Stillwater barge reduces impact
In the article “Showdown at Stillwater” (March/April) you covered many of the issues surrounding the Stillwater boat launch and access to the hamlet of Beaver River. However, a major benefit of the barge service that carries vehicles to Beaver River was not addressed.
Prior to the Thompsons’ purchase of the barge, the vast majority of trips in or out of Beaver River required a motorboat trip the full length of the reservoir. Because the barge can carry up to six vehicles, and only crosses a mile of water, many of the impacts associated with motorboat use have been greatly reduced.
Many Beaver River residents no longer maintain a boat, depending instead on the barge service for access.
Stillwater Reservoir, with less noise and fewer boat wakes, has become a much nicer place for paddlers. Fewer boats result in less disturbance of wildlife. As it looks for a resolution of the Beaver River access issue, the state might consider that the barge service not only relieves congestion and parking at the boat launch, it also improves quality of life on the reservoir for paddlers and wildlife.
Tom Salo, West Burlington
................................................
Barge isn’t only option
In reference to your article, “Showdown at Stillwater”, the influx of vehicles in Beaver River is of some concern to many longtime homeowners. Imagine that traffic is an issue there!
Also, if people want to drive a vehicle to town, they have another option besides the barge; they may procure a “high-rail” vehicle, which is duly inspected, registered, and insured, and ride the rails under a permit issued to the property owners’association.
True, I have found the barge a blessing on many occasions, especially since I had to rebuild my home after it burned down. The barge has transported many a large truck on my behalf. Then again, so has the railroad. One year, when the lake was drawn down to repair the dam, the railroad transported a fuel truck on the rails.
It is true that during the summer months, the barge monopolizes the space at Stillwater. Much of the problem stems from an attitude of entitlement, I believe, on the part of the Thompson family, which operates the barge.
It would seem that the state has finally taken a stand. I am confident that some kind of official response will be formulated which will allow seasonal residents of Beaver River to access their homes in this wonderful water-bound community. With or without the barge.
Patricia Oberman, Levittown
................................................
More land to save
The renewed focus by the State of New York on the northeastern area of the Adirondack Park known as the Sable Highlands is exciting. The watersheds of two large, natural lakes, Chazy and Upper Chateaugay, have recently been conserved by major easements and state land purchases in the Sable Highlands. While this is a giant step forward, the work in my mind has just begun.
Several new open-space opportunities have arisen in the Lyon Mountain region. On Chazy Lake, Eagle Point is for sale. This 150-acre property featuring about three thousand feet of lakefront and old-growth forest, should be protected.
Lyon Mountain is facing new threats to its ecological integrity. Twenty thousand acres have recently been purchased by the DEC, and a magical new trail opened last year runs to the summit and fire tower. On the other side of the mountain a not-so-magical twenty-foot-wide road was bulldozed a few years ago. Private property along this road’s corridor leaves a substantial portion of the mountaintop unprotected.
Finally, the largely undeveloped west shore of Upper Chateaugay Lake, which is mainly owned by summer camps, needs to be considered for more permanent conservation. This shore, too, could end up broken into endless buildings.
The natural world of the Sable Highlands has given the nation iron of the highest quality for the Brooklyn Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge, timber for charcoal and construction, and endless fresh water. Today, nature is on the mend. Let us join together and help the healing process continue.
Larry Pittis, Chazy Lake
...............................................
Activism beats isolationism
I want to say how much I liked Tom Woodman’s essay “The Mayor of Cold River” in the March/April issue of the Explorer. Since I had just read and reviewed the latest book about our favorite Adirondack hermit, your writing hit me hard, particularly the difference between being an activist and being an isolationist. It is easy to retreat to our beautiful woods and do nothing. It is much more difficult to stand in our beautiful woods and think about what else we can do to protect them.
Thank you for reminding readers to keep up the fight.
Betsy Kepes, Colton
............................................
Little help for trout
The March/April Explorer contained an interesting article regarding the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s Heritage Strain Brook Trout Program. Sadly, with only two fishery biologists currently working in Ray Brook, it appears this valuable program is as endangered as the remnant trout populations they seek to protect and restore.
Brookies are truly the jewel of the Adirondacks. I know the term is overused, but one look at their autumn spawn colors provides proof of the claim. Unfortunately, the fish seem to be of little value in terms of preservation. Recently, a combination of budget cuts, proposed hatchery closures, and staff reductions have brought heritage brook trout restoration efforts to a near standstill.
Ironically, researchers seeking to study the suitability of restoring remote waters are under fire from those who claim to protect the wilderness. Hiker complaints regarding DEC’s use of helicopters to conduct research on backwoods ponds have sometimes stifled the efforts of fishery staff to preserve an invaluable piece of the Park’s magnificent wildlife mosaic.
It is a tough battle as DEC fisheries staff struggle to maintain the few heritage populations that have remained viable in the wild, while working to establish new populations in historic brook trout waters. In the Saranac Lake Wild Forest, despite the exhaustive efforts of pond reclamation, less than 3% of the area’s historic brook trout waters remain intact today.
Joe Hackett, Ray Brook
..................................................
Angler sets poor example
The article on heritage trout is, of course, sobering. I am a brook trout fisherman, and to learn more about the troubles the heritage strains are undergoing is sad. I have to admit, though, that I would think that an article conveying the woes of Adirondack brook trout would not feature a fisherman killing a heritage-strain trout on the cover. It was a nice brook trout, and the way that Sam was handling it, there was no way that it could have been released without harm.
He was presumably fly fishing as he was wearing a vest with flies on it and had a fly rod in the boat. Fly fishing is generally assumed to be less harmful to fish, and they can presumably be released with less damage. So much for advocating for not overfishing the heritage strains.
I also thought to myself: Is it not contradictory to list ponds with heritage strains and hope that people will not go to them looking to do the same thing that Sam is doing in the pictures? I know it sounds picky, but I think that the pictures should have shown Sam doing the responsible thing: releasing the beautiful fish he caught so that the heritage-strain fish in that pond can reproduce.
Simon Gardner, Minerva
Editor’s note: Sam kept the trout.