2006 Fire Tower Update

by Jack Freeman, author, Views from on High: Fire Tower Trails in the Adirondacks and Catskills

In preparing for a new printing of Views from on High , I have accumulated several important changes in the situation at the five towers mentioned in the section “Adirondack Fire Towers That May Not   Last”:    Adams, Hurricane, Lyon, Spruce and St. Regis Mountains.   In addition, the 70-foot tower on Wakely Mountain has had attention in the Blue Ridge Wilderness unit management plan (UMP) that deserves mention. And of the other towers that had not had restoration work in 2001 when the first printing appeared, several have since seen new life with the work of local “friends groups,” DEC personnel and AmeriCorp students.  

Adams  

The tower, abandoned in 1972, has seen new life in 2005 with purchase of the Tahawus Tract by the Open Space Institute (OSI) for eventual transfer of the area's northern acreage to NYS DEC for addition to the Forest Preserve. OSI and DEC in 2005 organized maintenance work on the tower. DEC has had restoration materials airlifted to the summit and is supervising AmeriCorp volunteers of the Student Conservation Association in making tower repairs. In short, the future looks brighter for survival of the Adams tower than I had thought in previous printings of the guidebook. ADK is on record supporting its retention by agreement between OSI and the state.  

The hiking trail from the Hanging Spear Falls trail to the Mt. Adams summit, though formerly obscure and hard to follow, also had attention in 2005 by AmeriCorp workers. Eventually, the trail should be rerouted to avoid the steepest sections. It leaves the Hanging Spear Falls trail to the left, a few hundred yards beyond the old observer's cabins. Avoid the leftward route adjacent the cabins.

Hurricane and St. Regis

Both of these abandoned towers remain in place as of early 2006, though their status as “nonconforming” within their respective units of the Forest Preserve remains unchanged. Their ultimate fate has entered the political sphere and likely will not be determined until after the next gubernatorial election.

Lyon  

Until recently, the tower and trail lay on property of Domtar Industries timber company. In January, 2005, Domtar sold 20,000 acres of its holdings around Lyon Mt. to The Nature Conservancy (TNC) for eventual re-sale to New York State. TNC and ADK are collaborating to redesign the trail, and some work by DEC to recondition the tower began in 2005, with more work envisioned for 2006.

Spruce

The abandoned 73-foot fire tower is still in disrepair and not recommended for climbing. Its restoration has been approved by Saratoga County which owns the land at the summit, but such work awaits agreement by the three owners of the access trail – DEC, International Paper Company, and Saratoga PLAN, a land trust. Resolution of access issues should come in the next year, we hope.

Wakely

The 70-foot fire tower lies in the Wakely Mountain Primitive Area, some 200+ acres sandwiched between the Blue Ridge Wilderness Area and the Moose River Plains Wild Forest. The recent (Jan. 2006) draft unit management plan (UMP) for the Blue Ridge Wilderness proposes that the tower, observer's cabin and helipad be retained and reconditioned with a small DEC radio repeater installed in the cab. The primitive area would remain, according to this draft.   ADK has formerly and will repeat its preference for a cleaner solution, transferring the tower and cabin with associated acreage to the adjacent Moose River Plains Wild Forest, with the balance of the primitive-zoned acreage incorporated into the Blue Ridge Wilderness. In any case, it appears that the tower is in no danger of being removed.

RECENT RESTORATIONS, 2001-2005

Since the first printing of Views from on High , The following Adirondack fire towers have had significant restorations:

              Azure, by   Azure Mountain Friends and NYS DEC

              Bald (Rondaxe), by the Friends of Bald Mountain and NYS DEC

Owls Head, by NYS DEC Forest Ranger Jim Waters, other DEC personnel, and the Friends of Owls Head Fire Tower

Snowy, by AmeriCorp volunteers, NYS DEC Forest Ranger Greg George and other DEC personnel

Vanderwhacker, by NYS DEC, AmeriCorp volunteers, and the Friends of Vanderwhacker Fire Tower

Other fire towers in need of restorative work as of 2006 are Pillsbury and Woodhull.

The Future?    ADK hopes that in future years, existing towers on the lands of International Paper Company, Warren County, and on other currently publicly-inaccessible sites will be made accessible through easements or other strategies.