Can VFTT save a Firetower ?

[Tom Rankin]

I ran this by Darren, and he is ok with it, so here goes:

I would like to propose that VFTT try to adopt/save/maintain/restore a firetower. I don't care where it is, but personally, I would be able to be more involved if it was in the ADKs.

Is anyone else interested ?

Any suggestions on which towers need some help ?

(I have no political motivations here, so let's keep politics out of this).

 

[Chip]

Has this been done before ? I'm in if it involves work crew type outings in Catskills or Adirondacks.
Can you actually do this ? Who owns them, are they liable if someone gets hurt ? I'd sign waivers, but even that's not bullet proof.

http://nysfiretowers.com/index2.htm

http://www.gobacktothebasics.com/adirondack_fire_towers_details_and_directions_new_york_state.htm
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Last week - Dolgeville Manheim Public Library

 

[AntlerPeak]

Has this been done before ? I'm in if it involves work crew type outings in Catskills or Adirondacks.
Can you actually do this ? Who owns them, are they liable if someone gets hurt ? I'd sign waivers, but even that's not bullet proof.

Chip I have no idea how but I am sure it can be done. They did it on Arab Mt near Tupper Lake. When I climbed Arab last fall there was a cabin and volunteer caretaker. The caretaker told me she was member of the "Friends of Mt Arab" who adopted the mountain and care for the tower, cabin and trail.

 

[rondak46]

I'm in

I believe Wakely is one of the most in danger of being removed.

Pillsbury is really nice and has an existing cabin, and the town of Lake Pleasant might be supportive and has something to gain in its preservation/restoration.

I have plenty of 18 volt tools. A wind-powered power source for a battery charger would be handy: a misssion for all you engineering/physics folks that recently showed your talents on the urine-hijacked sleeping-bag thread.

Handymike

 

[Waumbek]

Getting people to organize and coordinate and permit and grant application writers to do the paperwork would probably be the first step.

It would also be a good idea to consult with a group like this or others that has done this before. Somebody who knows DEC and the other relevant NY agencies.

 

[Tom Rankin]

Getting people to organize and coordinate and permit and grant application writers to do the paperwork would probably be the first step.

It would also be a good idea to consult with a group like this or others that has done this before. Somebody who knows DEC and the other relevant NY agencies.

Thanks everyone. Keep it coming. I'll start doing some investigation.

 

[ALGonquin Bob]

Adirondack towers

I'll help. Wakely may be the best choice. Hurricane and St. Regis are in poor condition and are already scheduled for removal - those two would be quite difficult to save, although we may be able to join forces with groups that are trying to accomplish that.

 

[sli74]

I am in . . . and the distance from home will determine how involved I could be . . .

sli74

 

[blacklab2020]

I am definately interested if it is in the daks.

Justin

 

[Pete_Hickey]

If in NY, 'you' would probably have to sign an ANA agreement (Adopt a Natural Resource) with the DEC. That poses the first problem. Who is 'you'? Who has signing authority for VFtT? What is its mission statement/charter? That is usually an appendix to the ANA.

I suspect that you would run into probl;ems there, since VFtT is not really a formal organization, as is the ADK, 46ers, ATIS, etc.

In order to do it, you'd have to go the the DEC with a fairly solid proposal and committment. IMO, that is more work than the actual maintenence. You might have a better chance going at it alone, then posting here for help. Oh yeah. Then when you need money for tools and supplies, you'll have to work to get that.

Just a note about that. ALthough you may find a lot of interest, when the time comes to do the work, expect much less. You can't schedule to please everyone. We (46ers) send out trailwork registration/schedule to several thousand people, and sometimes end up with only 6 showing up.

No matter what, it is work.

If you want a firetower in the ADKS, I suggest you get in contact with Marty Podskoch of the firetower preservation society (Don't know their real name). You may have your best chance if you could use them as an umbrella, and it could be a source of funds.

 

[Tom Rankin]

If in NY, 'you' ...

Thanks, I think this might be the way to go.

Another approach might be to just encourage every one who is interested to work locally to save a firetower.

 

[RoySwkr]

If you want a firetower in the ADKS, I suggest you get in contact with Marty Podskoch of the firetower preservation society (Don't know their real name). You may have your best chance if you could use them as an umbrella, and it could be a source of funds.

Marty has moved to CT, the present NY director is Bill Starr, former Pillsbury lookout. http://www.firelookout.org/chapters.htm The FFLA may contribute $50 or so, but basically you need to decide whether you prefer to lobby DEC for money or do your own fund-raising.

Maybe half of the Adk towers already have friends groups, so you need to decide whether to work on one of theirs or start your own for a different tower. Some are independent groups while others are part of larger groups - the Rochester chapter of the Adk adopted a tower I believe. And they periodically get together to swap ideas. DEC should be able to tell you what groups are out there.

But please don't do a half-baked job, one of the best restorations was done by DEC themselves on a tower (I don't remember which) that they decided to work on because nobody else seemed to care.

Or for a really wild idea, you could restore a non-DEC tower, some of the nicest lookouts in other states are privately owned and hence free of bureaucracy.

 

[moose_mckenzie]

Can VFTT Adopt a Firetower?

Tom,

The AARCH Fire Tower site lists all the firetowers that have been adopted.
the website is http://www.aarch.org/html/fire_towers/regional_list.html

The available towers are:

Pillsbury - Hamilton Cty
Wakely -- Hamilton Cty
Rondaxe - Herkimer Cty
Snowy -- though I believe the DEC refurbished that one.
Spruce - Saratoga Cty
Woodhull - Herkimer Cty

The rest are on private land. Wakely is a high tower -- it's 85 feet high. the rest are shorter.

Moose

 

[imarchant]

If you plan to work on a tower of state land contact Phil Jonstone at the Ray Brook DEC (518) 897-1314. He is the Volunteer Coordinator for the Adirondack area (Zone 5). Even for small volunteer work there is a lot of paperwork that needs to be completed, but the voluteers are covered by workers comp. For a large undertaking I would suspect some sort of insurance will be required. It would probably be easist to work through one of the existing organizations.

Also here is a link to the National Historic Lookout Register they have a lot of interesting information.

 

[bubba]

Tom, I think you have a great idea in the planning stages -- be interesting to see it happen and have bunches here involved. With regard to "who is VFTT" as Pete questioned, I think that you'd probably end up with "our own" organization with a specific charter to work on saving/restoring Firetowers. An organization, say the "NE Firetower View Savers Group" can be organized and gain/maintain the interest and involvement through VFTT (even exclusively if there was an advantage to doing this). If this takes off and Darren is behind it (as I would assume he would be) - it could lead to a separate forum for volunteer work to support the mission of the Group.

I'm in. Keep us posted of your progress and let us know if we have to write our congressional leaders on your behalf.

 

[Tom Rankin]

I know it might seem like I've forgotten about this, but I haven't.

Here is one suggestion. I've been made aware of a tower called Rock Rift, a few miles west of the Catskill Preserve, in Delaware County. Currently, no one is working on it.

Here is a link: http://www.telenet.net/~ranger/towers4.htm#rock

I realize it's far away from a lot of people, and not on a high mountain, but it does need some attention, or it will be lost.

If you go to the above site, most of the firetowers in NY are listed, whether past or present. Any suggestions are still welcome.

 

[ken]

I've been made aware of a tower called Rock Rift, a few miles west of the Catskill Preserve, in Delaware County. Currently, no one is working on it.

that one is on land owned by N.Y.C. - to enter city land for fishing, hiking or hunting you need a n.y.c. access permit - - - if you want to fix one up that anyone can get to (without a nyc access permit), how about spruce firetower (near corinth, ny) it has good views of the catskills and adirondacks - the old trail needs work too, it is practically a bushwack since the trail hasn't been maintained (and hardly any markers) also the trail goes through an area that has been logged with old skid roads and treetops - - south beacon mountain firetower (near beacon, ny) is another that needs restoration - it has great views of the catskills, the hudson valley and 90 miles to the south you can see the n.y.c. skyline...

 

[Tom Rankin]

if you want to fix one up that anyone can get to (without a nyc access permit), how about spruce firetower (near corinth, ny) ... south beacon mountain firetower (near beacon, ny) is another that needs restoration ...

Thanks for mentioning that. The Rock Rift tower was brought to my attention by a fellow tower lover, who suggested we could get involved. I'll do some more digging...

I have no objection to the other 2. I've been to the Beacon one, and it's close by me, and a fairly short hike up (possibly even drive some of the way if we got permission) to the tower. You are correct about the views, great in all directions!

 

[jjmcgo]

Hey Tom,

or anyone else: Does anyone know how Rock Rift got its name? I can see from pictures that it appears to be near a mountain gap that the trains went through but I was wondering if there is a unique geological feature, like the rifts in Eastern Africa.

 

[ROCKYSUMMIT]

Hey Tom! Great thread. Another old fire tower site is on Bramley Mt.(my weekend backyard) in Bovina,Delaware county.The tower was removed some years ago but has been saved locally.There was some interest a few years ago, of getting the state to buy some of the land and getting it back up.Some how it lost momentum and fizzled out.I was hoping it would get started again,but now to complicate things the land owner has the entire property(1,000 acres) for sale, and for huge bucks...Bummer .