Pristine acreage in Adirondacks will be opening for limited research, public use
By Gwendolyn Craig and Mike Lynch
New York state and The Nature Conservancy have reached a “novel” compromise for both protecting and providing public access to parts of Follensby Park, the 14,600-acre property near Tupper Lake where Ralph Waldo Emerson held his historic philosophers camp. The announcement was made during a virtual press conference on Tuesday.
The state is under contract for two conservation easements. One provides recreational access to lands on the western side of the Raquette River, including the Moose Creek watershed. The other protects the 970-acre Follensby Pond, with limited access permitted for “scientific, educational and cultural purposes.” The final terms of the easement are not currently available and the property remains closed for now.
New York is expected to pay The Nature Conservancy about $9.3 million for the easements out of the state’s Environmental Protection Fund. TNC will retain ownership.
“New Yorkers and visitors to this special region of the Adirondacks have long recognized the singular beauty and significance of Follensby Pond and the Raquette River,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a news release. “In collaboration with The Nature Conservancy and many partners, we are preserving a unique natural resource so that all New Yorkers can enjoy this treasured and historic region for generations to come.”
The Nature Conservancy and the state Department of Environmental Conservation are establishing a Follensby Research Preserve, a consortium of environmental organizations to study the impacts of climate change on fisheries. Partners in the consortium include DEC, The Nature Conservancy, Cornell University, Paul Smith’s College Adirondack Watershed Institute, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY ESF), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and U.S. Geological Survey.
The state expects the research preserve to be “a global destination” as well as “a precedent-setting model for freshwater conservation.” Scientists will particularly focus on how climate change impacts lake trout, cisco and brook trout.
The Nature Conservancy purchased the property, known for its iconic waterbody Follensby Pond, from the John S. McCormick Jr. Trust for $16 million in 2008. The property includes 10 miles of Raquette River shoreline and borders the High Peaks Wilderness.
Follensby Pond supports a cold-water fish community that includes lake trout. The surrounding forest contains animals ranging from black bear to moose, scarlet tanager to common loon.
In 1858, Emerson, James Russell Lowell and Louis Agassiz held philosophical meetings on the property. The site gained a new notoriety in the 1970s and 1980s as one of New York’s bald eagle restoration locations.
In 2011, the property, most of which is in the town of Harrietstown and some in the town of Tupper Lake, was appraised for $20 million.
DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos called the sharing of Follensby a “win-win … a sound balance between conservation and recreation.” “This is the largest addition to the protected lands of the Adirondacks in more than a decade. And it happens to be some of the most ecologically significant land,” Seggos said.
The conservation easement is also unique, state and TNC leaders said, because it allows for Indigenous Peoples to conduct ceremonies, cultural practices and gathering and foraging. The area includes Haudenosaunee and Abenaki homelands.
Center for Native Peoples and the Environment Director Robin Wall Kimmerer said biodiversity flourishes under Indigenous stewardship. “We look forward to creating opportunities for a productive collaboration,” Kimmerer said.
For more than a decade, the public has wondered how and when it may access the historic property.
“It was a real conservation puzzle,” said Peg Olsen, Adirondack Chapter director of The Nature Conservancy.
Follensby Pond easement
The Follensby Pond easement will set aside 9,000 acres, the entire watershed.
“According to our analysis, Follensby is in the less than 1% of Adirondack lakes that have that magic combination of depth and water clarity to buffer them against the problem of deep water deoxygenation or surface warming, which are squeezing our coldwater fish throughout the Adirondacks,” said Pete McIntyre, an aquatic conservation ecologist at Cornell University and director of its Adirondack fishery research program.
A lack of public access to the pond had been a contentious topic for some, but John Sheehan, communications director of the Adirondack Council, said he thinks it’s “worth the experiment.”
In an interview with the Explorer, Katharine Petronis, deputy commissioner of natural resources at the DEC, said the state is hoping there will be some way for the public to see Follensby Pond but it is still working out the details.
The surrounding forest contains animals including black bear and moose and a variety of birds, such as scarlet tanager and common loon.
The easement is precedent-setting, Olsen added, because it allows for Indigenous Peoples to conduct ceremonies, cultural practices and gathering and foraging as well.
Raquette River easement
The easement will allow recreational access to 10 miles of shoreline along the western side of the Raquette River and about 6,000 acres. That land has been off-limits to the public for more than a century because it’s been in private hands.
The easement will support new non-motorized public recreation activities such as camping, picnicking, hiking, hunting, fishing, and other activities that will be specified in an interim recreation plan DEC is currently crafting.
Fishing and paddling opportunities will be available on Moose Creek and Beaver Brook, which offer brook trout fishing. Hunters will be able to access new locations. The easement is across the river to the 275,000-acre High Peaks Wilderness Complex.
The Raquette River is part of the route for the 90-Miler paddling race from Old Forge to Saranac Lake and the 740-mile Northern Forest Canoe Trail from the Adirondacks to Maine. It is commonly used by paddlers, motorboaters and anglers.
“I feel like making that as user-friendly as possible can really increase the opportunities for the community,” said Harrietstown Supervisor Jordanna Mallach, who is also the race director for the 90-Miler, which is run by the NFCT.
The easement will allow hunting clubs that are currently using the property to retain their leases.
Adirondack Park Local Government Review Board Executive Director Gerald Delaney called the deal “carefully crafted,” recognizing the importance of hunting clubs in the fabric of Adirondack culture.
Top photo: Follensby Pond harbors one of the best lake-trout fisheries in the Adirondacks. Photo by Carl Heilman II
Editor’s note: This story was updated to include information that the state plans to provide public access to Follensby Pond, but is still working out the details.
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So limited access? Why are my taxdollars going to a massive nonprofit if i cant paddle their 1000 acre! Pond. Not okay with this!
Unlimited access to a water body invites invasive species – both plants and animals. A big concern for people trying to protect a unique feature.
Devil’s in the details. It kind of sounds like the “new” public access is to the west side of the Raquette River. Not much there to get excited about. But will there be any access to Follensby Pond?
Would like someone to expand on what “Indigenous Peoples” gathering practices are. Do they include gill netting and hunting out of season? Just curious.
I had this question also.
I am glad follensby pond will be off limits to public. Maybe the native trout have a chance. It will be nice enough to have some public land along the raquette river.. I canoe there all the time but it will be nice to know i might be able to go on land for a rest stop or a walk.
Glad forest is protected.
You all lived your lives without access to Follensby Pond and the adjacent property so nothing is changing for you and nothing will mar this magnificent property in the future.. That “massive nonprofit”, the Adirondack Chapter of the Nature Conservancy, has been protecting Adirondack lands for decades. And it is anything but massive. It is the only remaining stand alone chapter in New York State. That dedicated staff in Keene Valley has always been in the forefront of wilderness protection and sustainability. This is really the best solution for land that has been protected first by a family, then by the Nature Conservancy and now by us.
Right. Nothing will mar this magnificent property.
And hardly anyone will ever see it.
Yes, research is a worthwhile purpose. But how much of the research will depend on keeping the public out entirely? Looking at the Shingle Shanty Preserve research page, seems like the answer is “Not much.”
Seems like there should be a better way to manage this.
Joan…With all due respect, there IS something changing. NYS taxpayers are now paying millions for the privileged few to have access to Follensby Pond. There is a precedent for allowing limited public access to sensitive lands (AMR). A similar system should be implemented to allow limited public access to Follensby Pond.
Who are the “privileged few” ? Scientists ? Researchers ?
This is magnificent country abutting Tupper Lake. One would think that people would rally around the idea of preserving it as a source of clean water, clean air and a refuge of the animals we all want to see thrive in a changing environment. We saw Follensby Pond right after the Adirondack Chapter of the Nature Conservancy acquired it years ago. We paddled to the Philosophers Camp and saw an Eagle refuge. We supported the Follensby project in the years after the acquisition but were not allowed back on the property to fish. Try raising money under those restrictions ! Truly, Follensby was a prize to protect and they have accomplished that.
The privileged few are the billionaire donors to the Nature Conservancy who will of course have access whenever they want with no records kept of their visits. If they really cared they would donate without a tax break or not donate and pay the taxes on the land like any other private owner. It’s a scam to keep us regular people out while they save on taxes. Protect the land SURE. Protect the billionaires HELL NO!
So that’s the answer. No public access to Follensby, despite use of public funds. Kind of a bad deal if you ask me. If the concern is unfettered access and possible invasive species introduction, such as happened on Little Tupper, how about a very restrictive permit system. I would love the opportunity to at least very occasionally visit the site of the Philisophers camp.
There are already many non-natives in Follensby. Large and smallmouth bass, rock bass, perch, northern pike…
Everything the DEC is getting in this deal they could have got for free. The Nature Conservancy owns and managed this preserve. They could have allowed all of this to just happen. It is not in any danger of development. What it sounds like is the Nature Conservancy was strapped for cash to purchase other properties on its dream list. The Governor gave them our tax dollars to purchase and hold onto more land the state cannot act on.
The NYS taxpayer once again takes it right between the eyes. They get stuck with a big bill and if your not part of the anointed crowd your not welcome there. Not a very good deal.
I have been waiting to see follensby pond for years. I finally paid Helms in long lake to do a flyover. Really it just looks like other lakes that are not developed, like little tupper or lake lila.
I am over it.
The nature conservancy could have marketed it to a wealthy person . Maybe with an easement, too like they did with the dupont property…
This was a compromise and does allow some access.
If it sold to someone private there would be no access.
It also avoids the fights over road access and what boats to allow. People in tupper lake were hoping for another place for motor boats. It would have been more fighting.
No need to drive to lake or build new boat ramps.
Almost one-half of the land within the Blue Line is owned by New York and is protected under the Forever Wild provisions in its Constitution. The remaining privately-owned land is heavily regulated by the Adirondack Party Agency and that even includes areas designated as “hamlet.” Given New York’s dire financial condition can New York afford to buy more land to just set it aside and do nothing with? I don’t think so.
The Nature Conservancy avoids paying taxes by virtue of its being a non-profit and when you get a pass on paying taxes then you don’t the right to completely restrict access to that land because the taxpayers incur the cost of making up the taxes that the Nature Conservancy avoids and that’s not to debate, The Nature Conservancy can either sell the land to a taxpaying private entity subject to conservation easements, or it can open the land to the public subject to a day-use or overnight camping so long as they own it, and put that money in their bank account.
When public money is used to acquire private land that doesn’t mean the ruling class, researchers, scientists and the preservationist crowd are the only ones who get access to it.
“When public money is used to acquire private land that doesn’t mean the ruling class, researchers, scientists and the preservationist crowd are the only ones who get access to it.”
What has changed? It has always been restricted. Taxpayer funding is not always earmarked exclusively for common access. It can also be used for strict preservation. If the above were true, it kinda makes me want to be part of the “preservationist crowd”.
A private landowner is selling a conservation easement to the state to protect the land, what’s the problem? The trust sold their land to who they wanted – and now it is protected. There are many places to go paddle around and recreate in the Adirondacks. Only a very few that protect native fish species from anglers who can’t help themselves from wrecking them.
As a full fledged supporter of the Nature Conservancy, I see an unspoken back story to this good news.
As any follower of the ADK’s knows. Several years ago, the Nature Conservancy stepped in and generously funded, for only an interim purpose, the purchase of several parcels of key properties that were going on the market. This at a time, when New York had not the monies to outright buy such properties.
As the years have progressed, New York has been purchasing these parcels from the Nature Conservancy. Putting needed funds back into the Conservancies accounts.
It sounds in this case though, that New York has no plans anytime soon, to repay the Nature conservancy for Follensby Pond? And or, do we ever intend to pay for this land, so graciously acquired?
I had this question also.
I’ve been salivating over access to Follensby Pond for over 50 years! I’m thrilled that it has finally been finally preserved – kudos to all that worked out the agreement.
The plans as put forward are all well and good. Just one addition – a VERY limited free lottery for paddlers to access the lake. Those of us who care enough to make the effort to apply for a lottery are probably the best people to allow to visit the property and would have minimal, if any, impact on ongoing research.
By allowing native peoples access to the land for their own activities (who determines the permitted activities?), the agreement removes the “pristine” label that researchers need, so why not allow access to others who also love and respect the wilderness?
Just another step towards the marxist goal of “30 by 30”, state control of land.
I thinnk it is great that there is movement on this and I applaud the plan. I know some may disagree for a variety of reasons but I fully support the limited access plan. We need to remember what happened with Little Tupper when someone introduced non native large mouth bass and the problems that has caused to the native trout species and to the preception of how effective DECs management skills are. In fact it has proven to be a barrier to acquiring additional lands for the park. So the question is the current plan too limiting? I say start there, study and monitor and then perhaps in a few years add a few isolated campsites around the pond, available for free, on a lottery basis. No gas powered motor boats at all but have an electric powered boat around, provided by the managers, available for researchers and for the occasional public visits.
Also, I hope that what Joe said above that there are already non native fish specieis in the Pond is not true, researchers will tell.