Bramley Mountain Fire Tower Restored and Open to Hikers
The Catskills have welcomed back a historic landmark with the restoration of the Bramley Mountain Fire Tower in the Delaware County hamlet of Bloomville, which officially opened to the public on January 4. The first public visitors braved icy winds and freezing temperatures to ascend the tower, marking a triumphant return for this iconic structure after more than 50 years. Visitors included locals from Andes and Roxbury as well as adventurers from as far as Lake George and Utica. Among them were members of the Clark family, whose donation of the tower made the project possible.
The fire tower, originally constructed in 1950 by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), played a pivotal role in fire detection. For two decades, fire observers worked alongside counterparts on Mount Utsayantha and Balsam Lake Mountain to safeguard the surrounding forests and communities. Decommissioned in 1970, the tower was sold to local farmer Pete Clark and removed from its perch. Decades later, the Catskill Mountain Club seized the opportunity to restore it to its original location, recognizing its potential to enhance recreation, education, and tourism.
Global Economy Is Suddenly Fighting an Energy Stranglehold on Three Fronts – WSJ
Conflict in the Middle East broadened this week with Tehran-backed Houthi militants turning tankers back from the Bab al-Mandeb strait. The Red Sea maritime chokepoint, which has become the biggest export route for Saudi Arabia’s crude following the Strait of Hormuz closure, accounted for roughly 12% of the world’s seaborne oil flows before the war.
Another disruption: Ukraine has mounted sustained attacks on Russian energy infrastructure and ships in the Black Sea. A barrage of strikes in the waters near the port of Novorossiysk, which handles nearly a third of Russia’s oil exports, paused flows through a pipeline that delivers Russian and Kazakh oil to the Black Sea.
The closing of the three chokepoints collectively imperils roughly a quarter of the world’s oil supply and provides a fresh test of the ability of energy-hungry economies to adapt.
Oil is at the heart of two major conflicts consuming the world’s attention. Iran’s ability to starve the world of supply from the Gulf has emerged as its most potent form of leverage against the U.S. Ukraine has increasingly disrupted Russia’s energy exports and domestic fuel markets, giving Kyiv unexpected momentum in the four-year-old conflict.
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Freedom Requires Fuel
