Lows Lake classification ruling by court....

[TBPDPTI]

..was announced today. It has been ruled that the lake is to remain Wilderness.


Click here for full story in the Times-Union


Great news here!!!

[TCD]

"A wilderness area is further defined to mean an area of state land or water having a primeval character, without significant improvement or protected and managed so as to preserve, enhance and restore, where necessary, its natural conditions, and which generally appears to have been affected primarily by the forces of nature, with the imprint of man's work substantially unnoticeable;..."

Shouldn't we remove the dam?

[aft paddle]

Dam???....I hardly noticed any on my trips there.

[pondhopper]

I think, the DEC trail crew should be allowed to run motorboats for cleaning campsites & replacing (complete) privies etc. @ least once a year. Hear they have a little trouble getting things like those allowed & done.

[dundee]

Originally Posted by TCD

Shouldn't we remove the dam?

Yup.

[geogymn]

Does a body know how high does the dam raise the level of the lake?

[DSettahr]

Originally Posted by geogymn

Does a body know how high does the dam raise the level of the lake?

I'm guessing based on it's size, quite a bit, probably at least 10 or 15 feet. There's actually two dams, one that created lows lake is the upper dam. You can see a few pictures of it here:

https://picasaweb.google.com/1165375...30269835198642

I do know that when the dam was constructed, it combined a lot of smaller ponds and wetlands into one big lake. You can still see a lot of the bog and soil mats floating in the lake.

You can find what the Lows Lake area used to look like on this topo map from the 20's. Compare that to a map from today, and the difference is quite obvious.

[TCD]

I would also guess it's about 15 feet, just based on the water level of Lows (531) vs. Hitchins (516).

[Wldrns]

Originally Posted by pondhopper

I think, the DEC trail crew should be allowed to run motorboats for cleaning campsites & replacing (complete) privies etc. @ least once a year. Hear they have a little trouble getting things like those allowed & done.

The trek director at Camp Sabattis (BSA) tells me that at the beginning of the season each year they make the rounds and bring out several boatloads of trash bags. But other than general cleaning of the area, they don't do anything with the privies.

[pondhopper]

Originally Posted by Wldrns

The trek director at Camp Sabattis (BSA) tells me that at the beginning of the season each year they make the rounds and bring out several boatloads of trash bags. But other than general cleaning of the area, they don't do anything with the privies.

They don't last forever. There's a story about the "boss" of the DEC crew & another helper feeling a little ingenious about placing an outhouse across two canoes & using the very strong winds of the day to zip along the lake to their destination....unfortunately, "boss" got distracted & his helper didn't know the location of the site they were aiming for.....& they shot past the location by a good 1/4 mile, or more & had to fight their way back into the wind, thereby ending any time & energy savings the wind may have provided them. A fellow crew member just shook his head with bemusement as they returned late to meet him in the truck with words that led one to believe things like that aren't that uncommon with the "boss". Anyway, that happened just a few years ago.

Edited to add a couple pics of DEC crew & Privy Work on Lows mentioned above:

[geogymn]

Originally Posted by DSettahr

I'm guessing based on it's size, quite a bit, probably at least 10 or 15 feet. There's actually two dams, one that created lows lake is the upper dam. You can see a few pictures of it here:

https://picasaweb.google.com/1165375...30269835198642

I do know that when the dam was constructed, it combined a lot of smaller ponds and wetlands into one big lake. You can still see a lot of the bog and soil mats floating in the lake.

You can find what the Lows Lake area used to look like on this topo map from the 20's. Compare that to a map from today, and the difference is quite obvious.

Thanks!