Deal of the Century, Article in the Adirondack

Photo by Gerry Lemmo/courtesy of the Nature Conservancy
The Essex Chain of Lakes lies at the heart of the proposed Wild Rivers Wilderness.
Deal of the century
■ Adirondack Nature Conservancy
buys all 161,000 acres owned by
Finch, Pruyn.
BY PHIL BROWN
EXPLORER CORRESPONDENT
E
xcept for loggers and a few privileged
hunters, not too many people have
seen the Essex Chain of Lakes. But
we’re seeing them today.
“That’s the Essex Chain on the right,” announces Mike
Carr, executive director of the Adirondack Nature Conservancy. “Very beautiful. See those little camps? That’s all
that’s on them.”
We’re flying at 3,000 feet, perhaps 1,500 feet above the
lakes. Yet they seem tantalizingly close. In a sense, they
have never been closer.
In June, the Nature Conservancy, with help from the
Open Space Institute, pulled off the deal of the young century: It bought, for $110 million, all 161,000 acres owned
by Finch, Pruyn & Co., a family-owned company whose
lands have been coveted by preservationists for decades—
including the Essex Chain, Boreas Ponds, Blue Ledge in
the Hudson Gorge, and some of the highest summits in the
state outside the High Peaks.
The deal hands Gov. Eliot Spitzer a golden chance to
prove his conservationist credentials and to build on the
legacy of his predecessor, George Pataki, who preserved
663,000 acres in the Adirondacks during his time in office.
“This is a tremendous opportunity to add some very
valuable lands to the Forest Preserve,” said Neil Woodworth, executive director of the Adirondack Mountain
Club (ADK). “We’ve waited for this for a very long time.”
As part of the deal, Atlas Holdings bought Finch, Pruyn’s
paper mill in Glens Falls and will operate it under the name
Adirondack 36 EXPLORER
Reading the map
Most of the Finch, Pruyn lands purchased by the Adirondack Nature Conservancy are shown in detail in the
color map at right (the rest of the lands can be seen in the small inset map). The region within the dotted lines
is the 72,480-acre Wild Rivers Wilderness proposed by the Adirondack Council. Some of the highlights of various Finch, Pruyn parcels are described below. The numbers coincide with those on the map.
1. Eastern slopes of Santanoni Peak, state’s 14thhighest mountain. Recently given to Open Space
Institute in exchange for nearby timberlands.
6. Salmon Pond and Dun Brook Mountain, one of
2. Upper Hudson River and lower Opalescent
River.
Hudson and Cedar rivers.This parcel is critical to the
proposed Wild Rivers Wilderness.
3. Boreas Ponds, with spectacular views of High
8. Confluence of Indian and Hudson rivers, a possible
Peaks. Also, western slopes of Boreas Mountain,
one of the Park’s top 100 peaks.
take-out before Hudson Gorge whitewater. Also part
of proposed Wild Rivers Wilderness.
4. Parcel contains 200-acre Pickwackett Pond and
9. Blue Ledge and other lands along Hudson Gorge.
extensive bogs. Provides access to 3-mile-long
Catlin Lake.
Also, OK Slip Falls, one of the Park’s highest waterfalls.
All part of proposed Wild Rivers Wilderness.
5. West of NY 30 are two large ponds, Minnow
10. Slopes of Snowy, Panther and Buell mountains in
and Mud. Includes most of Blue Mountain, another
of the Park’s top 100 peaks, and a stretch of the
Northville-Placid Trail.
the Little Great Range, some of the highest summits
outside the High Peaks. Nearby is a rock-climbing cliff
on Sugarloaf Mountain.
of Finch Paper. The Nature Conservancy has agreed to
supply wood fiber to the mill for the next 20 years. This
will require logging to continue on some of the lands.
Finch, Pruyn was the last of four commercial timberland
owners holding more than 100,000 acres to sell all its
lands in the past decade. All told, the prior deals encompassed about 520,000 acres, land that was added to the forever-wild Forest Preserve or protected by conservation
easements that permit logging and public recreation but
prohibit development.
It’s expected that most of the Finch land also will be
Park’s top 100 peaks.
7. Essex Chain of Lakes and long stretches of the
added to the Preserve or protected by easements, though
some may be sold for development. The final mix will be
worked out over the next 18 months in negotiations between the conservancy and, among others, the state, local
officials, environmental groups, and hunters that lease
Finch land. Meantime, the lands are not open to the public.
The Finch transaction was not the largest in terms of
acreage. That would have been the 2004 deal with Inter-
FINCH PRUYN, Page 38
Map by Nancy Bernstein
September/October 2007
37
Finch facts
Photo by Carl Heilman II
Following are some statistics
about the Finch, Pruyn & Co.
lands purchased by the
Nature Conservancy.
Rare plants abound at OK Slip Falls, one of the state’s highest cataracts.
the take-out.”
Ideally, Woodworth said, the state would purchase the
Gooley tract as well as Finch lands farther north along the
national Paper brokered by the Conservation Fund, which Hudson. Then paddlers could camp out and enjoy a more
preserved 276,000 acres, mostly through easements. Still, leisurely trip down the river.
161,000 acres is a lot of land, which is why Mike Carr sugThe plane turns and heads southeast toward Indian Lake
gested we see it from the air. Up there, you can get a true and the Little Great Range, the Adirondack Park’s tallest
sense of the scope of this acquisition.
mountains outside the High Peaks region. Soon we’re flyAnd so on a sunny day in August, two other reporters ing through a deep green valley, several hundred feet
and I find ourselves in a twin-engine Cessna piloted by below the summits of Snowy Mountain on the left and
Ben Eaby of Adirondack Flying Service. Also aboard are Panther and Buell mountains on the right.
Carr, who acts as co-pilot, and two Nature Conservancy
Finch, Pruyn owned this valley. In fact, its property line
staffers, Connie Prickett and Gus Goodwin.
went over all three of these summits, which range in height
from 3,786 to 3,899 feet. Woodworth and other preservaOverview of the lands
tionists believe these mountains should be added to the
Starting in Glens Falls, we fly up the Hudson River to Preserve.
Blue Ledge, a limestone cliff that towers over the water. We
“That range deserves to be protected as much as the
then circle back to get a good look at OK Slip Falls, which High Peaks,” Woodworth said. “There are ledges and
drops 250 feet. It’s one of the highest cascades in the state. viewpoints on some of those mountains. Maybe you leave
Both Blue Ledge and the falls now belong to the con- it as a trailless bushwhacking experience; maybe you put a
servancy, part of a large tract surrounded by the state- trail up to one of the ledges.”
owned Hudson Gorge Primitive Area. Environmentalists
In recent years, interest in the Little Great Range has
regard them as scenic gems that should be added to the grown as more hikers have joined the quest to climb the
Forest Preserve. In 1990, the Commission on the Adiron- 100 highest peaks in the Adirondacks (see Page 69). If
dacks in the 21st Century recommended that these and nothing else, the Finch deal could provide easier access to
other Finch lands in the vicinity of the Hudson be incor- Panther and Buell via logging roads in the valley (Snowy
porated into a proposed Wild Rivers Wilderness—an idea has a public trail).
that originated with the Adirondack CounRounding Buell, the Cessna heads north
cil (see Page 51).
toward Blue Mountain. On the way, we fly
“You have the confluence of the Hudson
past a huge cliff on Sugarloaf Mountain, a
INSIDE
with four major rivers,” John Sheehan, a
few miles northeast of the Cedar River
council spokesman, said of the proposed
One man’s plan for Flow. Even though the cliff was on Finch
Wilderness. “It’s unusual to find so many
land, rock climbers occasionally scaled its
161,000 acres/
rivers coming together in one place.
clean slabs. One climber who visited the
Page 45.
Together, they form a major recreational
site described the cliff, in an online post, as
opportunity. And a lot of sections of these
500 feet high and 1,000 feet wide.
rivers haven’t been seen by the public in a
Jim Lawyer, who is writing a guidebook
The view from
long time.”
for Adirondack climbers (see Page 30), said
We continue flying up the Hudson to its Boreas Mt./Page 51.
he’d like to see the cliff open to the public.
confluence with one of those tributaries,
“Slab climbing is usually reserved for the
the Indian River. Thanks to the Finch deal,
higher mountains of the High Peaks,” he
The Wild Rivers
the land here also is owned by the conserin an e-mail. “The slab climbing at
Wilderness/Page 51. noted
vancy, but it has been leased for a halfSugarloaf is unique in the southern section of
century to the Gooley Club. If the public
the Adirondack Park. Its accessibility, long,
were given access to this parcel, paddlers
clean sweeps of low-angle rock, moderate
on the Hudson could take out before entering the gorge lines, and wilderness setting have long attracted climbers to
and its foaming rapids. It would open up 12 miles of the the area.”
upper Hudson, between Newcomb and the gorge, to padIn a few minutes, we’re passing Blue Mountain. To the
dlers who can handle mild whitewater.
west, on the far side of Route 30, we can see Minnow and
“It would be a doable day trip, assuming you did the Mud ponds, two large undeveloped ponds that had been in
shuttle early enough,” the ADK’s Neil Woodworth said. Finch hands. Salmon Pond, also owned by Finch, lies just
“That would be a very nice trip, as long as you don’t miss north of Blue Mountain, not far from the Northville-
From Page 36 FINCH PRUYN
Adirondack 38 EXPLORER
Acres:
161,000
Wetland acres:
15,900
Number of bogs:
13
Miles of river:
144
Lakes & ponds:
70
Mountains:
80+
Elevation:
1,300-3,900 ft.
Placid Trail.
Peter Bauer, executive director of the Residents’ Committee to Protect the Adirondacks, believes all three ponds
should be acquired for the Forest Preserve. “It’s fishing,
it’s paddling, it’s camping—on relatively accessible, undeveloped waterbodies,” he said. “Mud and Minnow are a
stone’s throw from Route 30. Salmon Pond would be a real
treat for people on the Northville-Placid Trail.”
Although the state owns the 3,759-foot summit of Blue,
most of the mountain had been owned by Finch, Pruyn.
Backcountry skiers sometimes descended Blue via an
access road that crossed Finch land. Unless they had permission, they were trespassing. If the state purchases the
slopes or acquires a recreational easement, skiers would
have legal access to an exciting down-mountain run.
Just past Blue, we can see the 3,580-foot summit of Dun
Brook Mountain. Hikers in pursuit of the Hundred Highest had been stymied by Finch, Pruyn’s refusal to let them
climb Dun Brook. This could change if the state buys the
mountain or an easement. A deal with the state might also
improve access to nearby Fishing Brook Mountain, another of the Hundred Highest.
Presently, the plane crosses NY 28N between Long
Lake and Newcomb and circles over Pickwacket Pond, a
large brook-trout pond on a tract that borders the High
Peaks Wilderness. Nearby lies an extensive bog. The
Pickwacket tract also provides access to three-mile-long
Catlin Lake, which lies largely within the Huntington
Wildlife Forest, managed by the State University College
of Environmental Science and Forestry.
Bauer argues that the state should purchase the Pickwacket tract as well as Finch lands on the south side of NY 28N in
order to preserve the ecological connection between wild
lands in the High Peaks Wilderness and the Blue Mountain
Wild Forest.
Now flying south, we cross the highway again and make
a beeline for the Essex Chain of Lakes, eight blue gems of
various sizes, strung out over four miles, all undeveloped
except for a few hunting camps, also owned by the Gooley
Club. The Essex Chain lies within a Finch tract that contains long stretches of the Hudson and Cedar rivers. It is an
essential piece of the Wild Rivers Wilderness proposed by
the Adirondack Council.
Woodworth, who supports the council’s idea, argues that
the entire tract belongs in the Forest Preserve. “That area
has the potential to be the best and greatest Wilderness
Area in the central Adirondacks,” Woodworth said. He
envisions backpackers hiking to the Essex Chain from the
Northville-Placid Trail, located about five miles to the
west.
Turning north, we pass over the hamlet of Newcomb
and pull alongside the east flank of Santanoni Peak, the
state’s 14th-highest mountain. We get a good gander at the
Twin Slide, an enticing Y-shaped streak of bedrock that
stretches almost to the summit. Until recently, most of the
slide had been owned by Finch, Pruyn and off limits to hikers. In June, however, the Open Space Institute acquired
this parcel in a land swap with the paper company and
opened it to the public—and within a few weeks hikers
had climbed the slide. Yet the most direct approach to the
slide remained on Finch land. It’s now possible that this
will be open to the public as well.
The future of the lands
Boreas Ponds could become a premier backpacking destination in the High Peaks Wilderness.
or habitats have been found. The conservancy is conducting an ecological assessment to identify other biologically
significant sites. The findings will help determine which
areas can be logged, which should remain off limits to the
public and which should be added to the Forest Preserve.
Carr said the main goals are to avoid fragmentation of the
backcountry and to protect wetlands, quality forests, and
rare plants and wildlife.
Once the ecological assessment is done, the conservancy will sell the lands. Presumably, the state will buy much
of the property.
David Gibson, executive director of the Association for
the Protection of the Adirondacks, said the state should be
well-positioned to acquire Finch lands, noting that the
state’s annual land kitty will increase to $300 million in
2009—double what it was last year. “I think the state has
the money, it has the will, and it has the desire,” he said. “It
has all the elements in place to move quickly when the
time comes.”
Anyone will be allowed to submit bids on lands not sold
to the state, but it is expected that timber investment management organizations (TIMOs, in industry parlance) will
be the major players. Shortly after the Finch sale, in fact,
four TIMOs approached the conservancy. Carr wouldn’t
identify the companies, but one is Lyme Timber, the
largest private landowner in the Park.
In two blockbuster deals in recent years, Lyme Timber
acquired 360,000 acres in the region, all now protected by
conservation easements. In 2005, Lyme worked with the
Photo by Carl Heilman II
In revealing the richness of the Finch lands, the flight
underscored their enormous potential for public recreation. But how much of the land will be bought by the
state? And how much of the land that stays in private hands
will be open to the public? The answers will depend on
ecological, economic and political considerations.
Mike Carr points out that the Nature Conservancy exists
to protect flora and fauna, not to provide public recreation—even if the two often go hand in hand. “Our mission is biodiversity conservation,” he said, “and in some
cases that conflicts with public-recreation access.”
Take Blue Ledge and OK Slip Falls. Adirondack preservationists say they belong in the Forest Preserve. Yet Blue
Ledge is home to 36 species of rare mosses. Likewise, OK
Slip Falls harbors 22 hard-to-find species of mosses and
liverworts. In fact, the ecologist Jerry Jenkins has said that
the limestone outcrops in the Hudson Gorge and along the
Cedar and Indian rivers may contain “the largest concentration of rare and uncommon plants in the Park.” Opening
such places to the public might endanger the flora.
The Little Great Range and Blue Mountain (and probably Boreas Mountain) are home to the Bicknell’s thrush, a
rare tropical songbird that breeds in the Adirondacks.
Boreas Ponds supports “the highest diversity and abundance of boreal bird species on the property,” according to
the conservancy. The Pickwacket Pond tract boasts more
than 70 acres of sensitive bogs. And a stretch of the Branch
River contains an alluvial silver-maple forest that is largely undisturbed.
These are just some of the places where rare plants, birds
Photo by Carl Heilman II
From Santanoni, we turn southeast, flying over the
wild Opalescent River, much of which had been in Finch
hands, and pass beneath Allen Mountain. Then it comes
into view, the Finch crown jewel: Boreas Ponds. These
interconnected ponds (named after the Greek god of the
North Wind) add up to one big lake, stretching for 1.5
miles, offering a superb vista of the High Peaks. Finch,
Pruyn built a corporate retreat at the south end of the ponds,
but otherwise they remain undeveloped.
Woodworth and others argue that Boreas Ponds should
be added to the High Peaks Wilderness (and the buildings
torn down). “Ecologically, the whole area belongs to the
southern High Peaks,” he said. “Boreas Ponds has the
potential to be a magnificent backpacking experience. A
hike into a remote lake of that size is a treasured experience.”
He also would like to see a trail built from Boreas Ponds
to the 3,776-foot summit of Boreas Mountain, another of
the Hundred Highest peaks. Finch owned the western
slopes of the mountain and half of the summit. There is a
trail to the top from Elk Lake Lodge, but it is open only to
the lodge’s guests (see Page 51).
Leaving the ponds, we fly close to Boreas Mountain, a
massive hulk of green, and start back to Glens Falls.
Three-mile-long Catlin Lake touches on and drains into Nature Conservancy Lands.
Nature Conservancy to buy 84,000 acres owned by Domtar Industries. It later purchased 276,000 acres that had
been owned by International Paper.
Peter Stein, one of Lyme’s general partners, told the
Explorer that his company is interested in buying the available Finch lands from the conservancy. In an earlier interview, in 2006, he said he believed that half of the Finch
lands—including those near the High Peaks—should be
added to the Forest Preserve. If Lyme were to buy the rest,
it would own about 440,000 acres, roughly one-seventh of
the Park’s private land.
The conservancy wants to sell the land as soon as possible, Carr said, but that probably won’t happen for more
than a year. Meantime, the nonprofit organization is saddled with a huge debt. It borrowed the entire $110 million
used for the purchase, including $25 million from the Open
Space Conservancy, an arm of the Open Space Institute.
The annual debt service will be several million dollars.
In addition, the taxes on the property exceed $1 million a
year. The Nature Conservancy expects to collect roughly the
same amount from hunting clubs and others who lease the
lands. The conservancy plans to extend the leases at least
until the fall of 2008. And after that? “We might renew some
of them,” Carr said, “and some of them we may not, depending on what the ecological assessment tells us.”
The conservancy hopes to raise tens of millions of dollars to help pay for the deal. “We’ve taken a giant leap of
faith, financially, that people will rally around this project,” Carr said.
Carr also faces an enormous challenge—perhaps an
impossible one—in getting the many stakeholders to agree
on what to do with the land. Finch owned property in 31
towns and six counties. In addition, it leased 131,000 of its
161,000 acres. Local politicians and the leaseholders are
likely to disagree with environmentalists over how much
land should be added to the Preserve.
Although Finch land is scattered throughout (and a little
beyond) the Park, the vast majority of it lies in five towns:
Newcomb, Indian Lake, North Hudson, Long Lake and
Minerva. Supervisors in the five towns would not like to
see the state gobble up the lion’s share of the holdings.
“The logging industry is still an important part of our economy,” said Long Lake Supervisor Gregg Wallace. “It should
remain working land. All the local government officials I’ve
talked with are apprehensive of it becoming state forest.”
Newcomb Supervisor George Canon argues that the
state already owns too much land in the Adirondacks, hindering development and hurting the economy. “I’m
opposed to more land in the Forest Preserve, wherever it
is,” he said. “Where does it stop?”
The supervisors also want the hunting camps to stay—
FINCH PRUYN, Page 50
September/October 2007
39
Philanthropists wanted
The Nature Conservancy borrowed $110
million to buy the 161,000 acres owned Finch,
Pruyn & Co. It was the most expensive private
land deal in the history of the Adirondack Park.
Much of the money will be recovered if the
group sells the lands to the state, timber companies or others. However, the conservancy
still needs to raise tens of millions of dollars to
finance the massive land-protection deal. If
you’d like to contribute, contact Nancy Van Wie,
director of philanthropy at the conservancy’s
Adirondack chapter office in Keene Valley:
Photo by Carl Heilman II
Telephone: (518) 576-2082 (ext. 139).
E-mail: nvanwie@tnc.org.
The Nature Conservancy now owns a scenic stretch of the Hudson Gorge.
something that would not be allowed on lands added to the
Preserve. Indian Lake Supervisor Barry Hutchins said the
hunters who lease the camps pump dollars into the community. Canon, who belongs to the Gooley Club, sees the
sportsmen’s clubs as part of the regional culture. “They are
part of the Adirondack fabric,” he said. “The clubs have
been around a long time.”
Environmental activists, on the other hand, would like
the state to buy a large portion of the Finch land, including
property leased by hunting clubs. “I would say 75,000 to
100,000 acres really ought to be Forest Preserve,” said
George Davis, who served as executive director of the state
Commission on the Adirondacks in the 21st Century.
Davis said the obvious acquisitions include the Hudson
Gorge, Boreas Ponds and Essex Chain of Lakes region.
“The lands I’m worried about are the ones that are not so
obvious,” he said, referring to ecologically significant sites
that might get overlooked.
The RCPA’s Peter Bauer argues that 75,000 acres
belongs in the Preserve (see Page 45). John Sheehan said
the Adirondack Council puts the figure at 40,000 to 50,000
acres. David Gibson said “tens of thousands of acres”
should go into the Preserve. “Fifty thousand acres is not
unreasonable, and it may go higher,” he said.
Environmentalists want nearly all of the rest kept as
working timberlands, protected by easements that prohibit
development and mandate environmentally responsible
forestry. However, they say they would not object if the
conservancy allowed some Finch lands near hamlets to be
developed—a concession to local politicians and state Sen.
Betty Little, who contend that Adirondack communities
need room to grow.
Little praised the conservancy for allowing logging to
continue, renewing the leases of the hunt clubs and paying
property taxes. She is worried, however, that all the land
might be put off limits to development. “That’s 161,000
acres that will never have a home, people with children
going to school,” she said.
Connie Prickett, a conservancy spokeswoman, said a
small amount of land not deemed “conservation worthy”
could be developed. She mentioned, for example, a farmhouse in Newcomb that came with the Finch property.
“Out of 161,000 acres, maybe 1% could be sold for development,” she said. She added that the rest, if not sold to the
state, will be protected by easements.
The towns will have a fair amount of clout during the
negotiations. Since 1993, they have had the authority to
veto state land deals financed by the Environmental Protection Fund, the usual source of money for land purchases. The state can get around the veto by using other funds,
but Environmental Conservation Commissioner Pete
Grannis has said he will not go that route.
Adirondack 50 EXPLORER
Photo by Carl Heilman II
From Page 39 FINCH PRUYN
Much of the Little Great Range west of Indian Lake had been in the hands of Finch, Pruyn.
The state legislature exempted a number of coveted properties, including the Hudson Gorge, when it gave municipalities the local veto. At Finch, Pruyn’s urging, the gorge was
later removed from the exempt list. Which list should be followed, the original or amended one, could become a matter
of debate. No other Finch lands were on the exempt list,
meaning that the towns could block—or at least hinder—the
state’s acquisition of some of the most desirable lands in the
No Trespassing!
The Finch, Pruyn lands, though purchased by
the Nature Conservancy, remain closed to the
public. Over the next 12 to 18 months, the conservancy plans to conduct an ecological survey
that will determine the future use of the property.Afterward, most of the lands probably will
be sold to the state and timber companies,
opening the door to some public recreation.
About 131,000 of the 161,000 acres are leased
to hunting clubs and others. The lessees have
exclusive use of these lands.Their leases will be
renewed for at least a year. In some places, however, there are public trails across the former
Finch lands, such as a section of the NorthvillePlacid Trail near Blue Mountain.
Park. But no one is wishing for such an outcome.
“I hope we don’t have to come to any vetoes at all,” said
Supervisor Hutchins. “I hope the state as well as the Nature
Conservancy will listen to all sides on the issues.”
Despite all the uncertainties, environmentalists are thrilled
that these lands are in the hands of the conservancy. “It’s
fantastic,” George Davis said. “I always said if the state ever
bought Finch, Pruyn, the environmentalists would never
have to worry about the Park from a Forest Preserve perspective.”
Finch, Pruyn had been viewed as hostile toward state
acquisition. Unlike other major timber companies, it had
not sold easements on its lands. Fears that the company
would subdivide its property for development were fueled
three years ago when it sold 4,900 acres near the High
Peaks to a family from out of state.
In fact, Finch, Pruyn apparently had no intention of selling its lands when it put the Glens Falls mill on the market
last year. Atlas Holdings submitted one of the bids for the
mill. Because it wasn’t the high bid, Atlas came back with
a proposal to buy the lands as well, according to Joe
Martens, executive director of the Open Space Institute.
Atlas then worked out an arrangement to sell the land to
the conservancy.
When the deal was made public, wilderness lovers
breathed a huge sigh of relief. They almost crashed the
Nature Conservancy Web site in their rush to read the news.
“This is history we’re making,” Mike Carr said. “We’ll
never again have this opportunity.” ■
You could own this view
BY PHIL BROWN
EXPLORER STAFF
I
The rub is that Boreas Mountain is off limits to the general public. That could change if the state buys the western
slopes of the 3,776-foot peak.
For now, the only trail to the summit is on the property
of Elk Lake Lodge, and its use is restricted to the lodge’s
guests (I was granted permission to hike it for this story).
The lodge owns the eastern side of the mountain, while
Finch, Pruyn & Co. had owned the western side. The property line follows the summit ridge.
In June, the Nature Conservancy bought all of Finch,
Pruyn’s land, raising hopes that Boreas Mountain and
Boreas Ponds eventually will be sold to the state. If that
happens, Neil Woodworth would like a trail built from the
ponds to the summit.
“If the state acquires that tract, people are going to want
to get to the top of that mountain,” said Woodworth, executive director of the Adirondack Mountain Club (ADK),
which represents thousands of hikers.
Woodworth noted that more and more hikers are climbing the Park’s 100 highest peaks (Boreas is No. 65). Without a trail, he said, bushwhackers are likely to create a herd
path straight up the mountain. Such paths often are steep
and prone to erosion. “It makes a lot more sense to build a
trail with switchbacks that doesn’t go right up the fall
line,” he said.
Elk Lake Lodge manager Mike Sheridan told me to
expect “killer views” on Boreas, so my expectations were
pretty high as I set out on the 4.6-mile trek to the summit.
Photo by Phil Brown
probably shouldn’t tell you this, but
Boreas Mountain has great views. The
main summit ledge looks east toward
Elk Lake, the Dix Range and, in the distance, the Green Mountains. Another rock
outcrop affords a spectacular vista of the
entire Great Range. And if you look around
you can find a view toward Boreas Ponds
and the western High Peaks.
Elk Lake, Nippletop (left) and the Dix Range seen from Boreas Mountain.
Nevertheless, I was wowed when I emerged from the balsam-fir forest onto an open ledge that afforded me a new
perspective on the High Peaks.
To the northeast were Blake Peak, Mount Colvin and
Nippletop. Farther east, sighted through Hunters Pass, was
Giant with all its slides. Then came Dix, Hough, South Dix
and Macomb. Also clearly visible were Sunrise Mountain
(reached by another of the lodge’s trails) and the many
rocky peaks east of the Niagara Brook valley. The distinctive profile of Camel’s Hump in Vermont also could be seen.
A second lookout to the north provided a view of the
Great Range, from Lower Wolf Jaw to Mount Marcy, in
addition to the High Peaks visible from the first ledge.
Also entering the picture were Sawteeth, Skylight, Redfield, Allen and Adams. I also found, just below the summit, a short path leading west to a view of Boreas Ponds,
the North River Mountains, the Santanoni Range and the
Sewards.
All told, more than half of the High Peaks can be seen
from Boreas.
Woodworth envisions people camping on Boreas Ponds
and hiking up the mountain as a day trip. The three interconnected ponds, which extend for 1.5 miles, have a magnificent view of the High Peaks from the south. Except for
a corporate retreat, they are undeveloped. Woodworth
wants the state to purchase the ponds and tear down the
buildings. He says the walk from the road to the ponds
should be long, perhaps six or seven miles, to lend the
place a feeling of remote wilderness.
Access to Boreas Ponds is via a dirt road from the south.
If the state bought the ponds, it could allow the road to
revert to a hiking path. Other trails could be built to connect the ponds to the trails in the High Peaks Wilderness,
Woodworth said. ■
A wild idea, now within reach
W
hen George Davis proposed creating a 72,480-acre Wild
Rivers Wilderness in the central Adirondacks in 1990, it
seemed a little like pie in the sky. Finch, Pruyn & Co.
owned most of the private land inside the proposed Wilderness
Area and had no intention of selling to the state.
Seventeen years later, the idea does not
seem so far-fetched.
The Adirondack Nature Conservancy’s
purchase of all of Finch, Pruyn’s lands this
past June raises the possibility that the Wild
Rivers parcels will be added to the state
Forest Preserve. If so, most of the Wild
Rivers Wilderness would be in state hands.
The Finch parcels include Blue Ledge in
the Hudson Gorge, the 250-foot OK Slip
Falls, the confluence of the Hudson and
Indian rivers, and a large tract that encompasses the Essex Chain of Lakes, numerous ponds and long stretches of the Hudson
and Cedar rivers.
Still missing would be a large tract
owned by the Northwoods Club and a few
small parcels. But Brian Houseal, executive director of the Adirondack Council,
said the state could designate a Wilderness
Area without those lands.
Neil Woodworth, executive director of the
Adirondack Mountain Club (ADK), said the
Wild Rivers Wilderness, even in its smaller
version, would become a premier destination for hikers, paddlers, fishermen and others. For example, he envisions backpackers
trekking through the wilderness to the Essex
Chain and paddlers putting in at Newcomb
for a 12-mile trip down the Hudson.
Five major rivers come together in the
region: the Hudson, Indian, Cedar, Boreas
and Rock. If the state purchases the confluence of the Hudson and Indian, paddlers
will be able to take out before reaching the
frothing whitewater of the Hudson Gorge.
If the state also buys the Finch lands farther
north along the Hudson, paddlers could
camp along the river.
Woodworth said this stretch of the upper
Hudson reminds him of rivers in northern
Ontario. “It has that sense of remoteness,”
he said. “Those who don’t want the heavy
whitewater of the Hudson Gorge could
have an easier but still scenic experience.”
Here’s how Alec Proskine described the
Blackwell Stillwater on the upper Hudson
in Adirondack Canoe Waters: South and
West Flow: “Here you may see some of the
wildlife that lives in the area: deer, otter,
beaver, mink and muskrats. Look back up
the river to view the High Peaks.”
It’s by no means certain that the state will
purchase all the Finch lands within the proposed Wilderness Area. Most of the lands lie
in the town of Newcomb, whose supervisor,
George Canon, opposes expanding the public
Forest Preserve. Moreover, Canon belongs to
a hunting club that leases Finch land around
the Essex Chain of Lakes. If the state bought
the Essex Chain, the club would have to disband or move. Supervisors in other towns
also might raise objections to state acquisition. Under state law, towns have the right to
veto state land deals financed by the Environmental Protection Fund, the usual source of
cash for acquisitions.
George Davis proposed the Wild Rivers
Wilderness, in the second of four “20/20
Vision” reports of the Adirondack Council
(see Page 58). At the time, the state already
owned more than 45,000 acres in the
region. About 27,000 acres were privately
owned, most by Finch, Pruyn (see map,
Page 36). The state Commission on the
Adirondacks in the 21st Century, which
Davis served as executive director, later
endorsed the Wild Rivers proposal. ■
—Phil Brown
September/October 2007
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