RAY BROOK —
The Adirondack Park Agency has now drafted plans to designate land under two fire towers as Historic.
It is an apparent step back from plans last month to leave the structures to degrade naturally.
The resolution on Thursday’s APA agenda to maintain the towers at St. Regis and Hurricane mountains would allow for restoration, recognizing their historic place in the Adirondack Park.
STRONG INTEREST
The two steel spires have been the subject of much discussion and strong public sentiment in public hearings, held first for unit management plans by the Department of Environmental Conservation and then for reclassification by the APA.
Several environmental groups have pressed for removal, claiming the towers are non-conforming in the Wilderness area.
DESIGNATED AREA
The final resolution going before commissioners in the APA State Lands Committee on Thursday says reclassification includes “one-half acre on the summit of St. Regis Mountain, one-half acre on the summit of Hurricane Mountain, each proposed for reclassification to Historic, and 13,449 acres of the Hurricane Mountain Primitive Area to Wilderness.”
The final Environmental Impact Statement, which accompanies the resolution, says a Historic land-use designation “would allow restoration of the fire towers.”
It also acknowledges that fire towers in the Adirondack Park are closely associated with development of the Forest Preserve, since they “were also instrumental in stimulating and managing recreational use in the early 20th century and cultivating a modern conservation ethic with the public. As such, they also represent the first public recreational structures in the nation’s first Forest Preserve.”
LANDMARKS
The Environmental Impact Statement further suggests that a Historic designation would “preserve these historical resources associated with wild land stewardship and forest fire suppression as a community landmark — and provide further opportunities to involve community and private interests in stewardship of the Forest Preserve.”
Of 57 fire towers built in the Adirondack Park between 1909 and 1950, 34 still exist: 11 on state land have been restored, and eight owned by DEC still hold radio equipment.
The towers on St. Regis and Hurricane are both listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
But DEC had tagged those towers for removal 10 years ago in accordance with the Master Plan.
RESTORATION COST
Among potential impacts listed in the revised plan to restore them is the cost to maintain them, whether by friends groups or the state.
In September, APA Commissioners Leilani Ulrich and Bill Thomas asked APA staff to research associated costs.
Officials from DEC suggest it would cost about $50,000, not including labor, to repair a fire tower.
In a memorandum dated May 6, APA State Lands Planner Kevin Prickett said the first step is usually engineering review, an analysis that costs about $10,000.
But 10 years ago, materials used to restore the tower on Poke-O-Moonshine amounted to $5,000.
APA commissioners are expected to discuss the proposed Historic resolution at 11 a.m. Thursday at the headquarters in Ray Brook. The meeting is open to the public.
‘ENCOURAGED’
Friends of Hurricane Mountain Tower co-organizer Alta J. Longware of Elizabethtown is extremely happy with the prospect of a Historic land-use designation.
But she is watching the process closely, as each plan for use or restoration has to be updated in the DEC unit-management process.
“There is something in the resolution that concerns me; if you look at one of the last statements, it says something about understanding the financial restraints of the state, indicating future disposition of the towers will be up to DEC — they left that little window open. How would you read that?”
Hurricane Friends has started a fund for the purchase of materials.
“Our future plan is to get an established not-for-project umbrella group for our project,” Longware said Tuesday. “I’m am just very encouraged by the APA’s efforts to listen to the communities wishes.”
OTHER ACTION
The October meeting is one day only, and Regulatory Programs Committee is scheduled to consider an expansion of greater than 25 percent at the Cold Spring Granite Company in Jay and a proposed new commercial campground with 510 campsites in the Town of Fort Ann.
APA will also consider a request from Barton Wind Partners for wind-monitoring masts located on Pete Gay Mountain in North Creek.
E-mail Kim Smith Dedam at:
kdedam@pressrepublican.com
Local News
APA changes fire tower stance
- New Today
-
-
Water and sewer projects funded
The North Country Regional Economic Development Council has awarded $2.5 million to nine projects across the seven county region, including five in the tri-county area.
-
Water and sewer projects funded
- Local News
-
-
Tupper Lake, Minerva, Newcomb school budgets pass
Second tries proved successful, though a bus proposition failed for Tupper.
-
New Adirondack Council director looks to common ground
Four pillars put science in the plan as the green group moves action plan toward APA reform initiative.
-
Woman not guilty in arson case
A Franklin County jury cleared Nancy G. Nixon of Saranac Lake of charges that she deliberately set fire to an apartment house in May 2012.
-
Woman charged with robbing 96-year-old
Man gets order of protection against Saranac Lake woman.
-
Admitted rapist faces prison time
Jewel Watkins Sr. of Massena pleaded guilty and will be sentenced in Franklin County Court in August.
-
Schumer supports maple-production legislation
Plan would provide funds to allow maple producers to tap into thousands more trees in upstate New York.
-
Stewards battle invasive species
Watersheds that will be monitored through college program listed.
-
Rock family appreciative, positive
The couple and their two children are coping with change after their Peru home was destroyed by fire.
-
City teens uncowed by rural visit
Some of the College for Every Student scholars from New York City visited a farm, touching a bovine for the first time; they also visited the SUNY Plattsburgh and Clinton Community College campuses.
-
Of Interest: June 19, 2013
A brief look at news of note from around the North Country.
-
Dames ply Adirondack waters
A group of about 30 women in their 60s and 70s brave the elements for weekly kayak treks.
- June 18, 2013
-
Malone flood buyout sought
Franklin County asking Feds to buy out 10 damaged homes.
-
Mental-health agencies eye new gun law
Mental-health agencies, among them Behavioral Health Services North, now must comply with new gun-law dictates officials feel increase stigma and may discourage people from getting help.
-
Drug charges follow hazmat incident
After six Border and Protection officers were sent to the hospital on Saturday, a New Hampshire man was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance and unlawful possession of marijuana.
-
Sexual predator gets 20 years
A Paul Smiths man, Elwood Adams Jr. preyed upon two young girls for years, Franklin County prosecutors report.
-
Queen of Hearts winner picked
American Legion fundraiser ends with $100,000 jackpot after nearly a year of weekly drawings, mostly to packed houses in the Rouses Point establishment.
-
Three schools hold budget re-votes today
Newcomb, Minerva and Tupper Lake districts amended their budgets after earlier defeats.
-
Tupper Lake, Minerva, Newcomb school budgets pass
