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Maple Trees Tapped

This interactive google map shows how many maple taps were driven in for each county. New York State and Vermont are the nation's biggest maple producers, but there are several other states that have smaller numbers of trees tapped. This is a consolidation of county level data, those counties with only one farm reporting maple production, were not included in the survey results, which depresses tap counts in counties that are marginal maple producers.

Data Source: USDA Agriculture Census, 2012. Maple Taps. Counts. https://quickstats.nass.usda.gov/

Meat Goat Production

Goat meat, aka chevon and cabrito, capretto, or kid is not a real popular commodity in the United States, although there are some very large meat goat farms in Texas and some pockets of meat goat farms in Oklahoma, Tennessee and a few other states. Most counties have some farms raising meat goats, but for the most part, it's not a major commodity, as people don't raise goats commercially much in the United States for food.

More about meat goats: https://www.southernstates.com/articles/raising-meat-goats.asp
Data Source: USDA Agriculture Census, 2012. Goats for meat. Counts. https://quickstats.nass.usda.gov/

2014 Agricultural Output Per Worker

While the United States and Canada have some of the most productive farms in the world, France and Norway produce slightly more economic output per person employed in agriculture.

Notes from the World Bank: Agriculture comprises value added from forestry, hunting, and fishing as well as cultivation of crops and livestock production. Data are in constant 2000 U.S. dollars. Agricultural productivity is measured by value added per unit of input. Agricultural value added includes that from forestry and fishing. Thus interpretations of land productivity should be made with caution. Among the difficulties faced by compilers of national accounts is the extent of unreported economic activity in the informal or secondary economy. In developing countries a large share of agricultural output is either not exchanged (because it is consumed within the household) or not exchanged for money. Agricultural production often must be estimated indirectly, using a combination of methods involving estimates of inputs, yields, and area under cultivation. This approach sometimes leads to crude approximations that can differ from the true values over time and across crops for reasons other than climate conditions or farming techniques. Data on employment are drawn from labor force surveys, household surveys, official estimates, censuses and administrative records of social insurance schemes, and establishment surveys when no other information is available. The concept of employment generally refers to people above a certain age who worked, or who held a job, during a reference period. Employment data include both full-time and part-time workers.

Data Source: World Bank, Economic Indicators. Table 3.3. Agriculture value added per worker (constant 2010 US$) (EA.PRD.AGRI.KD). http://wdi.worldbank.org/table/3.3#

2010 New York Census Population Maps

From the 2010 Census we get a good look at what the population looks like in Upstate NY. Upstate cities’ population was intentionally “bunched” together in reds to emphasize the difference in population, in the more suburban and rural communities surrounding the cities. If I had used absolute population coloring state wide, the rural countryside would be solidly blue, while upstate cities and largest suburbs would be orange, with only New York City being pink.

As towns across the state vary some what in size, looking at population density is more accurate. That said, be aware how I “grouped” colors together to emphasize the difference in rural population, at the cost of merging vast differences in urban populations to shades of red and pink.

Notice the dark blues in the Adirondack and Catskill Parks, some representing large areas of state lands, others representing a lack of economic opporunity. Large areas of the upland Central Letherstocking Region, and Allegheny Plateau are also sparsely populated due to a lack of jobs, little agriculture due to poor upland soils, and large parcels of state land due to abandoned upslope farm land.

Indeed, a much of the modestly populated area in Mohawk Valley through the Buffalo-Niagara region, is called the state’s “Farm Belt”, with large amounts of agricultural activity — aka CAFOs and other large and highly productive dairy farms — on going due to large flat lands, with rich soil. Farming helps keep populations higher in those areas, as does reminence of the former industrial economy and connection the major upstate cities. Modern dairy farming is unproductive in other regions of state, except in alluvial valleys. Dairy farming regions of state, are typically have populations between 75-150 persons per square mile.

The New York State Towns and Cities, ordered by size, then graphed on a population curve. It’s a pure J curve.

A few years back I happened to visit the Citizens Environmental Coalition headquarters when they where pushing to ban burning of household garbage and other farm waste in rural areas in towns with populations less then 20,000, which was legal in many communities prior to 2009 action taken by administrative fiat by Governor Paterson on the urging of a certain NYPIRG lobbyist. They had something similiar to this map (they also excluded small cities and villages which I did not), showing that over 80% of the state it was legal — at least unless their was local laws prohibiting it. Most of Upstate NY could participate in this proud and smelly hick tradition!

Most of Upstate NY is included in this map as being in municipalities less 20,000. It’s quite remarkable to think how few towns in Upstate are actually larger then 20,000 and how directly representive many local governments are to their people — at least if the public chooses to get involved. It’s over 80% of the area in Upstate has populations less then 20,000.

And if we drop that number down to 5,000, you’ll find still 74.08% of state’s landmass is covered by towns less then 5,000 persons. That’s pretty remarkable. There are 1.3 million people who live in those 639 little hick towns in NY State, covered by forest lands and farms. While I don’t have block-sized population data for entire state, you can imagine most of that population probably lives in small towns and villages, and only a smaller minority lives spread out in the countryside.

Still, raw population of mucipalities is not a very good predictor of the rural nature of a town. It might mean consituents of a small town have access to their local government officials, but it does not neccessarly mean that town is spread out. In contrast, if you look only at towns with average land per capita, exceeding 10 acres, you get a good view of truly rural communities. Now, people in rural towns with 10 acres a piece do not all have to own 10 acres individually, but it does mean such towns have a lot of farming or forest activites going on, and many people are very well spread out. It’s a lot of Upstate NY, outside of cities and Mohawk-Niagara farm belt.

And for the Capital Region, showing except for the city, there is a lot of open forest and farm land.

… Upstate New York is very rural.

June 25, 2018 Morning

Good morning! Monday’s come back around again. 😫Three weeks to Last Sunset After 8:30 PM 🌆. Man, I’m Debbie Downer this morning. But life is a reality. Partly cloudy, somewhat damp ⛅and 64 degrees in Delmar, NY. There is a north-northwest breeze at 10 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 57 degrees. But the best is yet to come.

Today will be mostly sunny 🌞 , with a high of 76 degrees at 3pm. Four degrees below normal. Maximum dew point of 57 at 9am. Northwest wind 10 to 14 mph. A year ago, we had mostly cloudy skies with some clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 80 degrees. The record high of 95 was set in 1898. Going though to be hot next weekend.

The sun will set at 8:37 pm with dusk around 9:12 pm, which is 3 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 At sunset, look for mostly clear skies and 67 degrees. The dew point will be 47 degrees. There will be a north breeze at 10 mph. Good weather for going to the park after work 📚although not with that book I started but I have no interest in completing. Maybe I should get Robert Caro’s The Power Broker out of the library and try to complete that this summer. Then maybe sit out back with a glass of orange juice 🍊as I like something cold sweet and I don’t drink alcohol much anymore except maybe for one or two up in the wilderness. Today will have 15 hours and 18 minutes of daytime, an increase of 18 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will be mostly clear 🌞 , with a low of 50 degrees at 4am. Nine degrees below normal. North wind 5 to 10 mph becoming light northwest after midnight. In 2017, we had mostly cloudy skies, clearing in the early hours of the next day. It got down to 53 degrees. The record low of 39 occurred back in 1979.

It was a nice evening camping at my parents house, although it ducks that they lost power and the Wi-Fi dropped so I couldn’t finish my map of lakes with toxic algae blooms.🐸 Hopefully I’ll be able to get that up later today. I’m going to try to update that throughout the summer as I’m curious to monitor which region have the most hazardous algae blooms. I was thinking it would be upstate with agriculture run off but most of them so far have been shallow park ponds downstate, especially on long island.

On this day in 1998, in Clinton v. City of New York, the United States Supreme Court decides that the Line Item Veto Act of 1996 is unconstitutional.🏫 They would have to amend the constitution if they want to give that power to the president but I think that’s unlikely especially with the abuses of power by the Trump monster.

The sink in my bathroom is draining slow so I’m going to get some lye aka drain solvent to get it working. 🛀 Usually that’s all it takes to dissolve all the hair from shaving. I haven’t had problems in years since I started using a drain screen but oh well. I’ll run up to GHETTO Market 32 during lunch time and buy a big jug of the solvent. I should use it from time to time in the bathtub drain because that also gets slow from time to time.

As previously noted, there are 3 weeks until Last Sunset After 8:30 PM 🌆 when the sun will be setting at 8:30 pm with dusk at 9:03 pm. On that day in 2017, we had partly cloudy skies and temperatures between 85 and 61 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 83 degrees. We hit a record high of 97 back in 1900.

The Final Day at Moose River Plains

I thought my Moose River Trip was a pretty good one, even if I ran into some minor issues along the way.

It was a pretty foggy start to my morning when I first woke up with the fog picking up right before eight AM then burning off a little while after the sun rose. While Friday and Saturday nights were fairly chilly the same could not be said about last night. Yesterday was pretty nice paddling along the Cedar River Flow then up on Cedar River to Carry Lean-To, which as the name suggests is close to the end of the navigable waters on the river. Maybe you can “carry” and get to another section of deep enough water but I have my doubts. The leaves along the flow were quite colorful, although the mountains surrounding the flow where already past peak and starting to turn quite brown and gray, with only some deep reds from the maples and greens from the evergreens remaining. It seems ironic that Moose River Plains is already looking like late fall, with the weather still in the 80s. Cool weather, some with a frost in early September made the leaves fall on many of the trees, despite the big warm up of this weekend.

While I don’t know how truly warm it got up here on Sunday — September 24th I should note — my phone said it was 87 degrees by mid afternoon, and the water in the Cedar River wasn’t super cold. I went swimming every day I was up here. The weather this weekend was warmer then it was when I camped up here over the Independence Day Weeekend. So be it.

I got lost in the muck and vegetation looking for the Cedar River, which if your inexperienced paddling or been a while since the last time on the Cedar River Flow can be quite difficult to find. Fortunately I saw a passing kayaker and he gave me verbal advice on how to find the river. I had a topographic map on my phone but it’s only of limited use, because topographic maps are old, and do not reflect the lower lake level since the DEC put in the modern dam in 1969.

There was a dreaded beaver dam on the Cedar River, only a short distance from the entrance from the flow. I am really quite surprised a beaver dam survived the boats crossing the area and the trappers seeking beaver pelts. I guess beaver pelts haven’t been fetching the price they once did, and with less human pressures, beavers are able to build an dam up whatever they want these days.

Coming back over the Beaver Dam the second time, I managed to flip my kayak getting back into it. My smartphone stayed plenty dry in it’s protective bag, but my camera and tackle box got soaked. Well, only briefly, but my camera is drying out and I assume in a day or two it will be fine to power back up again. So for the last day of my trip, I am limited to smartphone pictures.

I haven’t paddled the Cedar River Flow in a while because I have been spending more time up in the western end of Moose River Plains, and it’s a big haul back there. At 15 MPH speed limit, it takes almost an hour. From Wakely Dam to Carry Lean-to, it’s an hour and a half paddle, assuming you find the entrance to the river with ease and don’t stop for an hour for lunch, personal business on the smartphone, and of course updating social media. I know, hah. But there is good AT&T GSM access from the upper end of Cedar River Flow, especially near Campsite 6. That’s not as common in much of the Moose River Recreation Area.

Driving to the Cedar River Flow from the camping area in the western part of the Moose River Plains near Helldiver is an hour long proposition, which is why I haven’t spent much time there lately. I’ve also been spending more time exploring things around Inlet, in part because I like being able to check my phone to see if any family or work things come on up. I also get a bit tired of all those bumpy miles of 15 MPH road, especially now that I know Cedar River – Limekiln Lake Road like the back of my hand.

I cooked up some beef, cheese and chilies, and had some more burritos with Corona beer. After a few beers, with the hot sun all day, the five hours of paddling, I watched the fire for a bit then I retired for the night. I was probably in bed by nine. Which seems silly, as it was it was a pleasant evening with billions of stars above and temperatures in the 60s, but I felt like I needed toothpicks to keep my eyes open. I’ve also been trying to get more sleep these days.

In the past few years, I’ve camped up at Moose River Plains but it’s been at least two years since I camped in the plains formal — the area where the campsites are sand, the canopies are open and the surrounding area is quite swampy. The reason for not camping up here is quite simple — the bugs can be quite horrific during the spring and early summer — while the surrounding wooded sites tend to be bug free or have much fewer mosquitoes. It can be like night or day, especially in black fly season.

That said the “plains” campsites just are a special place to camp at with the big starry skies above in the remote country. I really enjoyed campsite 80, and should try to make sure to camp up here more often.

Broke camp before ten, walked down to the Moose River. Cooked up biscuits in the camp oven, took down the flags, put away the gear, hung out the wet stuff to dry, worked on the blog post, and once the fog burnt off it was a beautiful but rapidly warming morning as the leaves continued to fall.

First tried my hand at fishing the Moose River from the path behind my campsite, then I drove to the bridge over the Moose River and fished under there. Caught nothing. Hiked back from the Squaw Lake parking area first to Muskrat Pond and then to Indian Lake, that is the one in the southwestern most part of Moose River Plains. Nice hike, although at this point some of the colors are already done. Other places, less color. It varies a lot with elevation. But regardless the weather on this extended weekend has been amazing.

I tell you there aren’t many 80 degree days during the last week of September in the Adirondacks. It was nice sitting down by the lake with a fishing pole, even if I only caught a few bullheads. No mosquitoes which was nice too. And I almost slipped and fell in the lake which honestly today wouldn’t have been the worse thing. They’ve removed most of the signs and tables from the old campsites along the closed portion of Indian Lake Road, even if it’s in better condition than the open portion. The open portion of Indian Lake Road has been beat to shit by trucks and cars due to it being so wet and rainy this summer. Good colors along the road though. Definitely a beautiful day, not too humid with a lot of fair weather clouds.

Apparently I don’t have cell service up at Indian Lake or Muskrat Pond with my GSM phone like my old CDMA model. That’s fine but I do like to check in with the world from time to time. Oh well, by the time you read this I will be back in cellphone range.

I was looking at the map and thinking I have never hiked back to the Indian River. I didn’t have time today but I should add that to my list for next summer. Also hiking back to Cellar Pond by Cellar Monument now that the DEC has a big sign announcing the trail and they’ve blocked off the old dirt track used by hunters to drive down that way. I always go to the same places at Moose River Plains, I should explore new places.

After visiting Muskrat Pond, Indian Lake, and Squaw Lake I made it back to my truck closer to four PM then three. And I was at the Inlet gate around five, when I stopped and put the front and back ropes back on the kayak, and headed back via Old Forge.I didn’t feel like driving all the way back through Moose River Plains to Indian Lake, and heck, I haven’t been back via NY 28 in a long time.

Driving back through Inlet and Old Forge was really quiet. It was nice to be on the nice smooth black top, after driving over Indian Lake Road, the little used and little maintained section between the Falls Pond and Squaw Lake Trailhead was particularly rough. The sound of windshield washer fluid hitting the kayak on NY 28 made me pull over, but it was just that noise, the kayak was riding fine. But in general it seemed like all of the roads at Moose River Plains were rougher then usual after such a wet summer, with some heavy rains eroding away the roads and vehicles giving the road a good pounding in spots. I thought there was a McDonalds in Old Forge where I could get a milk shake, but I couldn’t find it.

NY 28 except for the small towns is really a good road, if not boring. The DOT has straightened and improved much of the road except through the small towns. Without summer vacationer traffic and being a weekday, there was very little traffic. I always like that section of NY 28 when it meets up with NY 12 south of Alder Creek, and becomes a four lane, but I think people always seem to speed on it and there are always cops watching for speeders. But the scenery is nice along this section of the road, looking down at the Mohawk Valley and the rough farm country, and swamp land of the greater Remsen area. I always find the rocky, rough farms cut into the mountains to be much more interesting to look at then the lush, more heavily capitalized and better maintained farms of the lush alluvial valleys you see in some parts of the state. The Tug Hill, in it’s upper elevations is a rough country, with lots of snow, and very hardy people. A big black F-350 Harvey Davidson edition passed by with Agriculture plates, and I had to think, “he must do some good shit, “no pun intended”.

Drove down to Poland and Middleville via NY 28. I like this part of NY 28 even if the villages are pokey, just because it’s pretty along the East Canada Creek. I should try my hand trout fishing there one spring — I just got to find a good place to camp up that way — it’s a bit of a trip for a day trip from Albany in my opinion. Middleville is quite the quaint little town, reminding me of what America used to be like.

Then it was down to NY 169 to Little Falls from Herkimer. I like this section of road, even though it’s hilly, because it’s quite beautiful. I like seeing the farms and valleys, and a landscape that works but isn’t that perfect, and still somewhat rough. Drove through Little Falls, a nice little but struggling city that has much potential. Yeah, I was there last weekemd at Moss Island, then onwards toward the Thruway. Stopped at Fink Basin Road to tighten the kayak on the roof of my truck.

Right before getting on the Thruway, I decided to shun pike some more, and take NY 5S from the Little Falls exit to Canjahoharie. I don’t like having to drive through Fort Plain and then Canjahoharie before getting onto he Thruway, but so be it. I do like that section of NY 5S high above the valley though. Some farms in the valleys haven’t cut silage yet due to the high temperatures (more growing seasons, more yields) and lack of frost.

When I got to Fort Plain I almost stopped at the Red Dragon Chinese place. I like Chinese and they tend to be inexpensive. People always think small town Chinese places are bad, but actually some can be pretty good, especially if families are trying to make a living in a place with few other options. I liked the Chinese I got in Canastota when I was working there, but then again, I got awful tasting Chinese food in North Syracuse. I don’t know, I passed as it was getting dark and I wanted to get home.

When I got on the Thruway at Canjahoharie it was getting pretty dark. My eyes were watering up and I ended up stopping at the rest area outside of Amsterdam. Took a piss and washed my hands good — nice bathrooms — then went into my truck and cleaned off my contacts and reinstered them. That made the rest of the drive easier.

Got home around 8 PM and things unpacked, well mostly so, before the heat started to get to me. Then I took a shower, and finished up this blog post. And here we are now.

My current smartphone isn’t as good at picking up distant radio channels and I didn’t play with it much so I missed hearing the news during my extended weekend trip at Moose River Plains. I doubt I missed much, most of the things in the news don’t effect me much. I’m sure my political Facebook friends will post plenty of memes to fill me in on what I’ve been missing.

Private Forestland Not Farms

When I was younger I used to think of the Tug Hill Plateau as a vast agricultural region. It really isn’t. There are farms in Black River Valley, but not so much up on the Plateau, especially as you gain elevation.

The signs going into Lewis County say “Adirondacks-Black River-Tug Hill”, and except for that relatively narrow band running along the Black River, Lewis County doesn’t have a lot of farming — much likes the rest of Tug Hill Plateau.

An elevation map of NY shows that most of the Tug Hill Plateau is between 1,000-2,000 feet elevation, but that’s high enough in NY to make agriculture unprofitable in most of state due to short growing season.

The Black River Valley, with it’s fertile soils notched between the Adirondack Foothills and Tug Hill Plateau make Lewis County a major agricultural producer, with 262 dairy farms, including some of the largest in state. The area around Lowville is excellent agriculturally, until you start back up in to the hills on both sides with their short growing seasons. Dairy farming makes up 20% of the land use in Lewis County (per 2010 USDA NASS), but almost all of that occurs in Black River Valley or slightly up the slopes of Tug Hill Plateau.

In many ways the Tug Hill Plateau is a fascinating region of the state. Unlike the Adirondack Park, only a relatively small portion of it is publically owned. About 2/3rds of it is private timber lands, with rest being public lands. It lacks any major cities or population centers, much of it is roadless, or where roads exist, they primarily service hunting camps or timberlands.

The remoteness of the Tug Hill Plateau remains a real fascination for me.

Andy Arthur.org

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