The Swarm - Events
Contents
• "Keep it Wild Hike"
• DEC Issues conf.
• "Keep it Wild" Hike to celebrate Catskill Centennial and Save Belleayre Mountain
WHEN: July 5th - Rain or Shine
WHERE: Belleayre Mountain
HOW: Sign up by June 25 via phone: 845 254-4047or email: keepitwild@earthlink.net
Shandaken, NY—Hikers, walkers, and wilderness lovers are invited to celebrate the centennial of Catskill Park and rally to protect its mountains and waterways in a July 5 hike on Belleayre Mountain.
The event is organized by SCRAM! (Save Catskills Rivers And Mountains), a broad-based coalition of individuals, community organizations, and environmental groups committed to preserving Catskills wilderness and opposing the mega-resort proposed for the slopes of Belleayre.
The day-long event will feature four hikes, led by local guides, on four different trails, accommodating various walking paces and levels of difficulty. A fifth hike, led by veteran Appalachian Mountain Club leader Dick Wolff, will meet the other hikes atop the Belleayre Ski Center lift. All hikers will converge there for a picnic lunch and a rally to celebrate the Catskill centennial and save the mountain from the proposed development. New Paltz Mayor Jason West will be one of the scheduled speakers for the rally.
The development, which would claim nearly 2000 acres of the steepest and most fragile part of the mountain, would have a substantial and adverse impact on hiking in the Catskill State Park, ending the wilderness experience that can today be found on Belleayre’s several trails and on the trails of nearby mountains.
Construction of the resort would entail clear-cutting of the woodlands as well as bulldozing and dynamiting to reshape the mountain for use as a golf course and building site. This would destroy the natural topography of the area.
In addition, the resort, if built, would constitute a settlement far larger than any of the hamlets and villages in the valleys. It would be an instant urban center—a brightly lit, traffic-ridden, noisy, busy subdivision—something diametrically opposed to the “forever wild” designation promised for the state park and forest preserve in New York’s constitution. The secondary growth likely to follow the development could be even worse, changing the character of the area forever. Hikers, backpackers, birders, and others seeking refuge in wild spaces will have lost something irreplaceable.
“On July 5,” says co-organizer Susanna Margolis, “hikers will both celebrate the wild forest of the mountain and protest the threat to its pristine eco-system—step by step by step by step.”
Space on each hike is limited in order to show respect for the wilderness, so please sign up by emailing keepitwild@earthlink.net, or by phoning 845 254-4047.
Let organizers know which hike you’d like to join or tell us what level of challenge you are prepared for. We’ll let you know starting times and places and will confirm other details. You don’t need to be a seasoned hiker—just fit and eager. If you go slowly, we’ll keep you company!
Deadline for the sign-up is June 25.
Here are descriptions of the four hikes:
Pine Hill West Branch: Moderate to slightly strenuous. Climbs 1800 ft. in 3.85 miles. Easiest, but longest route. Leaves from Mill St. in Pine Hill. Takes you past the Turner (Brisbane ) Mansion, slated for development.
Cathedral Glen Trail: Moderately strenuous. Climbs 1600 ft. in 3 miles, part of it on old ski trail. Trail moves through virgin hemlock stands. Great views.
Lost Clove Trail: Strenuous hike due to steep beginning. Climbs 1300 ft. in first 1.3 miles, then 600 ft. in the remaining 1.5 miles.
Rider Hollow/Mine Hollow: Slightly strenuous. 1000 ft. climb in the first mile, 3.5 miles total. Fabulous walk along the ridge with partial view of proposed project site.
For those who would like to rally but don’t want to hike, the Belleayre Skyride—the ski lift to the top—costs $8 per adult and $5 for kids 13 to 17 and for seniors 62 and older. Children 12 and younger ride for free and must be accompanied by a paying adult.
• The DEC issues conference on the Belleayre Resort DEIS will begin Tuesday, May 25th at the Margarettville Firehouse on Church Street.
The DEC will be ruling on party status of groups with objections to the Belleayre resort's DEIS. The public is invited to attend the hearings, but not able to speak. However, we absolutely need to be present at these hearings, to convey our continued opposition to the project. Press will be present.
We are particularly concerned as Crossroads has just submitted several volumes of revisions on water issues which the public has not had a chance to see and comment on.
The hearings are scheduled for several days over the course of two weeks and open to the public. If you can commit to a time and day please call Doris Bartlett and leave message:
H - (845) 688-7101
W - (845) 657 2455
Subject to the availability of witnesses, the substantive issues are to be dealt with in accordance with the following schedule:
Week#1:
May 25 - procedural issues and statements of environmental interest; waste water;
May 26 - site visit;
May 27- traffic and remaining site visit;
Week#2
June 8 - visual, noise;
June 9 - community character; alternatives;
June 10 - alternatives; forestry, forest preserve and wildlife'
June 11 - forestry, forest preserve and wildlife, cumulative impacts.
Week#3
June 22 and June 23 - stormwater impacts
June 24 and June 25 - water supply, surface and groundwater, aquatic habitat.
© 2004 Friends of Belleayre Mountain
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