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Public Comment – Best Management Plan for Primitive Tent Sites

To whom it may concern:

The “Best Management Plan for Primitive Tent Sites” is an illegal and unlawful plan if adopted would have the effect of banning roadside camping across the Adirondacks, including at popular areas such as Moose River Plains, Streeter Lake, Smith Road, Piseco-Powley Road, Moose Club Way, Northwoods Club Road, NY Route 8, Hope Falls Road, Union Falls Pond, among many others.

Roadside camping brings thousands of people to the Adirondack Park every year – people who might instead plan vacations in other states like Pennsylvania and Vermont – which permit a much wide variety of camping opportunities. This would hurt local small businesses, along with depriving the state of tax revenue and sales of hunting and fishing licenses.

1) Increase public comment period and hold public hearings across the state.

As this is a drastic change in long-standing public policy, there should be no less then ten (10) public hearings across the state on this proposal. Such hearings should occur in all regions of state from Western New York to Long Island. The state should do extensive press out reach on the proposal. The public comment period should be extended for 90 days, to ensure adequate public participation pursuant to SEQRA and other environmental laws.

2) Oppose banning vehicles from parking in camping areas

A big reason people choose to do roadside camping over wilderness camping is for ease of carrying camping supplies back to the site. Roadside campers often have heavy tents, cots, cast iron pots, lanterns, electric lights, and other gear that is not easily brought back in wilderness. Additional reasons include the use of pickup truck campers, recreational vehicles, electricity generation via vehicle batteries.

If people want to wilderness camp, that is their choice, there is hundreds of thousands of acres of public land available. Wilderness camping should be done more then 150 feet from existing trail, road, or water to protect natural resources.

Roadside camping should be permitted in designated campsites, on existing driveways, allowing registered motor vehicles, pickup campers, or RVs to access the site. Tent camping should also be allowed in designated roadside campsites. An amendment is required to Adirondack State Land Master Plan to properly address “designated roadside camping”.

3) 100 foot set back from parking areas is inconsistent with state laws, regulations, and rules

Nowhere in the Adirondack State Land Master Plan does it say that new campsites should be located 100 feet from Single Lane Parking Areas. The concept of Single Lane Parking Areas is not in the Adirondack State Land Master Plan (APSLMP) and is clearly an unlawful new use in Wild Forest-areas. The only parking areas permitted under APSLMP is at Fishing and Waterway sites, and Trailhead Parking. Campsite parking areas are not a permitted use in Wild Forest-areas.

Designated primitive tent sites MUST be located 150 feet away from roads, trails, and water. Designated primitive tent sites may not offer parking. Existing regulations and policies cover primitive tent sites in wilderness and other undeveloped areas. The 100 foot setback proposed in the plan is illegal under state law.

As such this proposal is illegal and unlawful under the APSLMP and associated state laws and regulations. The DEC and APA should address roadside camping under an amendment to the Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan, and not by a Best Management Plan, which has no lawful basis under the laws and regulations of this state.

To be clear, the state can not simply amend the APSLMP by adding new permitted use in wild forest areas through a Best Management Plan.

4) Add “Designated Roadside Campsites” as a Permitted Structure and Improvement for Wild Forest in APSLMP

The lawful solution to “Designated Roadside Campsites” is to add it as a permitted use under “Wild Forests”, subheading “Structures and improvements”.

“Designated Roadside Campsites” should be defined in Definitions section of the APSLMP:

25-a. Designated Roadside Camp Site –a designated camp site of an generally undeveloped character providing space for not more than two tents, along with parking for a single motor vehicle, or a small recreational vehicle/pickup truck camper, which may have an associated pit privy and fire ring, designed to accommodate a maximum of eight people on a temporary or transient basis, and located so as to accommodate the need for shelter in a manner least intrusive on the surrounding environment.

Generally, “ Designated Roadside Camp Sites” should follow all of the restrictions of “Primitive Tent Sites” with the exception that such sites would be located on campsite driveways. Campsite size would be restricted to 20 feet wide, and the associated driveway would be no further then 150 feet from the roadway. The driveway itself would be limited to 12 feet wide. Screening would be provided to the greatest extent practical, and campsites would be at least a quarter mile apart EXCEPT at Moose River Plains Camping Area.

Pursuant to the state constitutional restrictions, trees greater then 3” in diameter may not removed in construction of new or relocated designated roadside campsites. This means all new or relocated sites must be located in existing clearings, such as historical meadows, log loading platforms and other areas free of trees.

5) “Best Management for Primitive Tent Sites in Adirondack Park State Forest Preserve except Designated Primitive Tent Sites” is a confusing title at best.

It’s confusing at best to have a “Best Management for Primitive Tent Sites in Adirondack Park State Forest Preserve” and then exempt “Designated Primitive Tent Sites” from the plan per the title. The plan deals with “Designated Primitive Tent Sites”. Maybe the Department’s intent was for the plan only to apply to new or relocated “Designated Primitive Tent Sites” pursuant to an adopted Unit Management Plan. Pursuant to the laws and regulations of our state, a unit’s recreational facilities can not be adjusted until a Final Unit Management Plan has been adopted by APA. The Department’s intent should be clarified with this plan, to avoid confusing to the public.

Thank you for consideration of my comments, and for making the appropriate amendments to the Adirondack State Land Master Plan within the confines of the law.

Sincerely,

Andy Arthur

October 10, 2015 evening

Good evening from the Allegheny National Forest somewhere near Marienville, PA. While I am well aware of where I am via the GPS, I have never been back on this road. Based on map I’m familiar with the road it connects with. It’s labeled a narrow, rough, dirt road, and while I didn’t think it was that bad in Big Red, it certain is narrow. I had to pass a hunter’s pickup, and I think we passed with about 5 inches between our pickups and he had to be 5 inches from the steep drop off from the road. The current temperature is 42 degrees under clear skies. The nice weather is expected to continue through Monday and then turn to rain for Tuesday. The rest of the week look okay after Tuesday. Tomorrow is expected to be 67 and partly sunny and Monday will be 70, at least in Marienville.

Today was a sucky day, but nothing went bad that will screw up the rest of the week. The main two things that went wrong was I simply planned to go too many miles in one day, and traffic was very heavy being Columbus Day. I think 90% of the time when I was on US 6, I was in a line of traffic. I like the open road, I hate to get stuck in a line of cars, keeping my eye on the road at all times to watch for stopped traffic. I-88 had the most traffic on it that I could remember, I spent most of the time either getting passed or passing cars. The foliage was wonderful most of the way across, although around Wellsboro it was green, and when I stopped at Kinzua Bridge the foliage was already past peak. With fall it always seems like you have either greens or foliage past done.

Getting started this morning I knew I wouldn’t get an early start. I did a lot of packing last night and shopping but I was dog tired after a long and stressful week. Work lately has been challenging. I’m glad I’m getting out of the office for the week. Rotating the tires on my truck and getting a state inspection proved to be a lot more of a process then I ever expected. The Quicky Lube I first tried to take my inspection at turned me away, because they said Big Red wouldn’t fit in the garage. Then I went to Gochee’s garage during the week, which did the inspection and rotated the tires, but forgot to do recalibrate the TPMS and left off one of the hub centric rings off of one of the wheels. It involved two trips back there, because I didn’t discover the TPMS error until I had driven 15 miles – the TPMS took a while to figure it was reading the spare tire and not one of the wheels that was actually rotating. Stupid shit, but it was early in the morning. I would be a little more concerned if it was something that could have left me broken down along the road – I’ll give them another try in the future, but if they screw up again, I will have to find yet another shop in Delmar. On top of all this, I was commuting out to my parents house every day, which meant I had little time to get ready at home during the week.

This morning I had to pack the food, the clothes, and few other things. I did do the water and most of the equipment last night. I decided to go to the laundromat in the morning, so I would have closer to the number of shirts and jeans I need for the week – I previously bought two additional pairs of jeans and shirts at Walmart – but I need 8 changes of clothes for the week, as I don’t want to have to visit some random laundromat in West Virgina or Virginia. I had to go to the bank, check the oil and fluids in the car, and top off the pressure in the tires, so they would be a nice 45 PSI, so I got a firm ride and not waste fuel or have excessive wear. Then I had to go to the bank, to pick up $200 in petty cash. I didn’t want to pick it up in advance, because I worried about losing it. I keep most of the petty cash in a locked box in my truck, until I need it, doling out when I get to firewood vendors, farm markets, tag sales, or campsites that requirement payments.

I have to admit I’ve gotten a bit bored with taking US 6 across Pennsylvania. I used like the trip and all the scenic vista and farm towns along the way, but I’ve made the trip a few too many times, and really need to come up with other places to go. Allegheny National Forest is fun, but I think I’ve done it a lot before. It seemed like a perfect stop over on paper on the way to West Virgina, although now I’m starting to think I’m a bit too far and will have to backtrack, even if I take US 219 south to West Virgina. I’m thinking the place I was originally planning to camp in West Virgina isn’t what I want, so I may have to head a bit farther east. Taking I-99 might have been a better choice. Driving all the way to Allegheny National Forest is a haul, especially on the way home. I have made this trip many times before in one day, heading back home, but never out to camp. Heading home, it’s a haul, but once you get on I-88 you set the cruise control on it and cue up a podcast, and nod off for about two hours. In contrast, going to Allegheny National Forest from Albany, puts all the small hick towns and the bulk of the trip after that long trip on I-88. When heading home, if you get home late, you can just collapse in your bed once reach home, the opposite is not true when you have to search for a campsite, as darkness is rapidly approaching.

I reached the Pine Creek Gorge at 3 PM today. Which sounds late, but it’s actually how long it takes after leaving Albany at 9:15 AM and stopping at the bank and Stewart’s for firewood plus multiple piss breaks because I drank too much coffee then water in the truck on the way over. I wanted to drive up to Colton Point, because in places the color looked perfect out there – and other hills it still looked green – but time wouldn’t let me. I knew I had a choice between Pine Creek George and Kinzua Bridge, and I chose later as I knew after today there was no chance I would get to Kinzua Bridge. The colors unfortunately were fairly dull and past peak on the bridge. Sunset was coming too fast, and even when I got to Kinzua Bridge at 5 PM, I knew I had only a half-hour because it was at minimum a half-hour to Kane, and whatever time I would take to find a campsite from there. I felt most of the day I was flying from place to place, and despite all the amazing color I saw, I didn’t get many pictures. It didn’t help that the best colors were along the expressways with no parking or on roads with absolutely no shoulder. Tomorrow may also be a rushed, long day – but not quite as many miles as today. But once I’m down in West Virgina, I don’t expect to be nearly as rushed for the rest of the week.

At Coudersport I stopped at McDonalds and got a coffee, which helped keep me awake as I headed to Kinzua Bridge and ultimately to Kane and then camp. I also stopped at a farm stand at Coudersport, and got some mushrooms and peppers. They didn’t have sweet corn, which was a disappointed. Probably the frost has ended the corn season in the Coudersport-area which is fairly high in elevation. I have a bit of Appalachian accent, but nothing like the farmer from Coudersport. Mid-western, Appalachian accent. Not like the more southern accents I expect to here once I reach the Virginas tomorrow. He seemed like a good guy, and had very affordable prices.

I got to Allegheny National Forest and wanted to camp near Kane or somewheres south. I remember the campsites along Forest Road 133 near Kane, but ended up deciding to take Forest Road 152 south from there, because I figured the farther south I went, the last south I had to go tomorrow. But it turns out there were no campsites on Forest Road 152 – despite driving 15 miles at the sky got darker and darker. Then I got on a forest road near Marienville, and ended up driving like 10 miles further south, not finding any campsites, until it was almost pitch black, and I found a campsite. Just in the nick of time. I had the firewood I bought at Stewart’s, so I got a fire started and got going.

And then stuff didn’t work. The 12-volt extension I have hooked from the deep cycle battery to my cellphone charger didn’t work when I plugged it in this morning. Total surprise. I think the fuse blew in the cord, but I don’t know. I will have to test it with a volt meter later in the week. I just plugged the cellphone charger into one of the main battery outlets, which works fine, but I like to have it run the accessory battery, in case I forget about it. Then later on the day, the brand new Halloween ghost lights I picked up at Walmart worked for 10 minutes until I bumped the string. $10 for 10 minutes of use seemed to suck. Then the string went dark. Eventually though the string started working again, once I played with the string. But it didn’t come back until I played every socket.

I am taking most of the photos on my Digital SLR or point and shoot camera, so I won’t be uploading most of the pictures until the evening each night, or when ever I have cellphone service. I’m not crazy about the quality of my new cellphone camera, so I have to download the photos from my other cameras to my laptop, then to the phone. But I will try to keep up with the photos as much as possible.

It was a crazy first day of vacation. Tomorrow is going to be another crazy day. I’m setting my alarm clock for 6:30 AM, which is coming fast. Unforutnately, out in Western Pennsylvania the sun doesn’t rise until 7:25 AM, so it will be a dark morning. But at least I have lights to help light the woods as I make breakfast and get going. I might just get coffee on the road, to speed camp tear down.

Good night! Sleep well.

September 20, 2015 evening

Good evening on this chilly late summer evening. Already down to 43 degrees and clear. Heading 38 degrees by daybreak. While the colors are just starting to turn in the Tug Hill and Western Adirondacks, they certainly will accelerate with the cooler nights of recent.

The morning was cloudy and cold. I wasn’t feeling that great with a cold and sore throat kind of knocking me out. But around 11 AM it cleared out and I had a nice breakfast of grilled sausage and eggs. Eventually I got up and going, packed up and headed over to Whetstone Gulf Trail.

I hiked the South Rim Trail over to the Overlook then halfway back to Corrigan Hill Road. It was a nice hike and my ankle was fairly strong but I also wore my ankle brace. A bit sore at the end of the hike but by evening was fine. I drank plenty of fluids which kept my throat from getting too dried out.

Later I hiked inside the gorge. With the campground closed, they also had the Day Use Area gated up. But you could still walk inside the gorge. The upper end of the developed area in the gorge, was a mess as earlier this year a landslide caused Whetstone Creek to reroute through the picnic area, leaving tables dumped around everywhere. I hiked beyond the developed area along the old trail, deep into the glen. No remarkable views, but a pretty, deep glen. My cellphone battery was dead, but I got photos on my Digital SLR camera. Will post these photos later on.

It took a while for my phone to charge so I didn’t have my GPS mapping app to find my way to Whetstone Reservoir. I missed a turn but I remembered the directions later on and turned around. I got up to the Whetstone Reservoir and found it was drained. I am guessing that they drained it to reduce the flow when fixing the park below, or maybe to fix the causeway, or maybe because the dam was damaged in the same storm that damaged the park below.

I proceeded to get lost trying to find the causeway across the reservoir without my phone GPS. I took a wrong turn and ended up on North Road, heading south through the Lesser Wilderness State Forest. Beautiful state lands with a lot of marshes and boreal forest, but not exactly where I was planning on going. Spotted two ring-necked pheasants along the road. Eventually my phone charged up enough and booted up. I found my way to the Causeway across Whetstone Reservoir and what used to some beautiful views of the area was now just mud flats. Hopefully, they’ll restore the reservoir by next summer. Jesse told me that the fishing was fairly crappy there as it’s so shallow but the DEC says it’s stocked with large mouth bass and tiger muskie. Oh, well.

Puttered around the dirt roads up there for a bit, hoping to find a dirt road back to NY 177 and then Lowville but the road I was on, while appearing to be a through road on the often very out of date topographic map either petered out or became rough enough when I reached another portion of Lesser Wilderness State Forest, I turned around and went back over Graves Road and through the middle of Maple Ridge Wind Farm. People talk about wind being wonderful but it really is just another industrial source of energy with many of the same impacts as fracking. Wind turbines are noisy and cast shadows. But at least they’re carbon free once constructed. Some nice hunting cabins and pretty rural land up there.

Drove to Lowville and got cough medicine. Got back to camp and started a fire, cooked up some hot chilli with corn, kielbasa, and cheese. With cold milk, tasted good. Sat by the fire for a few hours but retired to the truck around 10 PM as it was getting cold and I was tired. And now I finishing up this blog post under the covers…. Good night!

September 18, 2015 evening

Good evening. Currently 62 degrees at the Otter Creek Campsites in Greig, NY. There is a stiff breeze on top of the mountain that is making it feel cooler than the mercury says. The clouds and high pressure will keep the temperatures from dropping off much more.

Tomorrow the summer heat lasts for one more day, heading up to 80 degrees. Then the front comes through and temperatures will drop to 45 degrees by morning. Showers as the front comes through. Sunday will only reach 64 degrees for a high. Sunday evening will be even colder with a steady breeze. No snow is expected, and heck, the first half of autumn is shaping to mostly be above normal temperatures. I guess it’s kind of like an extra summer with short fall days.

Tonight was the first sunset before 7 PM in Delmar although out in Lowville being further west, sunset held off until 7:06 pm. It didn’t matter that much as I couldn’t see the sunset from camp. But with the clouds it was getting dark NY 7:30 PM. The lights are nice but they don’t replace the long nights of early summer.

This morning I had nothing packed but I did go grocery shopping the previous evening. The first thing I did was put the kayak on the roof of my truck, carefully with the step ladder that I bought yesterday. I had a fear of re-injuring my ankle but it was fine, if not easier with the steps tool compared to climbing on the floor boards of the cab. My ankle doesn’t hurt that much these days although I felt it by the time I got packed.

I stopped in Boonville to take a piss break and to drop a bill from the doctor at the Post Office. Nice downtown buy surprisingly bustling and a challenge to park. But then it was off to Turin and eventually to the Otter Creek Campsites.

I was pleasantly surprised that the Otter Creek Campsites had been relocated up the hill, spread out and with new outhouses, picnic tables, and fireplaces. I liked the Otter Creek Campsites because they were close to Whetstone Gulf and Lowville but didn’t like the crowded conditions or wear from heavy use. The new sites are a real improvement. Some are grouped together but the most part are spread out. There remains six sites, with three designed to be wheelchair accessible including accessible outhouses, tables, and a flat gravel base. It’s nice to know the state has developed all these accessible sites, especially if someday I have a severe injury that otherwise confines me to a wheelchair. After spraining your ankle you think about such things more.

This evening went for a drive out to Confusion Flats and out to by Chases Lake. Last time I was up here it was quite rainy and the camera quit working early on the trip before I got pictures. Took both Instagram photos and Digital SLR pictures. Confusion Flats is such beautiful Adirondack Sand Plains. The maps up here are terrible, including the topographic maps and ones created by DEC data. There are a lot of old roads and paths cut through Confusion Flats that are now horse trails, while the truck trails often differ from old routes on topographic maps and some are better quality then the Jeep Trails on the map would suggest. All of the roads up here are just sand and the frequent equestrian use means that the are pitted by horse hooves. At least horse hooves don’t damage sand like the washboard roads of Moose River Plains.

Set up a tarp so I’m prepared for tomorrow’s rain which I’m sure isn’t going to materialize with the tarp up. The Bluetooth adapter with my powered computer speakers aka now camp speakers works great. I love being able to play on my phone while listening to music, podcasts, and radio – and change the station or song without even leaving my seat. Technology is pretty cool.

I hope you had a good evening. Sleep well.

July 19, 2015 update

Today is hazy, hot and humid. Probably pushing the upper 70s to mid 80s here in the Western Adirondacks but likely to reach 90 plus in the city for the first time in two years. They talk a lot about global warming but it seems like New York has been in a cold spell the past few years. The west coast, however is baking.

I’m sure that it will be as hot as hell when I get back to Albany, which is why I hung out at the Potholers as long as possible, and still have a reasonable amount of time to get home and unpack in the blazing heat.

Friday night I drove up to camp in what was mix of showers and cloudy conditions. No heavy rain but enough to get the woods wet. Traffic however was bumper to bumper and slow all the way from Albany to Schenectady. I decided to come back to Piseco Powley Road this weekend primarily because I thought I left a backpack along the banks of the East Canada Creek.

I only discovered that the backpack was missing on Tuesday, and while it didn’t have anything valuable in it except a set of keys, I still wanted to retrieve it if possible. Everything else in the backpack was of marginal value, closer to garbage and future carbon dioxide then useful products. I kind of cared about the keys, as those included a set of keys for my truck that are the chipped type, which might be expensive to replace – especially if the $25 Amazon uncut but chipped keys turned out not to pair correctly. I decided it wasn’t worth driving an hour and a half to go search for the keys after work, only to possibly turn around empty handed and drive back home empty handed in the dark. I figured at this point nobody going to bother the backpack within the two days until the weekend or if somebody finds it, they’ll call the forest ranger. I called the ranger to let him know of the lost backpack. Honestly, my biggest concern was a forest beast would drag and shred the backpack into the woods or waterwater, with the keys forever lost.

I found the backpack with the keys and now rotting food inside it. And a somewhat moldy version of American Hunter magazine with of course my home address on the cover. Missing were a crappy leaking compass, cigarette lighter and a beat up old Nalgene water bottle. I can’t imagine anyone would steal either… It may have fallen out some point in the weekend. The backpack was pretty much shot before it got left out with a broken zipper and fabric with holes. I’m taking the keys to my gun safe, truck cap, office and apartment off the second key ring I carry in my day pack for emergencies. Some day hopefully soon my gun safe might be worth robbing. And while I always carefully police my campsite when I leave for the weekend to ensure there is no scraps of litter, bungee cords or loss supplies, I’m now going to a make sure to double check I have my day pack and second set of keys with me. I didn’t catch the pack because it was by the water and not in the campsite.

The Powley Bridge site and other sites nearby were taken, so I decided to try out the campsite on top of the hill you climb the hill past Brayhouse Brook and the Potholers. I had never camped at this site and while I knew the driveway was a bit soft, the site is on a hill and well drained, so I figured it would be good in the rainy conditions expected for the evening.

As I started to get the site set up, it started to drizzle again, but the site had good trees for hanging the tarp. I hung it up and got the table set up and quickly got a fire started using some nice Stewarts kiln dries firewood and burnable garbage I brought from home. Got the lights wired up and made hot dogs up with all the fixings. Good dinner. The drizzle on the tarp didn’t seem to bother me or the campfire much. Stayed up until 11:30 p.m. All and all a pleasant ending to a tough work week.

Wet and humid are the best way to describe the conditions on Saturday morning. While wet and humid are vastly better conditions in the woods then pouring rain and cold and wet, they are hardly ideal for camping. Everything gets wet just from the dampness, even if it’s not raining much. By about 2 PM it started to clear a bit.

Did some target shooting for a while, and some reading Saturday afternoon. Once the sun came out and the humidity creeped up, started getting a bit warm. Mosquitoes and those gosh darn horse flies started biting, and I had to get the DEET out. Freaking Westchester ammo seems to jam more. Maybe I just need to clean and lubricate my shotgun more. I do want to get some kind of rimfire rifle that’s cheaper to shoot. Thinking about a 17 HMR, as unlike 22 ammo is seems to be usually in stock at Walmart, and can be had for 10 cent a round or $10 for 100. Went down to the Potholers for about an hour, took some pictures with my waterproof case. Seemed to do the job, even if all the case is a heavy vinyl zip lock bag with a heavier sealing mechanism. It was $12 to keep my $40 smartphone dry.

Cooked up these super delicious BBQ flavor chicken breasts and rice for dinner. The smell of the breasts was so delicious, I could have almost eaten them raw. Once they were cooked, they were as amazing as they smelled. Shoprite did an amazing job with the sauce. They weren’t particularly more expensive than regular breasts, although I probably could have bought some marinade and made up something similar in a zip lock bag.

I had a nice campfire the second night, but it wasn’t quite the same as the previous night, because I had burnt up most of the Stewart’s wood and in the summer heat was pretty lazy and didn’t gather up much wood. Still I perked up the fire, put on some podcasts and stayed up until 11:30.

The next morning was also pretty lazy, enjoying a nice breakfast, and listening to a podcast, slowly took apart camp, mostly hurrying with the tarp, too ensure I got it down and put away with the constant threat of thunderstorms. None really happened, and things were good. Did some more target practice, finished off the coffee.

As I write this post, I’m down at the Potholers on this hot summer day. The water is refreshing. There really is no place I’d rather be with such warm weather. Ran into somebody from Westerlo down there, taking a family vacation up here. Can’t beat this weather for the Potholers.

This is the lazy weekend that was. Sometimes it nice to get away in the heat and just hang in the water. Back to Albany now, more photos later.

Independence Day

Today is Independence Day or July 4, the day many of us take off to celebrate the day we declared our independence from the British. Most of us know the significance of this day that forever changed our history, but we also at the same time forget how much we have changed since those revolutionary times.

Back in 1776 and for nearly a century there-after we were largely an agrarian and rural society. Most people farmed, their livelihoods were connected to the land. Few people traveled long distances, and most would die only a few miles from where they were born. The connections to community and the land that supported us was strong.

While Americans had some of the resources of industrialising Britain, we were largely dependent on our ourselves. We made most of what we needed, our foot print on the modern world was small. People could act even in foolish ways and have a minimal impact on the world. Today technology with all it’s destructive power simply did not exist.

We certainly have farmland and rural areas today. Yet, we now hop in our pickup truck and our able to be transmitted to an urbanised area in minutes. Few people are very free at all to chose their own lives. We are always connected using information technology from the simple telephone to the sophisticated Internet. Yet that’s not community in the old sense.

Even the meaning of declaring war is different today. We could not go to war the way once were able to. Primitive firearms and cannons, while increasingly loud and dangerous in 1776 posed minimal risk to human kind compared to war today. The emotions of yesteryear and the fear of war today is changed by it being almost instantaneous and destructive to all in it’s path.

We will never be able to go back to those times. We have to live in the world of today, and realize that while we are blessed by all this technology it poses problems that simply did not exist years ago. We may celebrate what our founding fathers once did, but we must also be aware that we can never return back to their old world.

Some brief thoughts on this Independence Day ...

Why am I still in New York ?

I told myself quite sometime ago, I was going to leave Albany and New York State behind for greener pastures. I wanted to go somewhere the winters aren’t so harsh and didn’t have so much road-salt, where the laws and government aren’t so overbearing, where the taxes were low. I wanted to move to a rural community, where I could have fires and burn anything I wanted to, make a lot of noise, own any guns I so desired to buy and shoot. Hunt, fish, trap, camp, and live off-the-grid. Have a hobby farm, have chickens, goats, pigs, cows, or any other animal that makes delicious meat to eat.

I live in the suburbs of Delmar and take the bus to work at my job downtown, wearing a suit, because it’s easy, cheap, and my job pays well despite the long hours and the stress. It’s not for passion or because I think I can change anything in New York. I’ve kind of given up on having much of an opinion or working for change, as even if I didn’t have to worry about the potential conflict with work, I think I would feel fustrated about the lack of success at what I’m doing. I’m just happy making the system work as it does, and taking home a good paycheck every two weeks.

But beyond that, I don’t really have a plan, beyond where I’m stuck in New York. I like the countryside and spending time in the woods. But I’m hardly a skilled hunter, sportsmen, much less a farmer. I have some money, but no land of my own. But beyond that, I really have no idea how to relocate to another part of the country, especially if I have no connections out there, and really don’t know much about an area besides what I kind find on the Internet. Finding a job when you no nobody from another part of the life, much less traveling across the country for a job interview thats less then certain, is a heavy lift to say the least.

Weekends camping in the wilderness and road trips into the countryside keep me sane. I may just be struck in a system and in a place that I’m not crazy about, but getting away for a couple of days, seems to pacify me. I like the money and the toys. But some point, I really need to make a decision on moving forward beyond Albany.

Money, toys, and the many great wild lands keeps me in this sometimes oppressive state. But more than that, I really don't have the skills yet to live the life I so desire. So I'm stuck in the suburbs with jacked up truck.

Andy Arthur.org

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