land | Andy Arthur.org

Still Recovering After Vacation

Andy | August 2, 2012

I really like Northwest Pennsylvania. It’s so wild and different then anything in New York State, without all of the restrictions applied on the land and people of a liberal state like New York. All things rugged and back country are vastly different then in Albany.

Time seemed unlimited on vacation. Eight days and nights sure seemed like a long time. Every morning lighting the cook stove, cooking up breakfast on styrofoam plates, packing up the gear, tearing down camp, and heading out for the day, exploring truck trails and wild landscapes. Set up campsite, turn on Christmas lights, build a campfire, and burn the day’s garbage, while listening to country music with my cowboy hat on.

In contrast, the land of work is vastly different. It’s setting an alarm clock, getting up, making breakfast on an electric stove, and catching the bus to work, and sitting in an office all day. Then come home, cook dinner, wash dishes, and sort the trash for recycling. Walk down to the park or the library. No opporunties to burn anything.

Man cities, and my urban reality in the state that best represents liberal statism, sucks.

In eight days, I managed to burn through 86.8 gallons, travel 1490 miles, and got 17.0 MPG. Those truck trails sure make Big Red burn a lot of gas. And I sure need the $310 to cover the cost of gas, plus the other $90 for beer, food, and supplies. Hell, even the styrofoam plates and paper towels aren’t free.

I also realize that I won’t be up for such an adventure for quite a while. It’s a mix of money and just getting the time off, but the reality is I probably won’t be back in Pennsylvania for a while. Somehow, trips to Adirondacks don’t seem so far or exciting, as Northwest Pennsylvania.

After looking forward to this trip, all that is left is some pictures, burn out tin cans for recycling, and the hang-over made up of memories.

Why I Like Mapping

Andy | January 31, 2012

Doing GIS Mapping has become quite the hobby of mine. Especially when it comes to generating maps of public lands, I am endlessly fascinated by exploring the lands that we, the public own.

Rendering maps is mostly about loading layers, and zooming in. Yet, the effort to put together a map teaches you a little bit about the land you are rendering and its features. Mapping can teach you about a land where you have never been before, and prepare you and interest you in a future trip.there. Mapping requires you to pay attention to the landscape, correcting invalid data, and trying to create the best possible presentation of the landscape’s natural and man-made features.

Even when you’ve never been on a piece of land, making a map can teach you much about the landscape and how it’s laid out. A map can tell you many details both by the features on the map and the implied features that you calcuate based on the relation of one land form to another piece of land.

A map makes it possible to better understand a piece of land, without ever putting a foot on it. While maps aren’t always accurate, and sometimes they can be confusing on an unfamiliar piece of land, they do provide context. Maps are a great source of exploring the unknown and unfamiliar.

State Land Acreage By Classification

Andy | January 13, 2012

All figures are in acres except where noted. Table updated April 2011. Reprinted from the DEC Website.

Land Classification		Region 1	Region 2	Region 3	Region 4	Region 5	Region 6	Region 7	Region 8	Region 9	Catskill Park Total	Adirondack Park Total	State Total	Percent of Total State Land and Conservation Easements
State Forest		16,056	758	31,763	102,248	58,354	221,924	200,419	55,581	99,121	–	16,264 **	786,224	17%
Forest Preserve	Wilderness	–	–	89,352	53,482	954,601	206,151	–	–	–	142,834	1,160,752	1,303,586	28%
	Wild Forest	–	–	75,588	60,368	938,664 **	367,123	–	–	–	135,956	1,305,787	1,441,743	31%
	Primitive	–	–	–	–	31,309	15,704	–	–	–	–	47,013	47,013	1%
	Primitive Bicycle Corridor	–	–	15	283	–	–	–	–	–	298	–	298	0.006%
	Canoe	–	–	–	–	18,989	–	–	–	–	–	18,989	18,989	0.4%
	Intensive Use	–	–	4,104	1,542	21,591	1,828	–	–	–	5,646	23,419	29,065	0.6%
	Administrative	–	–	392	0 ***	384	7	–	–	–	392	391	783	0.02%
	Historic	–	–	–	–	531	–	–	–	–	–	531	531	0.01%
	Pending Classification	–	–	–	–	259	111	–	–	–	–	370	370	0.007%
	Under Water* (Unclassified)	–	–	–	–	17,395	6,534	–	–	–	–	23,929	23,929	0.5%
	Detached Parcel	–	–	1,382	4,141	1,441	4,318	–	–	–	–	–	11,282	0.2%
	Total Forest Preserve	–	–	170,833	119,816	2,001,313	601,776	–	–	–	285,126	2,597,267	2,893,738	61%
Wildlife Management Area		6,007	–	12,021	18,518	6,524 **	46,371	49,562	41,462	17,178	407 ***	2,755 **	197,643	4%
Conservation Easement		108	21	7,264	7,286	488,463	336,783	436	–	10	9,437	769,579	840,371	18%
TOTALS:		22,171	779	221,881	247,868	2,554,654	1,206,854	250,417	97,043	116,309	294,970	3,385,865	4,717,976	100%

Notes from the DEC.

* Certain lake beds are considered Forest Preserve, despite some level of private ownership adjacent to the lakes. These underwater lands are not classified. For the purposes of this table, however, lakes and ponds that are completely surrounded by Forest Preserve have been classified the same as the adjacent land.

** Where State Forests and Wildlife Management Areas exist within the Adirondack Park, the Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan also classifies these lands as Wild Forest. However, since these lands are not Forest Preserve, State Forest and Wildlife Management Area acreages within the Adirondack Park were NOT included in the Wild Forest category.

*** Where Wildlife Management Areas exist within the Catskill Park, the Catskill Park State Land Master Plan also classifies these lands as Administrative. For calculation purposes in this table, however, Wildlife Management Area acreage within the Catskill Park was NOT also included in the Administrative category.

Kayaking Long Pond

Andy | July 29, 2011

Long Pond offers 8 designated roadside campsites, and a handful of other informal campsites on the other side of the lake. A large man-made lake in an agricultural landscape of Chenango County, it offers some excellent fishing and nice views, especially for Chenango County.

This map below shows where each picture was taken roughly in the area.

The History of Watson’s East Triangle

Andy | April 16, 2011

… from the Watson’s East Triangle Unit Management Plan.

Human occupation of the Adirondack region took place immediately following the Wisconsin glaciation period (10,000‐8,00BC). Native American artifacts representing all periods of New York prehistory have been found throughout the region, most sites being associated with water bodies. The Oswegatchie River, which is an important resource for this unit, was a boundary between the easternmost of the Iroquois nations, the Mohawks and the Oneidas. Most of the recent history of this unit revolves around hopes and dreams of early speculators and the harvesting of timber. Unfortunately much of this history has gone undocumented.

The major historical events and dates that influenced this unit are described below:

Pre 1770’s ‐ Occupied by Native American Indians

1792 ‐ Alexander Macomb purchase nearly 4,000,000 acres in northern New York for 84 an acre. Shortly following this purchase Macomb was sent to debtors prison. His holdings were taken over by his partner William Constable.

1796 ‐ James Watson acquires 61,433 acres in Herkimer and Lewis Counties comprised of two triangular pieces joined only by a narrow isthmus.

1809 ‐ James T. Watson inherits the lands of his father, James Watson.

1854 ‐ James T. Watson commits suicide; his holdings in the east triangle, are split among 44 surviving cousins.

1854‐1907 ‐ Through subsequent tax sales all of Watson’s former lands in the east triangle come into State ownership.

1907‐1912 ‐ Through tax sales the State Comptroller sells these same lands to the International Paper Company for a total of approximately $7,600.

1986 ‐ The State of New York acquires title to the remaining lands of International Paper within the Watson’s East Triangle.

1989 ‐ The State acquires 6,737 acres of the Lassiter Tract in fee, and purchases a conservation easement (Oswegatchie Tract) from the Nature Conservancy on 17,749 acres in Lewis County.

1999 ‐ Champion International sells its land holdings in New York State. The State acquires a conservation easement on 110,000 acres of these lands throughout the Adirondack Park, including the Croghan Tract. The State also acquires 29,000 acres of these lands for inclusion in the Forest Preserve. The lands acquired by the State in fee consist mostly of river corridors and other ecologically sensitive areas.

2000‐ The former IP lands are classified by APA, with much of the acreage going into Watson’s East Triangle Wild Forest, while some is classified wilderness along with reclassification of some existing acreage of WF to wilderness.

2006‐ Lands acquired in 1999 from Champion International are classified and added to the unit.