The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) announced that the agency will accept public comments on the draft Unit Management Plan (UMP) for Tug Hill East through Dec. 15, 2021. The draft UMP covers 22,886 acres of land in seven State Forests, one unique area, and 13 detached Forest Preserve parcels in the Lewis County towns of Lewis, Martinsburg, Osceola, Turin, and West Turin, the Oneida County town of Ava, and the Oswego County town of Redfield.
The Tug Hill Commission and its partners at the Lewis, Jefferson, Hamilton, Herkimer and Oneida County Soil and Water Conservation Districts and the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation Region 6 are pleased to bring you “Watershed Wednesday Webinars,” in May and June, as the in-person Black River Watershed Conference has been postponed again this year. All webinars are free, pre- sented via Zoom and require preregistration. This information is also available on the commission’s website at tughill.org/black-river-watershed-wednesdays-2021/.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is asking the public for input on the development of the draft Tug Hill East Unit Management Plan (UMP) and the East Branch Fish Creek Easement Recreation Management Plan (RMP). DEC has encouraged the public to share comments on the plans at a session on Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2018. » Continue Reading.
The Fifth Annual Black River Watershed Conference will be held on June 3rd at the Hayloft at Moonshine Farm in Port Leyden, NY.
In the morning, speakers will cover a range of topics including invasive species programs, stormwater and community resiliency, nutrient management and current and ongoing Black River Watershed projects. An afternoon bus tour throughout the watershed will include stops at the Black River Canal Museum in Boonville, the Lyonsdale ReEnergy Plant, Port Leyden and the Conway Dairy Farm. » Continue Reading.
Snow Ridge is a small ski area in Turin, NY, in the nearby Tug Hill region. The ski area’s loyal fans come for the cheap tickets, night skiing, and the kids’ programs.
They stay for the fluffy, powdery snow. Some people call Snow Ridge the best kept secret in the east. » Continue Reading.
Horseback trail riders are gearing-up for another season exploring the Otter Creek Horse Trails located just outside Lowville (DEC Region 6) on both the Independence River Wild Forest Unit of the Adirondack Forest Preserve and on the Independence River and Otter Creek State Forests on the western border of the Adirondack Park in Lewis County. A group of volunteers are working to distribute maps of the area, and the water will be turned on at the Assembly Area, located in the Independence River State Forest, on May 15th according to DEC. The water is shut off the day after Columbus Day.
Visitors to the area should plan ahead to acquire a map to the more than 65 miles of trails. Two maps are currently available. A pdf version of the DEC’s map can be downloaded and printed at the DEC website. A more comprehensive color map is also available from the Lewis County Chamber of Commerce (and at the local businesses listed below). That tri-fold map includes the trail colors and names, and also shows bridges, stream crossings, water accesses, picnic areas, and tie rails as well. For emergencies, the map has GPS locations and helicopter landing zones. » Continue Reading.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) will begin developing a unit management plan (UMP) for the 42,408-acre unit called Tug Hill North. The Unit is located in the Lewis County towns of Harrisburg, Martinsburg, Montague and Pinckney and the Jefferson County towns of Lorraine, Rodman, Rutland and Worth just outside the Adirodnack Park.
An open house meeting will be held on Wednesday, June 22, 2011, from 7-9 p.m. at the Copenhagen Central School. Before the meeting, from 6 to 7 p.m., the public will have an opportunity to meet one on one with DEC planning staff and offer comments regarding the future management of the area. Additional opportunities for public review and comments will be available after a draft is prepared. » Continue Reading.
An ATV rally, SNIRT (Snow/Dirt), is coming under fire from the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the Adirondack Council for apparent purposeful destruction of wetlands near Otter Creek and Brantingham Lake in the Southwest part of the Adirondack Park in Lewis County (the Eastern side of the Tug Hill Plateau).
The event drew attention after YouTube videos of the event from 2008 and 2010 surfaced showing ATV users riding through wetlands, past posted signs, and drinking at the event, and after the rally’s organizers sought to move the event onto some state lands. » Continue Reading.
Here are some of the Adirondack Park related highlights from Governor Andrew Cuomo’s 2011-12 Executive Budget, his first plan for closing the state’s estimated $11 billion deficit.
Cuomo’s budget plan would maintain the state’s Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) at $134 million, the same spending level as in the current budget, but would further reduce the budgets of the Adirondack Park Agency, the Department of Environmental Conservation, close several prisons (possibly including some in the North Country), and disband the Tug Hill Commission.
“We have to consider this a victory,” said Neil Woodworth, executive director of the Adirondack Mountain Club (ADK) said in a statement about EPF funding. “Under the circumstances, it could have been much worse. Deep cuts in the EPF would have had a substantial and long-lasting impact on New York’s natural resources. Fortunately, Governor Cuomo had the wisdom and foresight not to do that.” » Continue Reading.
Tug Hill, the 2,100-square-mile uplift west of the Adirondack Park, gets so much snow that camps are said to have entryways on the second floor in case the first floor gets snowed in. Tug Hill gets so much snow that driving through can be like traveling into a snow globe while skies remain clear north and south of the bubble. Tug Hill gets so much snow that plow drivers “plant” ten-foot-tall saplings every fall so they can see where the side of the road is.
And last week was planting time throughout Lewis County, when the “whips,” as the young limb-stripped hardwoods are called, were spaced along windswept roadsides. » Continue Reading.
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