, Logging, McKeever, Mohawk & Malone Railroad, Moose River, Oneida County, Stillwater, Totten Crossfield Tract, Town of Webb, Transportation History, Twitchell Lake, Utica, William Seward Webb

Important NYS Forest Preserve Management Reforms, Part 2

October 17, 2022 by Peter Bauer Leave a Comment

“Visitor Use Management” Forest PreserveThe Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) recently issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for development of a “Visitor Use Management” Plan for the Central High Peaks Wilderness Area in the Adirondack Park and the Kaaterskill Clove/Route 23A corridor of the Catskill Park.

The RFP marks a major step forward in DEC’s efforts to evaluate and address a series of impacts to the natural resources, the visitor experience, and public safety due to high recreational use in these two popular destinations on the New York State Forest Preserve. [Read more…] about Important NYS Forest Preserve Management Reforms, Part 2

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Nature, Recreation Tagged With: Adirondacks, APA, Catskills, DEC, development, Environmental History, Forest Preserve, High Peaks, hiking, Kaaterskill Falls, Kaaterskill Wild Forest, Overuse, State Land Master Plan, Tourism, wilderness, Wildlife

Peter Bauer: Important NYS Forest Preserve Management Reforms

October 6, 2022 by Peter Bauer Leave a Comment

NYSDEC Trail Work2022 may end up as the year some of the most important reforms in New York State Forest Preserve management were started, both in practice and in theory.

Forest Preserve management reform has been a long time coming as the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), which is responsible for the care and custody of the Forest Preserve, has struggled for years with how to improve its overall management program.

Small changes have been attempted at various points, but no major reforms have been successfully brought to the DEC’s Forest Preserve management. [Read more…] about Peter Bauer: Important NYS Forest Preserve Management Reforms

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Nature, Recreation Tagged With: Adirondacks, APA, Article 14, Catskills, DEC, development, Environmental History, Forest Preserve, Legal History, nature, Protect the Adirondacks, snowmobiling, wilderness

Despite Elise Stefanik’s Claims, NYS Gun Law Doesn’t Prohibit Historical Events

September 20, 2022 by Anthony F. Hall 3 Comments

Living historians firing blanks at a historical re-enactment in Lake George Battlefield ParkNew York’s new gun law, which bans weapons from “sensitive locations” such as parks and museums, will have no effect on musket demonstrations, including at Fort William Henry or re-enactments in Lake George Battlefield Park, according to Warren County Sheriff James La Farr.

“It is not within the spirit of the law to prohibit those activities,” LaFarr said.  The re-enactors’ muskets and cannon fire only blanks.

Fort Ticonderoga, which is located in Essex County, is also unaffected by the new law, says its president and CEO, Beth Hill. “We do not plan to change our operations or special events,” she said. [Read more…] about Despite Elise Stefanik’s Claims, NYS Gun Law Doesn’t Prohibit Historical Events

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Recreation Tagged With: Adirondacks, Crime and Justice, Dan Stec, Elise Stefanik, Forest Preserve, Fort Ticonderoga, Fort William Henry, hunting, Kathy Hochul, Lake Champlain, Lake George, Lake George Battlefield Park, Matt Simpson, politics, Public History, Warren County

Schenectady and the Adirondacks: A Legacy of Conservation

July 29, 2022 by Guest Contributor 1 Comment

Upper Falls at the Plotter Kill Reserve courtesy Michael DianaSchenectady has a long history of its residents being active in conservation and outdoor recreation – in Schenectady County and in the wilderness of the North Country, alike.

Schenectadians’ interest in protecting and exploring wilderness has its roots in the mid 1800s with industrialization and westward expansion. The wilderness was at risk of disappearing, and influential nature lovers used their writings to convince Americans that preserving land and wildlife was vital. Many Americans, including people in Schenectady, could easily see the case for this. [Read more…] about Schenectady and the Adirondacks: A Legacy of Conservation

Filed Under: History, Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, Nature, Recreation Tagged With: 46ers, Adirondack Mountain Club, Adirondacks, Boquet River, camping, Environmental History, Forest Preserve, General Electric, High Peaks, hiking, John Apperson, Kelly Adirondack Center, Lake George, Niskayuna, Paul Schaefer, Schenectady, Schenectady County, Schenectady County Historical Society, Union College, wilderness

Despite GOP Claims, Guns Not Banned in Adirondack Park

July 22, 2022 by Anthony F. Hall 6 Comments

hunting camp on state-owned lands near Saranac Lake courtesy Lisa HallThe claims of US Representative Elise Stefanik, New York State Senator Dan Stec and others that the six-million-acre Adirondack Park is among the “sensitive locations” from which all firearms would be banned under new legislation signed by Governor Kathy Hochul, while ludicrous, at least concentrates our minds on the question of what, precisely, makes the Adirondack Park a park unlike almost any other. [Read more…] about Despite GOP Claims, Guns Not Banned in Adirondack Park

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY Tagged With: Adirondacks, Dan Stec, Elise Stefanik, Forest Preserve, Kathy Hochul, Matt Simpson, politics

The Adirondack Northway: Some History

July 15, 2022 by Anthony F. Hall Leave a Comment

July 9, 1954 issue of the Lake George MirrorThe Adirondack Northway (I-87) made Lake George more accessible than any other resort area in the Northeast. So, it’s appropriate that the birth of the modern interstate highway system can be traced to Lake George; specifically, to the 46th Annual National Governor’s Conference, held July 11th to 13th, 1954, at the Sagamore Hotel in Bolton Landing.

To be precise, the Conference was the site not so much of the birth of the interstate highway system, but of the announcement of its birth. [Read more…] about The Adirondack Northway: Some History

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History Tagged With: Adirondacks, APA, Bolton, Chestertown, development, Dwight Eisenhower, Engineering History, Environmental History, Forest Preserve, I-87, Lake George, Richard Nixon, Transportation History, Warren County

Forest Preserve Decision Has Far-Reaching Implications Beyond Tree Cutting

June 19, 2022 by Peter Bauer Leave a Comment

Canopy by Peter BauerRecent pieces in the Adirondack Explorer (see here and here) have attempted to assess the implications of the decision by New York State’s highest court in Protect the Adirondacks v Department of Environmental Conservation and Adirondack Park Agency.

The Court of Appeals found that these state agencies violated the state constitution in their efforts to build a network of new extra-wide snowmobile trails in the Adirondack Forest Preserve. These commenters have derided the decision because they say it’s focused on tree cutting, which they argue is a poor standard to evaluate the constitutionality of management actions by state agencies under Article 14, Section 1, the Forever Wild Clause. [Read more…] about Forest Preserve Decision Has Far-Reaching Implications Beyond Tree Cutting

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Nature Tagged With: Adirondacks, Article 14, Environmental History, Forest Preserve, Legal History, Logging, nature, Protect the Adirondacks, trees

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