Lake advocates want better protections against invasive species
By Mike Lynch
The state is updating its management plan for the popular Fish Creek Pond Campground and Day Use Area, and at least one organization has concerns about the plan’s ability to address key issues related to water quality and aquatic invasive species.
“The management actions of the plan are inadequate in addressing (aquatic invasive species),” states Upper Saranac Foundation President Tom Swayne in a letter to the state Department of Environmental Conservation. “The plan fails to elaborate on preventative strategies to thwart the spread of (aquatic invasive species), and it also does not mention management proposals for current infestations.”
Upper Saranac Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting recreational opportunities and natural resources on Upper Saranac Lake, which is connected to Fish Creek ponds by a channel that is popular with boaters. The foundation has been battling Eurasian watermilfoil for years, spending millions of dollars in that effort. In the last few years, it has worked to not only remove the invasive from its lake but from within the campgrounds waters.
Fish Creek Pond Campground is located in the town of Santa Clara, about a 15-minute drive northeast from downtown Tupper Lake. The campground consists of 355 sites that line the shorelines of Square and Fish Creek ponds. The grounds are also popular with day users. The facilities are managed by the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
The plan, which is intended to guide management of the facility for the next five years, calls for numerous infrastructure upgrades. The DEC is proposing to build six new comfort stations with restrooms and showers that would be accessible for people with disabilities. It also proposes building a new boat launch, a road reconstruction project to accommodate two-way traffic, and a new parking lot for the Floodwood Mountain trailhead.
The campground, which is open from spring to fall, bustles with activity in summer months. During the camping 2019 season, the campground reported an attendance figure of 88,028 people while the day use area attracted 4,511 people. The camping attendance is calculated by taking the number of campers and multiplying it by the number of days they stayed at the facility. Between 2015 and 2019, the campground attracted an average of 91,301 campers per year and 4,850 day users. Campers stayed an average of 4.5 nights.
The DEC says the camping attendance at Fish Creek is down by nearly one-third compared to 20 years ago.
According to the Fish Creek management plan, 80% of its campers come from New York State, 9% from Canada and 11% from other states and countries. Those states include Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, among other places.
Upper Saranac Foundation Lake Manager Guy Middleton said because these campers come from all over North America, they have the potential to introduce new invasive species to the Upper Saranac Lake watershed.
One of the infrastructure changes proposed by the Fish Creek plan is to move its boat launch closer to the entrance. Middleton said the new launch should include a decontamination station for cleaning boats and preventing the spread of invasive species, in addition to the Adirondack Watershed Institute steward that has already been present at the old launch.
Swayne’s letter also says the plan should mandate that all watercraft be inspected when they enter Fish Creek and Rollins Pond campgrounds. Rollins Pond is connected to the Fish Creek Campground and accessed through the Fish Creek entrance.
The Upper Saranac Foundation letter also asks that the management plan better address the carrying capacity of users on not only the Fish Creek Campground, but the adjoining waters including its lake and Follensby Clear Pond.
“There are many in the watershed who would suggest the carrying capacity of the watershed has already been exceeded,” Swayne says.
The plan states that many of its facilities are aging, and Debbie Roberts, of Schenectady, agrees. She said the current showers are not even close to being accessible for people with disabilities.
“There is no room to turn a wheelchair in the shower, no room for an aide to help you, no bench or hand holds in the dressing area,” she wrote to the Explorer.
The plan states that the multimillion-dollar planned upgrades will be done when funding is available.
DEC is accepting public comments on the draft management plan through October 2. The department is also conducting a public survey about the proposed changes.
Maybe some of the upgrades are warranted, however widening the campsite road should not be one of them. increasing that would damage the uniqueness of the campsite and also increase the ability for drivers to exceed the speed limit and with all the small children around, someone will get injured or killed. The only reason to increase the road is to make it easier for the massive RVs to access their campsite of which they have difficulty getting to. I propose something different. Repave the road and then restrict by size limit RVs to specific sites in the beginning and end of the park.
I wholeheartedly agree with Kevin. In walking Fish Creek Ponds this past summer, our group needed to completely clear off the road — along with cars — to allow the ‘house trailer’ RVs to get through. Massive and wide, they absolutely destroy the family camping atmosphere of the grounds in addition to gobbling up campsites and running generators. What has made Fish Creek so popular with many tent and pop-up campers is overpowered by ultra-large RVs, and the Ranger told me when I asked that there is no size limit to rigs being admitted. That must change to keep Fish Creek in character for future families and individuals.
I completely agree with keeping the road as is.They even had speed traps years ago to slow the traffic. More real speed-bumps might even help.
This beautiful place should be changed as little as possible. It would be good to increase the boat launch parking.
P.S. Thanks so much for the review of my book ( Good Ol Fish Creek ). That was much appreciated. I enjoyed sharing my experiences and I thank the good Lord for parents that were wise enough to bring us there for lifetime memories. Still visiting when we can.
widening the road just lets the speeders think they can go faster …not a good idea. I’ve been camping at fish creek ponds 63 years not missing one year. the late 70’s 80’s and ninety’s i did magic shows every year at the amphitheater . please leave it alone ,that is one of my favorite places in the world . don’t touch that totem pole in front of it that was carved by George fish, and he told me after they put it up that the guy in the top hat was me , the magician , all my kids and grand kids told me to contact you and tell you dont touch the totum pole, my kids and grand kids still visit the park annually
And to widen the road, trees would have to be chopped down.
.The DEC State Wide Accessibility Coordinator has been very receptive to hearing issues with the handicap accessibility at the site. She feels since the State lists the place as having handicap accessible bathrooms and showers, they should actually BE fully accessible and up to code or exceed it. She admitted there is very little interest in getting funding for this- let’s hope it goes through, not just for those who are handicapped with hang-tag permits on their cars, but for those who might be feeling a bit off-balance or wake up with a wonky knee, and would feel more secure being able to toilet and bathe in a safe stall with hand holds. With an aging Boomer population and explosion in the numbers of people camping, one’s needs shouldn’t be hampered by the State ignoring its own accessibility laws and requirements.
We have been coming to fish creek for 50 years – started in tents and over the years upgraded little by little To now owning a beautiful motor home. We agree the roads need to be widened as it’s dangerous trying to navigate around campers, cars, boats being towed, kids on bikes and people walking but in turn there needs to be consequences for those speeders or nothing will change. I’m excited to see some upgrades including a new launch.
Maybe instead of widening the road, have pull over spots here and there on the woods side of the road so vehicles can pull over to let a camper go by. Repave and new speed bumps.
Bring back seasonal sites. They are guaranteed $$$
maybe not widening the whole road, but make pulloff spots along the woods side of the road so vehicles can pass. Repave and new speed bumps.
Leave as is. I’m 72 been camping for years there when we waited in line for hours which was part of a fun experience. My dad would let us ride our bikes until we finally got to front of line for a site. My children camping since they were in diapers. Please leave as is. Change is not always good. Very disappointed we have not been able to reserve a site last year and this year. Everything reserved. We are tenters and always will be. We want to get away from all the amenities we have at home. Need peace.
I do not like the system as of late. Never did we have problems booking a site before. Now, everything is always BOOKED UP, N/A. First time since 1980 I have not been able to get into nicks lake.
PLEASE, leave it as it is. Widening the road to two way traffic is crazy. Huge RV’s going thru the park at breakneck speed as well as most of the new young drivers who want to go as fast as possible. There will be tragedies, there are so many small children in the campground that some poor child will be hit by a vehicle. This is Fish Creek Ponds not KOA. Fish Creek and Rollins Pond are very unique in being what they are, just plain beautiful. Change is not always a good thing and the changes that are proposed will destroy the little piece of heaven that they were designed to be. Please, leave it as it is.