Moose River Plains closed to vehicles

[Explorer Editor]

Because of state's fiscal crisis, DEC won't open the roads in the Moose River Plains this year. Click here for more information.

 

[Peakbagr]

That will impact access to a couple of the ADK100s, but a mountain bike would help.

Alan

 

[DSettahr]

The West Canada Lakes will be a bit more quiet this summer, as this pretty severely restricts access to the closest trail to West Lake.

 

[Neil]

It could impact the local deer population as well. This could be an interesting opportunity for a study.

 

[Explorer Editor]

Moose River Plains update

Hamilton County plans to fight DEC's decision vigorously. Bill Farber, the chairman of the county board, says closure of the roads may sour local officials even more against state land purchases. You can read more details in today's post.

 

[DSettahr]

It could impact the local deer population as well. This could be an interesting opportunity for a study.

In the 2008 hunting season, only 2 dear were taken in the Moose River Plains.

 

[Neil]

In the 2008 hunting season, only 2 dear were taken in the Moose River Plains.

No kidding.

Are the deer getting smarter or scarcer? Or very little hunting going on?

Or are the hunters getting.....never mind.

 

[DSettahr]

Are the deer getting smarter or scarcer? Or very little hunting going on?

Mostly, it's that forest preserve land is generally pretty poor deer habitat. Not enough young trees with leaves close to the ground to much on. All of the deer in the West Canada Lakes/Moose River Plains area are all down in the Perkins Clearing easement, where there's active timber harvesting, and, as a result, plenty of forest succession occurring.

I believe that deer due winter in the Moose River Plains are though.

 

[WBB]

"In the 2008 hunting season, only 2 dear were taken in the Moose River Plains."

That certainly would not be for the lack of trying. I stayed at Wakely Dam this past November for a couple of night while we did some of the firepower’s in the area. There were many hunters staying there as well as a large number of vehicles going down the road well before sunrise and then heading out at night. Maybe only two were reported but I would hazard to guess more then two were taken.

It did appeared to be a off year for these guys.

http://inlinethumb51.webshots.com/47602/2012352470105572790S600x600Q85.jpg

 

[Grumpy]

My first sashay into and through the Moose River Plains tract was nearly 40 years ago, just about this time of year and before the seasonal roads were opened to vehicle traffic. A partner and I hiked the road from Limekiln Lake to the Moose River South Branch crossing, where we set up a base camp for a few days of exploring and fishing. We pretty much had the whole place to ourselves, with one exception that turned out to be advantageous to us. It was a memorable trip, climaxed by hitching a ride back to civilization with a group of DEC biologists who were in there studying the deer herd.

I am not generally a fan of opening wild areas to motorized traffic, but do make an exception for the Moose River Plains tract. The limited net of open roads in the area does not materially diminish its appeal to me. In fact, in some ways it enhances the appeal.

Since that first trip years ago I have had several enjoyable excursions through the area. (Mrs. Grumpy finds it boring, though.)

We never have found the roads in exactly first-class condition, by the way. They are rough and rustic, encouraging slow speed, cautious travel. That, to me makes for an ideal state of maintenance and situation.

Now, approaching my 66th birthday and afflicted with incurable lung cancer (which generally seems “under control” with ongoing chemotherapy treatment) my big time hiking days appear to be over. I certainly would enjoy and greatly appreciate opportunity to motor through the Plains tract again, and soak up its great wild country feel as best I can within limitations imposed by my physical capabilities. I might even be able to park and take some short hikes, the best kind of soul food imaginable for me.

My bottom line is, I hope the resources will be found to maintain the Moose River Plains tract roads as they have been in past years. Expressways and boulevards are not needed. Expansion of the system is not necessary. That would maintain access, and help minimize pressure to open the tract to ORV-ATV traffic, which truly would degrade its ambience and quality.

G.

 

[Peakbagr]

I hunted the Moose River Plains extensively 30 years ago. Not a lot of deer but we found a couple each year. The habitat is tough on the deer population there - coyotes, snow depth, cold temperatures and a lack of a lot of food to support a large population.


Grump - had no idea. The very good news is that the treatment is keeping thing under control and you with us.

 

[DSettahr]

I very much agree with the concept of "a place for everything, and everything in it's place," even with backcountry/wilderness management. And the Moose River Plains is an excellent example of managed motorized access into the backcountry, especially for those who don't want to or are physically unable to travel large distances on their own two feet. It's too bad that this had to happen... although given the current financial situation in the State, something had to give.

 

[CrisisBill]

Hamilton County officials are livid over the state’s plan to close the Moose River Plains Recreation Area to motor vehicles, saying it will hurt the region’s economy, intensify political tensions, and harden stances against land acquisitions by the state.

“It’s one of the worst ideas I’ve seen in recent times,” said Bill Farber, the chairman of the county’s Board of Supervisors.

Farber said the county plans to press Governor David Paterson, the state legislature, and the state Department of Environmental Conservation to open the roads before Memorial Day weekend.

“It’s going to be a fight like none we’ve seen since the Forest Preserve tax cap,” he added, referring to Paterson’s proposal in 2008 to limit the taxes the state pays on Preserve lands.

Located between the hamlets of Inlet and Indian Lake, the Moose River Recreation Area boasts forty miles of dirt roads, 140 primitive campsites, and numerous trails. It’s dotted with ponds and crossed by many rivers and streams. The region is popular with car campers, hikers, birders, bikers, hunters, and fishermen.

Bill Osborne, the tourism director for Hamilton County, said the closure of the roads to vehicles will have a huge impact on the local economy. “It will be absolutely devastating to us,” he said.

Farber said the decision is likely to sour local officials even more against state land acquisition.

“If the argument [for state land] is that it helps the economy and brings people into the region, why would you close a recreation area?” he asked. “It’s counterintuitive.”

Although Paterson has called for a moratorium on state-land purchases, the state plans to buy from the Adirondack Nature Conservancy, perhaps within a few years, nearly sixty thousand acres formerly owned by Finch, Pruyn & Co. Local towns signed off on that deal, but Farber thinks some may take a second look at it.

Farber said local officials and residents already were angry over the state’s management of the Park. “This is just throwing gasoline on the fire and heating up the political rhetoric,” he said.

DEC spokesman David Winchell told the Explorer on Thursday (see yesterday’s post) that the department is forced to make cuts. “It’s not a decision we wanted to make,” he said of the road closures. “It comes down to money, plain and simple. We can’t continue to provide the same services we have in the past under the current fiscal conditions.”

Winchell said DEC will save money by not having to maintain the roads, repair culverts, or patrol the campsites.

Farber, however, contends that it makes more economic sense to maintain the roads rather than let them deteriorate. He also argues that the closure of the roads will hit the state’s pocketbook: fewer tourists mean less sales-tax revenue.

In another controversial step, DEC plans to discontinue hiring assistant forest rangers. The Adirondack Daily Enterprise published a detailed story today on this issue.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Moose...38#!/pages/Moose-River-Plains/109521245758033

 

[Raymond]

Is this road on the Central Region map? Or maybe just off to the west?

 

[DSettahr]

The road is the one at the center of this map.

The Moose River Plains road is a dirt road that connects the towns of Indian Lake and Old Forge, the gated portions running from the Cedar River Flow on the east end to the Limekiln Lake campground on the west end. There are two main side roads, Otter Brook Road and Indian River Road, both of which head south (they used to connect, forming a loop, but the the southern most portions of this loop are now in the West Canada Lakes Wilderness as well as Adirondack League Club lands).

Along the roads are 140 mostly car accessible primitive camp sites (actually closer to 160 or 180 I think, as there are plenty of "Site 80," "Site 80A," and "Site 80B" type designations). Most sites have a cement fire place (like the ones you see in DEC Campgrounds), a picnic table, and an outhouse. Some sites are better than others, and obviously receive a lot more use, such as the sites right on the Moose River or Otter Brook.

In recent years, the state has put a lot of money into making a fair number of the campsites handicap accessible. They've laid down crushed rock on the soil to flatten out and carefully grade the surface, put in wheel chair accessible picnic tables and outhouses, and even replaced the cement fire places with ones that have a grill surface that rotates out, allowing those who are wheelchair bound to easily cook over an open fire without having to reach.

There are more than enough campsites in the Moose River Plains for everyone, and in fact I believe the DEC had been planning on closing some of the sites down due to lack of use. I've never seen the area full, although admittedly I've never been back there on a holiday weekend. However, some of the sites have become so overgrown with grass that I can't imagine that anyone has stayed there within recent years. Fall is probably the busiest time in the plains, as lots of people get permits to maintain hunting camps in in some of the campsites (with a permit, you can leave a camp set up for the entirety of the fall hunting season on state land in NY, bypassing the "3 night" rule). A lot of people have favorite sites back there, and it isn't at all uncommon to see the same canvas tents and shelters set up in the same sites each year. In fact, during the fall hunting season, a sort of "community" builds up in the Plains, and I know that people look forwards to seeing the same people they haven't seen since last year as hunting season approaches.

The Moose River Plains also serves not just as a destination itself, but as an access point for more remote pursuits. It's a popular put-in point for those wishing to paddle the Moose River. It also provides access to the West Canada Lakes Wilderness Area- the trailhead on Otter Brook Road provides the shortest hike back in to West and South Lakes, as well as to Brooktrout Lake, which has one of the neatest lean-tos I've ever seen (or stayed in): an immense glacial erratic is situated about 10 feet from the front of the lean-to, and the fireplace has been constructed against its side, reflecting light and heat back into the lean-to. Fall Pond and Deep Lake are also popular hiking destinations from this trailhead.

And let's not forget the plains themselves- several hundred acres of natural plains. The soils here are very poor for tree growth, and so low shrubs and grasses dominate. It's a very unique ecology that you don't see very much of in the Adirondacks.

The Moose River Plains are truly a unique destination in the Adirondacks. No where else in the northeast can you find backcountry that is so readily accessible to everyone. Closing the gates unfortunately removes some of the uniqueness from the area, and it's certainly a shame that it had to be done.