Balsam Swamp is a sprawling state forest that stretches almost 5.5 miles east-west across 4 towns. The area is very rural, and the landscape surrounding the State Forest is predominantly forested. Balsam Swamp State Forest is comprised of a mix of native hardwood forests, hemlock swamps, and conifer plantations. There are no designated recreational trails on the forest, but there is ample opportunity for self-guided day hikes to explore the diversity of habitats represented on this State Forest. Additionally, the western section of Balsam Swamp State Forest is adjacent to Five Streams State Forest to the south.
The main attraction of this forest is Balsam Pond. The impoundment is approximately 152 acres and is a popular destination for fishing and paddle boat sports. Balsam Pond is a warm water fishery that contains a mix of largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, chain pickerel, yellow perch, brown bullhead and sunfish. Tiger muskellunge have been stocked in the past with the last stocking occurring in 1995. However, there have been very few reports of anglers catching any of the adult tiger muskies. A shallow gravel boat launch is suitable for launching small fishing boats.
A small rustic camp ground is also located at Balsam Pond. Camping spaces are available at no cost on a first-come, first-serve basis and there is no running water or electricity. A fire ring, outhouse, and picnic table are provided for each camping space. A sign on Balsam-Tyler Road in Pharsalia designates the entrance to the boat launch and camping facility. This is a carry-in carry-out facility. Please do not litter.
If there was one feature I hate about Facebook is it’s comments. I wish you could turn them off, and people could simply just like or share posts on your normal Facebook Wall. Too often Facebook discussions get political and heated, when a post is only intended to provoke ideas and get people thinking. Too often the Internet causes people to reject unfamiliar or new ideas outright, without considering their merit. And we all feel the need to come up with a clever response to somebody’s post that we disagree with.
Over the years, I’ve been on and off about having comments on my personal blog. Because it’s slightly more difficult to comment on a blog then Facebook, I find the comments on my blog are a lot nicer and more thoughtful. I think people see personal blogs as more of a personal space, so they are more respectful, compared to the Facebook pages of individuals. At least that’s my take on it.
I am not particularly concerned about the wealth gap between the rich and the poor. The problem is not wealth, its income and the ability to save rather than consume. Too much promotion is put on consumption, too little is put on savings and investments.
People are bombarded with advertising constantly, asking them to go out and buy more stuff that they subsequently have to pay to get rid of at the landfill. Stuff that could instead be turned into investment and future gain – both in economic growth and personal savings.
Most poor people today have fancy, enormous color televisions and cable TV that blasts in advertising and violence to one’s home 24-7. They get caught up in upsetting news stories and think they need fancy things to live the good life. They pay enormously for high speed internet service and keep their homes toasty all winter with fossil fuel heat and frigid all some with coal powered air conditioning.
To be sure, I wish primary schools would invest more in financial education and budgeting. Education should emphasize frugality not consumption. People should be educated about the evils of debt, encouraged to invest rather than borrow.
I understand poor people live with very tight budgets due to limited income. But budgets can be stretched, savings can be prioritized over spending and borrowing. Wealth can be grown, even in the most megar of budgets.
List of (13th Lake Campsites and Lean-Tos) Thirteenth Lake Campsites and Lean-Tos
Here is a list of (13th Lake Campsites and Lean-Tos) Thirteenth Lake Campsites and Lean-Tos with coordinates. There is no 13th Lake Campsite 1 anymore, it was removed to allow more room for people to launch kayaks. You can also get this as a Google Sheet for ease of downloading into your GPS.
There is a popular Internet meme that goes along these lines:
“I am poor. So when I hear my car making a noise,
rather then taking it to the repair shop, I just turn up the radio.”
This kind of reminds me of the hype over fracking for oil and gas. It was a good distraction for a while — and indeed the United States got a big boost in it’s oil production for a while — it seems like as fast as the oil glut came it is now going away. A booming global economy has expanded the world’s thirst for this economy, and with Middle East production on a decline, it seems like it’s only a matter of time that we remember the serious energy crisis our world faces in the future. ⛽
There are politicians all over that like to believe we live in a sea of oil, and that suburbia will last forever. Indeed, a good portion of the green minded people think that once we switch over to electric plug-in cars powered by distant solar cells, motoring can go on care free, with no concerns about the resources being consumed or emissions being produced away from the tailpipe. But at some point, no matter how long you stick year head into the ground, our long term habit of expanding the population and feeling richer by burning more oil each year, will come to bite us. 🐲
Nobody knows when the global oil crisis will truly bite us. High oil prices once again may spur conservation and innovation like new fracking techniques 🛢 but the truth is the oil fueled party can’t go on forever. I like my big jacked up truck, but I’m not stupid — I know the world of ever growing demand for oil is going to be confronted by reality at some point. And the next result isn’t going to be pretty. Climate change, expensive energy, massive reductions in consumption are going to be the future. While there may be some benefit to some, the next effect will be serious impacts to millions who are forced to make dramatic changes in how they live and go through life.
