I am supposed to be a fan of COR-TEN steel. But 30 years, NY State went and replaced all of it's guardrails in scenic locations with COR-TEN steel. It of course rusted out prematurely, and now is being replaced with stainless steel. But now, they are building bridges with COR-TEN in New York. What could go wrong?
It certainly will be a different clearwater festival without Pete Seeger ...
That's actually not surprising, as per capita oil use has been dropping in recent decades, and places with a stable or modestly growing population have seen oil use decline.
NY State, as a whole, uses less oil than it did in 1970. Not because New York stopped driving cars, but because our state's population has only grown modestly since then, while we moved away from oil as a fuel for industrial plants and power generation.
Natural gas, especially in the past 10 years, has largely replaced oil use in NY, for generators that have the option to switch between the two.
Today is a pretty nice day, warm and sunny. Almost spring-like compared to this winter's harsh weather.
It’s a Thursday, which is often is commonly known as just another weekday that is sandwiched between the weekends. The junk of a time between the good times. One more day closer to spring – actually 28 days to be exact.
Warm enough today to merit just wearing my Carhartt vest to work. Maybe it will be a bit chilly by evening, but so be it. I would rather pretend that it’s spring out, and just hide inside buildings until a minute before my bus comes. I am tired of wearing heavy coats and sweater vests to work.
The sun looks deceivingly warm out there. Certainly if I planned on staying outside for a while, I would have dressed in layers. The sun probably will really warm you up, working outside, but if you stand still, the cold snow will rapidly cool you off, especially if a bit of a breeze picks up by afternoon.
It is a popular thing nowadays to want to tear down urban highways and reconnect cities with their waterfronts. Our rivers have never been cleaner in centuries, and as gas prices have increased, the demand for recreation and beauty in our communities has grown larger and larger. It almost seems like a no-brainer to tear down I-787 and “reconnect” Albany to it’s waterfront.
Yet, it’s not as easy as it first seems.
1) There is a critical set of railroad tracks that runs from the Port of Albany to the mainline, to all points west, up through Tivoli Hollow, and eventually follows along the Mohawk Valley. These tracks haul all kinds of materials to and from the port, including petroleum products, grain, cement, and other basic materials for our economy. Some of the cargo is hazardous and explosive, so burying the tracks would be risky and expensive. If you don’t bury or remove these railroad tracks, then access would be continue to be limited to the Hudson River.
2) The Dunn Memorial Bridge was elevated to it’s current high level over the Hudson River during the highway reconstruction in the mid-1960. It’s predecessor was a much lower, “pedestrian-friendly” bridge, which looking back we had warm and fuzzy memories about, but it was a traffic nightmare, every time the bridge had to lift to allow all but the smallest vessels to proceed up the river. While many of the biggest boats no longer go north of Winter Dock, many still require the freight bridge to the North to be opened — which if the vehicle traffic bridge was lowered — would cause significant delays.
This table is based on the data in the Catskill State Land Master Plan. I believe most of these sites are tent or lean-to sites, some fairly far back in.
| Catskill F.P. Unit | Designated Campsites | Lean-Tos | Major Desinations | Unit Yearly Usage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big Indian Wilderness | 5 | 6 | n/a | 4,500 |
| Hunter – West Kill Wilderness | n/a | 2 | Hunter Mountain, West Kill Mountain | n/a |
| Indian Head Wilderness | 10 | 3 | Echo Lake | 8,000 |
| Slide Mountain Wilderness | 29 | 10 | Slide Mountain | 23,000 |
| Windham-Blackhead Wilderness | n/a | 2 | Blackhead Mountains | n/a |
| Balsam Lake Mountain Wild Forest | 15 | 5 | Alder Lake | 5,000 |
| Bluestone Wild Forest | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Colgate Lake Wild Forest | n/a | n/a | Colgate Lake | n/a |
| Delaware Wild Forest | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Dry Brook Ridge Wild Forest | n/a | n/a | Dry Brook Mountains | n/a |
| Halcott Mountain Wild Forest | n/a | 1 | n/a | n/a |
| Elm Ridge Wild Forest | n/a | 1 | Windham High Peak | n/a |
| Overlook Mountain Wild Forest | n/a | n/a | Overlook Mountain | n/a |
| Phoenicia – Mt. Tobias Wild Forest | 0 | 2 | n/a | n/a |
| Rusk Mountain Wild Forest | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Shandaken Wild Forest | 10 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Sundown Wild Forest | 60 | 0 | Kaaterskill High Point | n/a |
| Willowemoc Wild Forest | 2 | 12 | n/a | n/a |
| Crystal Lake Wild Forest | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Catskill Total | 131 | 44 | – | – |
Today we look at Campsites and Lean-tos and other “developed” camping opporunties in DEC Region 7, which consists of lands in Central NY Counties of Broome, Cayuga, Chenango, Cortland, Madison, Onondaga, Oswego, Tompkins and Tioga, and is based on data in Region 7 Recreation Master Plan.
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1 DEC Camping permit required. Call (607) 674-4036 to have a permit mailed to you.
2DEC Camping permit required from April 15-October 15th. Call (607) 674-4036 to have a permit mailed to you.
3 Vehicle accessible.
4Horse Assembly and Camping-area.
5 Currently undesignated sites (lacks “Camp Here Markers”) on an old loop road that was part of CCC Camp in Taylor Valley.
1. Develop 31 additional campsites in Region 7. Twenty-eight of these will be open campsites and three will be lean-tos. A portion of the new campsite development will occur on Hall Island State Forest (Oswego 10), as noted in items b and c. The Department will consider the option of permanently closing any or all of the Island campsites if patrol or enforcement problems become an issue. Fiscal constraints and public demand will determine if any additional campsites are to be developed within the Region.
a. Development of the new campsites will be in compliance with the guidelines for access by people with disabilities.
b. Develop 12 to 15 open campsites on Hall Island State Forest (Oswego10). These campsites will be located on the south side of the Salmon River Reservoir and will only be accessible by water. A permit will be required to occupy these sites. Three of these sites will be developed for people with disabilities . c. On Hall Island State Forest (Oswego 10), upgrade two designated campsites on Burdick Island and two campsites on Huckleberry Island in the Salmon River Reservoir. A permit will be required to occupy these sites. Two of these sites will be developed for people with disabilities.
d. Develop one lean-to campsite along the Finger Lakes Trail on Perkins Pond State Forest (Chenango 22) in the Town of Otselic.
e. Develop two open campsites on the Marsh Pond State Forest (Broome 4) near the pond. One of these sites will be developed for people with disabilities.
f. Develop three campsites on Robinson Hill State Forest (Tioga 3) near Tricounty Pond. The exact number of sites will be determined from local demand. One or two of these sites will be developed for people with disabilities. Install kiosk and develop area brochure.
g. Develop one lean-to on the Genegantslet State Forest with access from Creek Road. The access trail to the lean-to will be approximately 0.7 miles of hiking trail.
h. Develop an open campsite in stand C-7 on Long Pond State Forest (Chenango 35) designed for access by canoe or boat.
i. Develop three open campsites on Oakley Corners State Forest (Tioga 2). One of these sites will be developed for people with disabilities. Use of these sites will be by permit only.
j. Upgrade and designate three formal sites on the Salmon River State Forest (Oswego 8). A permit will be required to occupy these sites.
k. Rebuild the lean-to along the trail on Chateaugay State Forest (Oswego 4 & 5).
l. Build one lean-to on Cuyler Hill State Forest (Cortland 6).
m. Inspect and, if necessary, repair or replace lean-tos on the Finger Lakes Trail.
2. Propose a change to the current regulations to address the conflicts encountered with camping within 150 feet of a road.
a. Propose a change to the current regulation that prohibits camping within 150′ of any road. The intent of this proposal is to accommodate the style of camping that is common during hunting season.
3. Provide camping opportunities on State Forests for people with disabilities. These ADA compliant facilities will be distributed throughout the Region. Most of the designated campsites will have fire rings and several of the sites will have picnic tables. Fire rings, picnic tables and benches will be of Universal Design. Accessible latrines will be located at areas with several campsites, such as Long Pond, Stoney Pond and Charles E. Baker State Forests. All camping areas that can be driven to will have at least one accessible parking space. a. Make alterations to the Moscow Hill campsites on the Charles E. Baker State Forest (Madison 1 & 4) so that at least four of the sites are accessible by people with disabilities.
4. Designate 14 campsites at Moscow Hill, Madison 1, camping area.
5. Maintain 85 existing campsites.
6. Propose a regulation to prohibit camping at Nanticoke Lake Multiple-Use Area and Redfield Island Day-Use Area
7. Remove the lean-to on New Michigan State Forest (Chenango 5) This lean-to is structurally poor and is no longer located on an active trail. The lean-to proposed in 1. d will replace this lean-to.
