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The New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) closed access to the Stillwater Fire Tower on the Big Moose Tract Conservation Easement in Herkimer County.
The access across private land is closed to visitors each year from the second Tuesday in October to December 20, according to a Recreation Management Plan agreed upon with the landowner.
The lands on the Big Moose Tract are posted and patrolled during this time. Persons entering the property during this period could face prosecution for trespass.
Photo provided by Friends of Stillwater Fire Tower/Almanack archive.
A new book about Stillwater Fire Tower will soon be available in local stores. Stillwater Fire Tower, A Centennial History … and Earlier (2019, Self-Published) by James Fox, recounts how it came to life as a shiny steel tower in 1919 when fire observers and forest rangers helped protect our forests from the summit. The tower closed and was partially dismantled in 1988.
In preparation for the centennial of Stillwater Fire Tower, the tower’s friends group is searching for Stillwater Fire Tower Observers, Forest Rangers, and their relatives.
The Stillwater Mountain Fire Tower and the trail to it will be closed to public use beginning from October 8 through December 20th.
The Stillwater Fire Tower has received a new interpretive sign that recounts Stillwater’s the towers that preceded the present 1919 steel tower. The latest tower was reopened after restoration in 2016.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced a ‘first day’ hike on January 1, 2018, and encouraged New Yorkers to connect with nature and go on a new adventure on the first day of the New Year.
A party from the NYS DEC Region Six survey division, members of the Colvin Crew, and Friends of Stillwater Fire Tower will set a brass marker below the fire tower to replace the original survey bolt that was stolen and later 
The volunteer group Friends of Stillwater Fire Tower has just completed restoration of the Stillwater Fire Tower. One hundred and twenty-five people hiked to the summit to work on the tower, or attended planning meetings. Mostly North Country and Stillwater locals, but volunteers from all over NY, as well as NJ, MA, PA, DE and FL also took part. The group is partnered with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, who purchased the materials locally and transported them up the mountain.
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Youth hockey team, the Inlet Mighty Loons, capped memorable first season
My neighbor Eric Sutherland’s sugarhouse [Maple Moss Sugarworks] has been cooking 24/7 this last week with lots of guests visiting his operation. He is into it big time and I’m learning more every day about his operation. With each day freezing at night and thawing during the day this next week he should be making maple syrup every day. He loves to show people his operation and he will be glad to sell you some of his products.
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