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Some might wonder: What’s the big deal about Boreas Ponds? Yes, it boasts a fantastic view of the High Peaks, but you can paddle the waterway in less than an hour. And then what?
Unlike Lake Lila, Boreas Ponds has no sandy beaches where you can loll in the sun or go for a swim. Nor is there a nearby peak to climb for a lookout (though you could bushwhack to the top of Boreas Mountain).
Nevertheless, Boreas Ponds is a big deal. It’s one of our last chances to add a sizable water body to the Forest Preserve and declare it motor-free.
The Adirondack Park Agency has not decided how to classify Boreas Ponds. If it classifies the ponds as Wilderness, motorboats will be prohibited. If the agency classifies the ponds as Wild Forest, motorboats could be allowed, but whether they would be allowed would depend on a management plan to be written by the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
Environmental groups support a Wilderness classification, whereas local towns favor a Wild Forest designation. Not even the towns, however, are pushing for unrestricted motorboat use. Their proposal calls for only electric motors, which are quiet and pollution-free.
The odds are, then, that Boreas Ponds will be motor-free or nearly so.
Some years ago, after the Adirondack Explorer newsmagazine launched its Campaign for Quiet Waters, opponents pointed out that the Forest Preserve already has hundreds of lakes and ponds that are motor-free. Why, they asked, do we need more?
According to the APA website, there are 1,699 lakes and ponds in the Adirondack Park that are entirely surrounded by Forest Preserve. Of these, more than half (887) are classified Wilderness, Canoe, or Primitive, designations that prohibit motorized uses. No doubt many of the 786 ponds classified Wild Forest also are, practically speaking, motor-free.
So the critics of the Campaign for Quiet Waters had half a point. What they ignored, though, is that most of the motor-free ponds are tiny and remote.
Boreas Ponds is not tiny. Protect the Adirondacks recently compiled a list of the 200 largest lakes in the Park. At 339 acres, Boreas Ponds ranks 95th. That may not sound impressive, but it seems more so as you dig deeper.
Let’s look at just the top 100 lakes in the Park. Only 15 of them, including Boreas Ponds, are entirely surrounded by Forest Preserve. Of these, eight are motor-free. The largest is Lake Lila, at 1,428 acres. Thus, Boreas Ponds could become one of the largest motor-less lakes in the Forest Preserve — in the top ten.
What’s more, there won’t be many more chances in the foreseeable future to add a large lake to the Preserve. Most of the big lakes in the Park, such as Lake George, Raquette Lake, and Schroon Lake, were subdivided and developed long ago. Others, such as Brandreth Lake, Nehasane Lake, and Honnedaga Lake, are owned by families or clubs that seem unlikely to sell to the state.
At the moment, the only likely candidate for acquisition in the top 100 is Follensby Pond. The Adirondack chapter of the Nature Conservancy bought the 970-acre pond in 2008 and planned to sell it to the state. That transaction was put on hold while the state completed a larger deal with the conservancy, the acquisition of 65,000 acres of former Finch, Pruyn lands. Boreas Ponds, which the state bought last year, was the last piece of the Finch deal. That means Follensby can now move forward.
A remoter possibility for state acquisition is 1,517-acre Forked Lake, most of which is owned by the Whitney family. The only other owner is the state. Environmental groups would love it if the state bought all of the Whitneys’ 36,000 acres in the central Adirondacks. The family, however, has given no public indication that it intends to sell.
In any event, Boreas Ponds presents a rare opportunity to add a large lake to the Forest Preserve. Third Lake in the Essex Chain, the last large lake added to the Preserve, was also part of the Finch deal. Third Lake encompasses 340 acres, meaning it’s virtually the same in size as Boreas Ponds.
Boreas Ponds, it should be noted, used to be three ponds connected by wetland streams. A dam built by Finch, Pruyn raised the water level and joined the ponds. If the dam were removed or allowed to fail, the ponds would shrink.
Following are the 15 largest lakes lying entirely in the Forest Preserve, according to Protect. Those with an asterisk are motor-free:
- Lake Lila,1,429 acres.*
- Meacham Lake, 1,170 acres.
- Taylor Pond, 859 acres.
- Round Lake, 745 acres.*
- Cedar River Flow, 584 acres.
- South Lake, 485 acres.
- Limekiln Lake, 471 acres.
- Newcomb Lake, 448 acres.*
- Cedar Lakes, 436 acres.*
- Pharaoh Lake, 418 acres.*
- Horseshoe Lake, 399 acres.
- St. Regis Pond, 388 acres.*
- Long Pond, 357 acres.*
- Third Lake, 340 acres.*
- Boreas Ponds, 339 acres.
The above list does not include Lows Lake (3,122 acres) and Little Tupper Lake (2,290 acres). Both are popular paddling destinations that lie almost entirely in the Forest Preserve. Although both are virtually motor-free, owners of in-holdings are allowed to use motorboats.
Protect considers three of the motor-free lakes on the list — Newcomb Lake, Cedar Lakes, and Pharaoh Lake — to be inaccessible to paddlers. All three lie several miles from the nearest road. That leaves just five lakes that are both motor-free and accessible to paddlers.
Much of the debate over Boreas Ponds is about access. A well-maintained logging road leads to the ponds, but some environmental activists want it closed to motor vehicles, which would require paddlers to carry or wheel their boats seven miles to reach the ponds. Protect and several other environmental groups support allowing the public to drive to within a mile of the ponds.
Assuming Boreas Ponds is designated motor-free, then, the next question is: should it be a paddling destination, like the Essex Chain, or a backpacking destination, like Pharaoh Lake?
Photo: Boreas Ponds, by Phil Brown.
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Funny, I’ve paddled several of the lakes that Protect the Adirondacks considers “inaccessible to paddlers,” thanks in large part to one of Protect’s board members, Peter Hornbeck. Cedar Lakes is a joy to paddle, because you see so much more from the water than you do from the NPT. The same goes for West Lake, South Lake, Spruce Lake, Sampson Lake, Brooktrout Lake, and Whitney Lake; only shallow Mud Lake leaves something to be desired.
At Newcomb Lake, there are canoes available in the boathouse for the public to use.
The only reason I haven’t paddled Pharaoh Lake yet is because I simply haven’t gotten around to it.
The point being, thanks to Hornbeck’s canoes, backpacking and paddling hardly have to be separate activities… and remoteness hardly needs to be sacrificed for the sake of paddling access.
Bill,
The PROTECT reports states “11 of 29 [out of 100 largest lakes in the Adirondack Park] of the motorfree lakes are inaccessible and involve a lengthy hike carrying one’s boat.” We include charts that refer in short-hand to “accessible” and “inaccessible” lakes.
One longer passage in the report states:
“Across the Adirondack Park there are few genuine opportunities for motor-free boating on a big lake or pond. In the top 100 biggest lakes in the Adirondack Park, just five lakes stand out as lakes without motor- boats, jetskis, and floatplanes; Lows Lake, Little Tupper Lake, Round Lake, Lake Lila, and St. Regis Pond. These lakes are all managed as motor-free waterbodies as parts of the Forest Preserve. Three other lakes, Cedar Lake in the West Canada Lakes Wilderness Area, Newcomb Lake in the High Peaks Wilderness, and Pharaoh Lake in the Pharaoh Lake Wilderness are also motor-free, but they are largely inaccessible for boating by the general public. They are great lakes to hike to, and extraordinarily beautiful places, but they are difficult to reach with a boat.”
We don’t say these lakes cannot be reached. Certainly they can, but they’re not easy, and I’ve carried a Hornbeck into all but Newcomb Lake.
We need places that are hard to get to and places that are easy to get to. Most of the big lake in the Adirondacks are widely available to all kinds of motorized watercraft.
Phil linked to our report above if you care to read it.
I think you aging Baby Boomers just need to embrace the fact that plenty of people are performing the “feats” your generation has deemed to be impossible. Although, frankly, if more people are convinced that places like the West Canadas are “inaccessible,” all the better for the people like me who know better. Those of us who are busy doing these impossible things are getting sick of being told by our elders what we are supposed to be incapable of doing. And in many cases, if you know an area well, you can find boats already stashed on the shorelines anyway, especially where the fishing is good.
We can probably all agree that “access is in the eyes of the beholder” after some of the recent APA discussions. Terms like accessibility, wilderness, and remoteness are all very subjective terms whose meaning depends largely on the context of the reader.
I think the discussion of accessibility is less important than “what types of use and how much can the ponds sustain.” Where is the limit? 100 paddlers/day? 50? We also have some benchmark information from the use over the last 10 months or so that would be very helpful in assessing how much use there will be.
Bill — C’mon. Nobody is telling you where you can and can’t go and what you can and can’t do. The “feats” you speak of have been performed for generations. On one level, that’s what the Forest Preserve is all about — providing timeless wild experiences in much the same way generation after generation.
I know you disagree with PROTECT’s position on the classification of the Boreas Ponds and now that makes us the enemy who you have to attack, disparage and troll. I get it. But, man, in your zeal to whoop us you’re picking nits.
Our report from a few years back on Motorless Waters was simply pointing out that it’s a lot of work to get to most of the large lakes in the Forest Preserve that are now motorless. To you, accessing these water bodies is literally a walk in the park. Bravo. When I carried a Hornbeck in to Cedar Lake more than two decades ago, long before the days of an even lighter black jack, it was a lot of work for me then, but well worth it. At what age I will no longer be able to do that is not the issue.
We’re advocating for Lake Lila-style access to the Boreas Ponds for a number of reasons. One of them, as the report bears out, is that there are few opportunities for relatively easy Lake Lila style access to large motorless lakes today in the Forest Preserve. In the case of Boreas Ponds, we think the Lake Lila model is worth replicating, all things considered. We know that you disagree.
Peter,
I disagree as well. Regardless of final classification, I would like to see routine automobile access no closer than the current gate. The ponds seem to be getting plenty of paddling where the gate is now. If the ponds do well, possibly consider moving it closer in a few years. Why not play it safe until we see the level of interest and capacity of the ponds before opening the road to LaBier flow?
I agree with you, Boreas
Peter,
What’s wrong with the interim parking area?
No reply, it says a lot, and is a good reason for lack of support.
Seriously, Justin? What is says is that we’ve been in trial this week, fighting to protect the Forest Preserve and uphold the forever wild provision in the State Constitution, and working day and night. Plus, we’ve answered your exact same comment in other articles on this site.
Didn’t Protect post a photo on facebook looking downstream from the LeBeir Flow bridge with a caption that says “Let it be”?
Interesting article, but like Bill, I agree that remoteness doesn’t make a pond inaccessible. I once saw a guy hiking up Feldspar Brook with a canoe on his way to paddle Lake Tear of the Cloud.
You also could have mentioned that hundreds of people have already paddled the ponds with the current 3.5-mile carry. I saw 30 of them in one day.
Phil mention the second gate & it’s existing large parking area?
That’s funny!
“…saw a guy hiking up Feldspar Brook with a canoe on his way to paddle Lake Tear of the Cloud.”
Did he lose a bet? 😉
Lake Tear is merely 220 feet long (and 75 feet wide at its widest) …. and about 3 feet deep.
http://caltopo.com/map.html#ll=44.10692,-73.93539&z=19&b=sat
Perhaps he did so to claim he had paddled the highest source of the Hudson?
Otherwise, I think Wallface Ponds would make for a more interesting (and challenging) High Peaks paddling destination.
Yes, I’ve often said “Swamp Tear of the Clouds” would be a better name.
One of Grace Hudawalski’s favorite sayings – “Strong back, weak mind.”
Taras,
I would assume this feat has been repeated more than a few times, but here is one person who documented it.
http://peterlourie.com/journeys/hudson/
Thanks for the link!
Very good book Boreas! I’ve read it twice. And who was the one who guided Pete Lourie for the initial leg through the Adirondacks of this historic trek? None other than the wonderful mister Ernie LaPrairie.
Here’s a list of all the motorized, public lakes sporting wonderful waterway vistas. (Lakes are listed in order of size – stopping at the 200th largest Adirondack lake.) These shorelines and waterways are already readily accessible via roadways:
Lake Champlain
Lake George
Great Sacandaga Lake
Cranberry Lake
Upper Saranac Lake
Tupper Lake
Stillwater Reservoir
Raquette Lake
Indian Lake/Lewey Lake
Schroon Lake
Long Lake
Carry Falls Reservoir
Fourth Lake
Piseco Lake
Hinckley Reservoir
Upper Chateaugay Lake
Lower Saranac Lake
Lake Placid
Chazy Lake
Blue Mountain Lake
Union Falls Pond
Middle Saranac Lake
Sacandaga Lake
Forked Lake
Lake Pleasant
Upper Saint Regis Lake
Oseetah Lake
Big Moose Lake
Meacham Lake
Lake Clear
Woodhull Lake
Sixth and Seventh Lakes
Paradox Lake
Taylor Pond
Canada Lake
Silver Lake
Lincoln Pond
Hoel Pond
Lake Eaton
Caroga Lake
Lake Abanakee
Osgood Pond
Rainbow Lake
South Lake
Limekiln Lake
Franklin Falls Pond
North Lake
Eagle Lake
Horseshoe Lake
Lake Kushaqua
Spy Lake
Long Pond
Little Clear Pond
Lake Durant
Garnet Lake
Thirteenth Lake
Sand Lake
Moshier Reservoir
Oxbow Lake
Eighth Lake
Harris Lake
Lake Colby
Fawn Lake
Black Creek Lake
Putnam Pond
Deer River Flow
Grampus Lake
Lake Algonquin
Lake Rondaxe
Big Otter Lake
Lake Adirondack
Grass River Flow
Stony Creek Ponds
Bridge Brook Pond
Pine Lake
Spectacle Lake
Lower Pond
Little Long Lake
First Lake
Wilcox Lake
Jabe Pond
Otter Lake
Upper Sargents Pond
Big Marsh
Twitchell Lake
Jones Pond
Five Falls Reservoir
Francis Lake
Irving Pond
But wait! There’s more! Here’s a list of public, motor-free Adirondack lakes that are accessible via a short walk or paddle from where you parked your motor vehicle. (Lakes are listed in order of size – stopping at the 200th largest Adirondack lake.) These options also provide wonderful recreational opportunities with tremendous viewsheds, requiring just a bit more effort to get there:
Lows Lake
Little Tupper Lake
Lake Lila
Round Lake
St. Regis Ponds
Rock Pond
Henderson Lake
Hitchins Pond
McKenzie Pond
Nicks Lake
Madawaska Pond
Spruce Lake
Sagamore Lake
Hewitt Pond
Crane Pond
It’s also appropriate to list the established picnic sites at these 42 accessible (by motor vehicle or motor boat) Adirondack Park Campgrounds:
Alger Island Campground
Ausable Point Campground
Brown Tract Pond Campground
Buck Pond Campground
Caroga Lake Campground
Cranberry Lake Campground
Crown Point Campground
Eagle Point Campground
Eighth Lake Campground
Fish Creek Pond Campground
Forked Lake Campground
Golden Beach Campground
Hearthstone Point Campground
Indian Lake Islands Campground
Lake Durant Campground
Lake Eaton Campground
Lake George Battleground Campground
Lake George Islands Campgrounds
Lake Harris Campground
Lewey Lake Campground
Limekiln Lake Campground
Lincoln Pond Campground
Little Sand Point Campground
Luzerne Campground
Meacham Lake Campground
Meadowbrook Campground
Moffitt Beach Campground
Nicks Lake Campground
Northampton Beach Campground
Paradox Lake Campground
Point Comfort Campground
Poplar Point Campground
Putnam Pond Campground
Rollins Pond Campground
Sacandaga Campground
Saranac Lake Islands Campground
Scaroon Manor Campground
Sharp Bridge Campground
Taylor Pond Campground
Tioga Point Campground
Wilmington Notch Campground
Many of these campgrounds are also designed to be accommodating to all types of differently-abled people. The Department of Conservation highlights a list of accessible recreation destinations by county here: http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/34038.html
With 6,970 miles of public roadways (including scenic byways) within the Adirondack Park, the number of convenient roadside pull-offs with views overlooking the Forest Preserve’s woodlands, mountains, lakes, and rivers is seemingly inexhaustible. There is no threat to accessible mechanized enjoyment in the Adirondack Park. What truly is threatened, however, is the availability of silent, psychologically restorative retreats within the interior.
So here’s the kicker…
Only 3 of the top 100 largest lakes in the Adirondack Park are non-motorized and in the backcountry. This means that paddlers, fisherman, hunters, hikers, and all other user groups who hope to find a sense of peace and solitude near a remote and large Adirondack lake currently have three places to go. Boreas Ponds has the chance, depending on the APA’s classification decision, to become only the 4th quiet, remote large lake in the entire 6.1-million acre region.
Which lakes are they? Phil mentions them:
Cedar Lakes (in Hamilton County)
Pharaoh Lake (in Essex County)
Newcomb Lake (in Essex County)
(Boreas Ponds – if the Gulf Brook Road remains closed to the public)
That’s it. Three. That’s not a fair balance.
In fact, these lists prove that there is a grave imbalance of non-motorized, large waterways in the Adirondack Park, yet plenty of accessible ones. Is that the legacy we want to leave future generations?
well said Tyler!
I wouldn’t exactly call 30 canoes in one day solitude.
Long Pond isn’t much bigger, but proves that relatively easy access (1/4 mile) doesn’t preclude solitude. I spent a week on Long Pond canoeing, camping, and fishing during mid-July and found plenty of solitude, even on the weekend. Except for one family camping not too far away, I was pretty much alone during the week. I didn’t use the Follensby road access, I went in from Hoel Pond and had 3 carries to Long Pond.
At the APA meeting last month Ed Sniznack presented statistics on the lack of lakes over 300 acres that provide wilderness protection, acknowledging why so many paddlers and anglers are lobbying for a Boreas Ponds wilderness level.
In the appendix of my book “In Praise of Quiet Waters” I write about the Quiet Waters Campaign and Bauer’s Myth report, adding a reference to the DEC website that lists the lakes and ponds identified in UMPs that have no motor access or limited motorized access – search on NYCRR Part 196. It takes some work to decipher those bodies of waters that are in the Park as the list includes all of New York State.
Bill writes there are canoes at Newcomb Lake for the public. There are also canoes, kayaks, life jackets, and paddles at Camp Santanoni. Why not do the same for Boreas Ponds?
Camp Santanoni is a designated Historic Area. Only because of that have the buildings been allowed to remain and canoes to be stored there. Having canoes available at Boreas was one early idea, but with the destruction of the lodge that possibility has, I’m pretty sure, ended.
Of course it’s a big deal….all of these acquisitions have been a “Big Deal” and every other one in the future will be as well! And this, as well as past and future similar situations will come replete with Law Suits, Court action, blah, blah, blah….
Alternate #1 is a great compromise giving everyone something, but the wilderness folks and their green-shirt cheerleaders will never be satisfied with anything but a full wilderness classification for Boreas Ponds.
At 70 years of age I doubt I’ll live to see it, but I sincerely hope that Mr. Ingersoll, along with a few more middle-aged Almanac contributors live to see just how “inaccessible” a once easily accessed body of water becomes the older you get………
Thank you
“the wilderness folks and their green-shirt cheerleaders will never be satisfied with anything but a full wilderness classification for Boreas Ponds.”
And those generations yet to be will have these folks and their cheerleaders to thank long after they’re gone Tim.
Informative, thoughtful addition to the on-going debate over the Boreas Ponds. Saving large bodies of water as motor-free is so important for the ponds themselves, the woods surrounding them, and the peace we all cherish. My hopes are high our governor will make the right decision.
I agree, wilderness is needed at Boreas Ponds. As far as the accessibility, I don’t believe this is an issue. Yes, by closing the road to the public we limit accessibility by many people. This is not a group issue, not by age, not by disability, not by physical insufficiency, but by desire. If you would reap the benefits of the wilderness, you need to want it and work for it. It has ALWAYS been this way and dictated not by anyone, rather dictated by nature. You can always go to Raquette Lake if you want easy access. Close the road.
Where are you from? The Adirondacks, or somewhere else?
Lauren,
Are you implying only opinions from residents within the Park matter or should carry more weight? I feel all NYS residents should have their opinions heard – even people who have never and will never set foot in the Park. All NYS residents are stakeholders. NYS taxpayers bought the land and will pay for management and tax reimbursement to the localities into the future. NYS lands are NYS assets.
I’ve stated numerous times that I believe residents inside the blue line want easy access. People from outside the blue line seem to heavily favor stricter protections. If the residents feel people inside the blue line will have a greater economic impact than drawing visitors from far and wide then easy access might be better.
I think that since the great “Adirondack experiment” here is about these people who live in the Adirondacks and are trying to make a go of it for themselves and their children then yes I think their opinions should carry a bit more weight. I trust them.
Craig says: “hundreds of people have already paddled the ponds with the current 3.5-mile carry. I saw 30 of them in one day.”
Which makes me wonder why this push to have the gate just one mere mile away….too close!
The Boreas Ponds are small. They shouldn’t be over run by easy access. depending on one’s motivation, one can walk the 7 miles in with canoe and equipment to go camping. I am an old fart who originally thought the 7 mile hike was too much. I was wrong. The Boreas should not be a Griswold vacation stop.
The compromise with the 1 mile buffer is a good one, and will deter most Griswold-style users because they don’t want to carry all their junk in for a mile. I wouldn’t.
Wilderness is no guarantee of solitude, neither is Wild Forest a guarantee the Griswolds will show up. A lake with views of distant mountains is not especially unusual in the Adirondacks, and the area has no amenities like the Loj to draw large numbers of users.
As was noted, the DEC can decide whether the Ponds have motors on them in the UMP after classification, as they did with the Long Pond Canoe Area. Long Pond has only a 1/4 mile buffer. To classify the entire tract as Wilderness because we’re afraid of motors being used on the lake or cars being within a mile is ingenuous at best.
A similar argument was made for the Essex Chain…if it had been classified as Wilderness, the road and bridge over the Hudson would have to have been closed or removed, eliminating the possibility of a snowmobile trail, which was the real argument.
“To classify the entire tract as Wilderness because we’re afraid of motors being used on the lake or cars being within a mile is ingenuous at best.”
Isn’t that is a major point of a Wilderness classification anywhere?
After classification is finalized, the APA is basically done with BP. But the DEC is ultimately tasked with enforcement and preservation of the resource. Even with a WF designation, DEC can ultimately decide to put a gate anywhere – even at the Blue Ridge road. I would hope DEC proceeds cautiously – especially since they don’t have the staffing to patrol the area effectively at this time. With proper staffing and perhaps stewards, closer access may be a possibility depending on usage intensity.
Disabled access? Here is a great opportunity to provide access for disabled people. Would they have access to drive to the ponds?
“Would they have access to drive to the ponds?”
I don’t see why not. DEC has made arrangements for this type of access at other locations.
Lauren, I suspect that they could have a key for easy access.
I have two back injuries. One required surgery last October, ’16 so I could continue walking. The other was a broken cerebral vertebra in my neck/shoulder. Back in the ’80’s they were going to disable me. Today, I hike(slowly, with a staff,) carry a light pack and carry a UL canoe down portages(with wheels) along the many miles of trails in the ADK’s. There is NO point to being out if I did not enjoy it, and trust me, I pay for every mile I make. Every step is intentional, every movement is will. Every view is special.
Wheelchairs have no business in the ADK’s, but if a person REALLY WANTS to get out there, it is no barrier, only a series of problems to be solved.
I hike with a DAV that served our country and received a disabling wound from a mortar round. He is about the same way. Sure, we complain about crap around a campfire as we power down pain pills and booze. We are stiff and we hurt in the morning. It takes a couple hours before we can FACE a trail again. We do it. THAT is the point. WE DO IT. We don’t go back to the government whining about how bad things are. We don’t go back to the world an say this is totally UNFAIR. We just suck it up and go. This is the last time you will hear this story other than to say, yes, I am technically disabled. I hike with disabled people. Like the Englishman Douglas Bader, I will not apologize for what I cannot fix. Nor will I complain about what cannot be changed. Nor give up because I made a mistake. I will do it, one way or another.
Yes, it would be nice to drive to the ponds, too nice. No. Close the bleeding road.
Great point of view! People have the option of letting obstacles block their desires or simply look at an obstacle as a challenge to overcome. Many of the people here clamoring for full automobile access have no disability. They just feel that because there are existing roads, they must be used by motor vehicles. Many of us do not feel that way.
” They just feel that because there are existing roads, they must be used by motor vehicles.”
If that were really the case they would want a lot more than just these few miles of roads open. Even the people who want a few miles of road open are fine with closing many many many other miles of roads on those parcels. You falsely claim that folks who want a few miles of road open for easier access want any existing roads open. Nonsense.
Nonsense? Have you been reading all of the comments during this argument?? The APA may be OK with closing those smaller roads, but others are not. I never said all want them open, I said “many”. There is a distinction there.
“Even the people who want a few miles of road open are fine with closing many many many other miles of roads on those parcels.”
Again, – many, but not all. Some people do want all of the roads open.
Lauren,
For more info:
http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/2574.html
Thanks for giving us so much useful information about the lakes of the Adirondacks. We all need to know the facts, as part of the process of forming our opinions. You might be interested to read the following list of “things to do” prepared by John Apperson, c. 1932:1) Hold tight to Art. VII, Section 7 of our State Constitution, 2) Stop all tree-cutting operations on the upper watersheds of our principal rivers and the smaller rivers where practicable; 3) Reforest upper river watersheds wherever needed, immediately; 4) Enforce stream pollution laws; encourage state acquisition of full or part ownership in major scenic spots in the Adirondacks and Catskill Parks where such places are in eminent danger of being despoiled; 6) State acquisition of lands or rights of way along natural thoroughfares necessary to insure free access by the public to state lands inside the Adirondack and Catskill Parks. Appy led the effort, by the way, to prevent development at Lake George and managed to save the entire central section, including Tongue Mountain, the Narrows, Black Mountain Point, and Paradise Bay….no mean accomplishment!
“The compromise with the 1 mile buffer is a good one, and will deter most Griswold-style users because they don’t want to carry all their junk in for a mile.”
A mile is only a twenty minute walk Bruce. Most people can do that. Three miles! Most people should be able to do that even if if they are lazy. The difference! A three mile walk will most likely keep party-goers seeking a quick wilderness fix away.
We buy the land with public money accompanied with a message the purchase is to provide access to all (after 100 years of gated private ownership). After purchase is assured we argue that opening the property to the public will result in it being “overrun” and propose barriers to public access primarily through gates and bans on motorized access. The Boreas property should be accessible to all people: old, young, disabled, and even those who are just not comfortable hiking a mile.
The ponds are not suitable to motorized boating regardless of the location of a parking lot or classification type. While 339 acres, only the first pond which is less than 100 acres even deep enough to allow use of a motor. Weeds and shallow water make motor use on the second and third Boreas Ponds untenable. The concern of motorized use appears to be a red herring.
Roger,
Respectfully, you have never answered previous questions if you’ve ever been to places like Cedar River Flow, Crane Pond, Cheney Pond, Lily Pond, or Jabe Pond. In a sense, you are suggesting that it’s no big deal to turn Boreas Ponds into a similar situation, which there in lies a legitimate overuse & abuse concern.
I have hiked the Adirondacks extensively including Crane Pond, Jabe Pond and many others you haven’t mentioned. I have also hiked in many other states and around the world. The Adirondack Park is very poorly maintained compared to most other places. We are good at buying land but terrible at investing in its care once we own it. Our solution is to reduce use and keep people out which is contrary to the stated purpose our intensions when buying lands for the preserve in the first place. I am merely pointing out a contradiction.
Thanks for the reply.
– Justin
“We are good at buying land but terrible at investing in its care once we own it.”
Sad, but often true. It is often in the land’s best interest to stay in private hands. It would be an interesting study to look at all purchases since 1950 and evaluate ecologically which lands are better off now in NYS hands or previously private hands. Was it a good decision to classify this parcel this way, or should it have been done differently? Did it net environmental gains or losses? Perhaps it would help us make better decisions in the future.
“The Adirondack Park is very poorly maintained compared to most other places. ”
“We are good at buying land but terrible at investing in its care once we own it. ”
Barbara McMartin has said the same in a piece she wrote for some publication whose title eludes me these moments.
1) We buy the land the land with public money (through the EPF, most of which is funded by downstate real estate transactions).
2) The former landowner, Finch Pruyn, forfeits its management role in the future of this property. It’s important to remind everyone that Finch Pruyn is so against the concept of “forever wild” that just a decade ago the company sued New York State to get back two parcels it had previously gifted to the Forest Preserve, on the basis that New York wasn’t using these lands to the company’s satisfaction. These parcels were the North River Mountains and Hoffman Notch, to the immediate north and south of the Boreas Ponds Tract. Finch Pruyn’s lawsuit was unsuccessful.
3) A few “stakeholders” were consulted by the interim owner, TNC, to determine future uses. These “stakeholders” include Finch Pruyn, the local towns, and of course DEC, all of whom seem to think the public wants road access and bicycle trails.
4) The classification process is then opened up to the true stakeholders: that portion of the public with a direct interest in the future of these lands. It turns out that 84% of those people want wilderness, and 37% want the entire place closed to motor vehicles.
The ponds will be motor-less no matter what happens with road access.
Regardless of classification, I think campsites and camping close to the water will prove to be the main problem in the long run. Parking a mile away will deter most car campers.
Lauren, I am from Ithaca, NY. I worked at Cornell University before I retired. I was born in Utica and lived in Remsen, for a number of years (one of my brothers still lives there.) I have been out west and down south and back again. Generally, I have been hiking and paddling across the Adirondacks for around 50 years. It is, to me, the best area in the USA.
If it’s a mile walk into the ponds then camping maybe should not be allowed. I have seen parties at Moss lake (canoe access sites) and people carrying in quantities of alcohol into the Cascade lake trail to camp and party for a weekend . These are not pull off sites for car campers but good cover with no patrol for noise and perhaps underage.
Making an area that is prized the most for remoteness,beauty and some effort to attain too easy will quickly lose those most special qualities.
Not that I favor a mile gate except for permits for the most physically challenged. At a mile I will walk in with my canoe. At 3.5 miles I will try the walk first ,at 7.5 it would be perhaps too much for me but so are many peaks. …send pics please!