White Nose Disease Decimating the Bat Population
North Country Public Radio has a story about the disease that is wiping out the bat population across the northeast. This disease known as “white nose disease” has recently appeared in the last two years and scientists don’t know much about it.
Ski Tax Proposed by Paterson
When will the taxes end? The Governor is now proposing a ski tax. Everywhere taxes are high, businesses close. Everywhere taxes are low, businesses thrive. What will our Governor think of next?
I try to read various publications because I find things that are interesting and that spur my thoughts. I picked up a copy of the Bay Journal recently, which is a publication published by a number of environmental organizations dedicated to preserving the Chesapeake Bay.
Virginia has started a program where private property owners can sell or get state income tax credits for their development rights either from the government (Purchase of Development Rights – PDR) or transfer their development rights to a private developer to use in another jurisdiction (Transfer of Development Rights – TDR).
The way a TDR works is that there are sending and receiving areas. A simple way to think about this is; say you owned land in the Adirondacks, you could sell your development rights to a developer in NY City.
What the state of Virginia is finding is that the program works and that land is being conserved. This is how the article concludes:
“If local governments are serious about planning for where development occurs and protecting forest and agricultural lands, they will consider these powerful and influential planning tools. With them, localities can alter the pattern of inefficient growth, while creating a balance between development and conservation in Virginia.”
If only NY state and the Lake George Park Commission would try an idea like this.
It is estimated that the stream rules being considered by the Lake George Park Commission will affect over 5,500 acres in the Lake George basin. If 5,500 acres become basically unusable, this will have a terrible effect on the tax base.
While we must do more to protect Lake George, the last thing we need to do is take this amount of acreage off the tax rolls. Our opinion is that there is a better way. Below is a comprehensive strategy that would work to improve water quality without burdening private property owners with more regulations for some and higher taxes for all.
1.) Ever consider why we get algae blooms in the Spring?
Think for yourself: what is more damaging to the clarity of the lake? Someone building a house with a silt screen ringing it while also dealing with the regulations of the APA, DEC, LGPC and the county OR every bit of salt applied during the winter months running unfettered into culverts which public highway crews cut intentionally into streams that feed Lake George?
If you’re in doubt, this is the single greatest reason why we have algae blooms in the Spring. If you’re on any of the local roads right now, they’re white from road salt. The phosphorous is what makes algae grow. The Adirondack Council recently released a report on the damaging effects of road salt. To read it, click here. (Pages 19-22 are about Lake George)
Part 1 of our plan would be a comprehensive strategy that would educate highways crews and seek to cut the application of road salt by 50% within the basin within 3 years. Taxpayers and municipalities would both win because one of the greatest winter expenses is road salt. Private homeowners should be encouraged to use products like sand or MagicSalt, a new product which we featured previously. From now on, when any environmental group informs us they’re meeting with a highway department, we’ll let you know.
This plan will need the support of all local governments. These same towns and villages are seething right now because they are not being listened to and new rules are being written by environmentalists without any regard to their input. We would guess that if the the proposed rules are enacted in their present form, you can forget about any cooperation from the Towns on the road salt issue for the foreseeeable future.
2.) You need gas for your boat but please don’t overfill.
Almost all boats on the lake have overflow valves where, if the gas tank is filled too high, gas will spill out into the water. When I was growing up, I pumped gas. It was shocking the number of people who wanted to pump their own gas and then would overfill their tanks and have gas spill into the lake. We need to undertake a major public awareness campaign to educate consumers and gas pump operators not to overfill. The Lake George Association just started a campaign like this to educate ice-fisherman to take their garbage off the Lake. While we all need gas to be available on the lake, no one should overfill and not a drop should be spilled in the lake. Education on this issue would go a long way.
3.) New technologies need to be encouraged.
There are many new technologies that are being implemented across the country that, if used in new construction or existing homes, would really help the environment. We’re not talking about low-flush toilets here. We’re talking about cool technologies that have the power to lead us in a green revolution. Storm water infiltrators that return storm water that hits impervious areas to the ground below the impervious area are being used in many highway projects today. Air infiltrators that change the microbial composition of drain fields and increase their longevity are being studied in other states. Lake George should be a leader in these technologies. We shouldn’t have our head buried in the proverbial sand.
4.) Incentives Work – Why Not Try Some
Incentives have been shown to work in professional planning. Incentives should be tried before any person’s property rights are taken away. Some possible ideas include: a “credit” accruing for future stream corridor development in return for removing an existing structure or impervious area, and a “credit” for preserving stream corridors against dock fees that the LGPC collects. The LGPC could also inform local taxing jurisdictions and recommend a lower assessment for those property owners who preserve sensitive tracks. People do things for a reason. If you give them an incentive, like saving money, you’ll be surprised. Why not try some?
5.) “Thou Shalt Not Steal” Applies to the Government Also
A lot of people who would never walk into their neighbor’s house and steal something, nevertheless think nothing of lobbying the government to take away another person’s property rights. Ultimately, property rights and personal rights are the same thing. One cannot be preserved if the other is violated.
It never hurts to remind ourselves of the nation’s founding principles. We all like open space, nice views and beautiful surroundings but sometimes we have to remember that things we might like belong to others. People sacrifice to own real estate.
Consider this as we head down the path toward controlling everything we see: How long before someone else claims a right to what you own because they feel the environment would be benefited from it? It is our suggestion that the maximum amount of flexibility and encouragement be given to the landowners who have maintained their property until this time in its natural state. They shouldn’t be beaten up and robbed, they should be thanked.
The Lake George Park Commission had their only public meeting dedicated to receiving public comments on their proposed stream corridor rules yesterday and it got quite heated.
The rules as written do not address the main cause of lake pollution; road salt. These are from my written comments:
“The proposed regulations don’t accomplish what they set out to accomplish in so far as they exempt State, County and Town highway crews from cutting drainage ditches and clearing surface vegetation along their highway right of ways. Washington County Route 6 has a steep grade down the mountain until it reaches Huletts Landing.”
“During the summer of 2008 and in previous years, Washington County cut drainage ditches from their highway rights of way over our property directly into Fairy Creek. Their rationale was that this helped drainage along County Route 6. In doing so, all salt and petroleum runoff from the road, which studies show are very damaging to the lake, now go directly into Fairy Creek which in turn flows into Lake George. The Washington County highway workman in charge of this job in 2008 stated that the Lake George Park Commission had no jurisdiction over Washington County or any governmental entity and that the County was free to cut drainage ditches into any stream they wanted to. The proposed regulations do nothing to address this and place an unfair burden on private property owners. The proposed regulations, with a loophole this large, given the extent of public roads in the Lake George basin, are inequitable to private landowners and entirely negates the intent of the proposed regulations.”
What can we do? What must we do? We will release our ideas for improving water quality in Lake George tomorrow. Unlike these proposed rules, our ideas should gather support from all sides.
The ice makes strange noises in the winter, sometimes a groaning, or a creaking, or even a whistling noise. I ventured out on to it recently and while I was walking on it, I came across this crack in the ice. So while this may have some deeper symbolism or meaning for some, I just thought it was a cool picture. That is until I thought; “It’s probably not too smart to be standing over a crack in the ice”.
Growing up we had a dog named Freckles who was a wonderful dog in all regards. He was loyal and friendly and just a great dog. At our home in NJ we kept him in our backyard and he was always on a chain where he could roam around half the backyard. Well we had a neighbor kid who would cut through our yard on the way home. He was the type of kid who had no friends and no one liked. As he went through the yard he would throw small stones at Freckles and annoy the dog and then run away. He did it intentionally and was real mean spirited about it. When confronted he would run. This went on for a few months.
Well one Sunday, they had a blessing of pets on the feast of St. Francis and I took the dog down to the church and he was so happy to get blessed and have some holy water sprinkled over him. He licked everyone and I never forgot what a nice day it was with all the other people with animals, etc. If you’ve ever gone to one of these, it’s quite an experience.
Well St. Francis must have smiled on Freckles that day because the very next week the dog’s daily torture of being hit by stones ended abruptly when his chain snapped as he was being hit by stones. Freckles, who never hurt anyone in his entire life, went after that kid like a lightening bolt. I will phrase this as kindly as I can. I witnessed first hand, a dog clamp on to an ass’s ass and that put an end to the stone throwing. Even St. Francis would have smiled.
The moral of the story: when you throw stones – sometimes you get what you deserve.
You will remember that we worked almost two years with the Lake George Association to clean up the mouth of Foster Brook. This was at no cost to anyone and the LGA was going to pick up all expenses. Their representative spoke to the HLPOCA at the July 4th meeting.
When the project didn’t start in the fall. I emailed the LGA, and this was part of the response I got back.
“As per Foster Dredging- the permit has not been issued yet. The Park Commission took some time to respond, they said there was no issue with the permit application and it followed what was outlined in the Environmental Impact Statement. There has been a delay due to some comments from the Waterkeeper. DEC is addressing them and should issued later this fall. Another issue is that DEC will not allow any dredging to take place after Oct 1st. The earliest we can do it is May 1st …”
(The dates of May 1st thru Oct 1st are problematic because of the issues with increased traffic on the road and the dock being occupied but we will try to work through these also. So the Lake George Waterkeeper, has in part, (the LGA is also trying to raise the funds in a down economy) halted this project for at least one year and maybe more with their opposition.)
So I emailed the Waterkeeper at the time and asked for their objections. I never heard back but found their objections on their website and published this post.
What I ask today is that you make a distinction in your mind between environmental groups that want to help the environment and groups that are simply interested in “throwing stones.” All environment groups working in the Lake George area are not equal.
The Lake George Association is the oldest environmental organization on the Lake. They were willing to fund two projects in Huletts totaling almost $100,000 last year and worked to make it happen.
The Lake George Waterkeeper likes to object to projects but when asked what projects it is in favor of, they refuse to respond. They have partnered with another extreme group, the Fund for Lake George, to support the new stream corridor regulations.
I wrote a letter to the Post Star this week where I attempted to point out the radical nature of these two groups. You should know what these groups are all about and what they are advocating. To read my letter click here.
It was only after my letter ran in the Post Star this week that I heard from the Waterkeeper. He finally told me that he will respond to my email from about four months ago. I hope he will go further. I hope he will begin to work with us and the LGA for the good of the community and cease his objections to the Foster Brook project that the LGA is willing and attempting to fund. Until we hear otherwise, I ask that you do not support the FUND for Lake George or the Waterkeeper.
If you want to support an environmental group that is interested in accomplishing something, the Lake George Association is the better choice.
In our quest to bring you unique pictures of Huletts, we ventured across the lake to the scenic overlook on Route 9N close to Sabbath Day Point. Looking back toward Huletts in the winter is a bit different than the view in summer.
Today we continue our interview with Fr. Ken McGuire, Director of St. Mary’s on the Lake, the Paulist’s headquarters in Lake George. Fr. McGuire is sharing what he knows about the Paulist islands across the lake form Huletts. Fr. Isaac Hecker, the founder of the Paulists, is on path toward being officially recognized as a “Saint” by the Catholic Church. Does he have a connection to the islands or the area?
Fr. Hecker regularly visited the lake. A room next to the chapel in the main house was maintained for him. He, of course, visited the islands, but we have no exact dates for this. There is a letter indicating that he visited the main house in 1887 a year before he died.
It was Hecker’s connections that brought about the early Paulists to the Lake at O’Connor’s property. Fr. Hecker initiated the plan to purchase the islands. He personally drew up the plans for the main house which was constructed in 1877.
St. Mary’s on the Lake and Harbor Islands are the only place where every Paulist has lived at some point. Every other house including our Mother House at 59th and 9th in New York City have been visited but not necessarily been a place of residence for each Paulist. These properties are treasured places where healthy and holy men, from Hecker to the present, have walked, laughed and meditated.
There is also a house on one island, what do the Paulist’s use this for?
The early Paulists, after camping in tents for some years built and maintained two lean twos. The dock for that island moved from place to place until early in the 1930’s when it became stationary where it is at present.
In 1954 the students designed and built a cabin with kitchen/eating area divided from a bunk area. With double bunks it could accommodate up to 12 men at a time. Every student spent at least one week “on the islands”. Others spent more time for leisure or for work jobs, maintaining the facilities.
In 1983 three men were in the cabin including Fr. Elwood Keiser of “Insight Series” fame. They tried to preserve charcoal after a rainy day by storing it in the porch area. In the middle of the night it ignited and burned the cabin down. The three men escaped safely but all their personal items were destroyed.
The following year the Paulists hired a construction firm to rebuild the cabin as originally constructed. The dock used to be twice as long as now but it was always severely damaged by ice. Students spent a week or more doing repairs each spring. By the 1980’s, students spent only August at the Lake and the dock was shortened to its present length. It still was damaged yearly and had to be continually repaired.
In 1997, I built a second dock along side and constructed both so they are pulled out of the water in the winter and put back in the spring.
The house is currently used by Paulists priests for leisure or for private retreats. Some spend a day or two while some spend up to two weeks or more. The students use the islands during August. We now have propane lights added in 1958 by student donations and installation. This also accommodates a propane refrigerator and stove. Previously we had rowed to Huletts for ice as needed for the ice box.
The islands are opened up for use by our order in late May and closed in October. Over Columbus Day weekend we have a “foliage trip”. Those groups plan a trip to the islands and if it’s cold we eat inside, if it is warm we use the outdoors. We sit “on the rocks”, a point with a view down the lake and occasionally a brave priest will take an October swim. During summer months, swimming, canoeing, rowing and kayaking are popular.
Father, thank you for taking the time to tell us about the Paulists, before we finish could you tell us something about “your story?”
It has been a gift for me to be the current director. The summer of ’09 will be my 15th year as director and my 47th year of living at St. Mary’s and Harbor Islands. I am currently 78 years of age. I was raised a (general) Protestant in a small town in Ohio, Mason. I entered the U.S. Air Force in 1951 and in 1953 converted to Catholicism beginning another journey and another time.
After completing my service I returned to Ohio State University which has been interrupted. I completed a B.S. in 1956 and B.S. in 1958. I enrolled at Oregon State University at Corvallis where I was ABD in Plant Breeding when I entered the Paulists in Sept. 1960. Following the normal courses of study I was ordained in 1968 and completed my thesis and received the MA in Theology in 1970.
Trying to combine my scientific mind set and the classical studies was daunting. The Paulists let me pursue courses at Catholic University in Anthropology, which helped a great deal. I spent two summers working at the Mother House in New York. After ordination I spent a year working in our parish, St. Rose of Lima, in Layton, Utah after which I returned to Ohio State. I worked as a priest and a teaching assistant while pursuing my Ph.D. studies in Anthropology and after completing the dissertation was awarded the degree in 1976.
Much of my ministry has been spent in Campus Ministry; Ohio State, UCLA, University of California at Santa Barbara. I have been a pastor twice. I am now retired, we call it Senior Ministry Status, however I still am director at St. Mary’s on the Lake in the summer and I teach Cultural Orientation for Persons in Ministry (COPIM) through Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles in the winter. This course is for priests or nuns who come from other cultures to work in the U.S.
My current residence is Lake George in the summer and Palm Spring, CA the rest of the year. As they say paradise in the summer and paradise in the winter.
For a farm boy in Ohio where I grew up, I’ve come a long way, way, way!
Thank you, Father Ken, for your very interesting interview. Please stop in and say hello to all of your friends in Huletts the next time you are up at the islands.
Fr. Ken McGuire, Director of St. Mary’s on the Lake, the Paulist’s headquarters in Lake George, was kind enough to consent to an interview where he tells us many things about the Paulist islands and chapel that we did not know.
Perhaps we could begin with a little about the Paulists. Who are the Paulists and what is their primary mission?
There’s no better explanation than what it says on our website: The Paulists seek to meet the contemporary culture on its own terms, to present the Gospel message in ways that are compelling but not diluted, so that the fullness of the Catholic faith may lead others to find Christ’s deep peace and “unreachable quietness.” To this end, Paulists use printing presses, movie cameras, and the Internet to give voice to the words of Christ – the Word Himself – to a new generation of Americans.
How did the Paulist Fathers acquire the islands in the first place? Could you give us some history about the islands and tell us what they are named?
Fr. Clarence Walworth was from a prominent family in Albany and was a Redemptorist along with the other founders of the Paulists: Isaac Hecker, Francis Baker, George Deshon and Augustine Hewitt. These men left the Redemptorists and with the encouragement Pope Pius IX founded the Congregation of St. Paul the Apostle in 1858. The Paulists were camping on the property of George O’Connor just north of Sunnyside on the East shore of Lake George. They were visiting also and camping on Harbor Islands from 1868-9 onward.
Upon being informed that the state would sell the Harbor Islands, Fr. Walter Elloiot journeyed to Whitehall by train, then by sleigh to Fort Ticonderoga in December 1871. He brought along $50 for the price. However, he had to borrow another $50 to complete the transaction. We acquired Harbor Islands in December 1871.
The Islands were named for the founders; Hecker the largest, Hewitt, Deshon, Baker and Walworth.
The chapel is very distinctive. Could you tell us about its history and is Mass ever said there? Is there anything else that our readers would find interesting?
Not many people know this but the early Paulists also built and dedicated the Chapel of the Assumption in Huletts. I have a letter in which the Paulist Superior General, Thomas Burke and the seminarian choir were present for that ceremony. Afterward they went to Hewitt Island for a dinner prepared by John J. Burke, the founder of the Catholic War Council in 1917 during the First World War, which is the precursor to the United State Catholic Conference of Bishops.
The chapel is located on a promontory on Hecker Island looking south. The supplies were taken across on the ice and the building constructed in 1909. It was officially dedicated as Corpus Christi Chapel, alluding to the early name of the lake, Lake of the Blessed Sacrament. However, after Isaac Jogues was canonized in 1930 the chapel was renamed the Isaac Jogues Chapel.
Prior to Vatican II when priests were staying on the islands – Hewitt, they would swim, canoe, or row to the chapel for daily mass. The original chapel had only a main altar. However, because each priest wanted to say mass two side altars were added.
After Vatican II, mass can be said either in the chapel or at the table in the main cabin on Hewitt. That cabin was built by students in 1954. In 1996 I remodeled the chapel inside and outside with a new roof and a new paint job. At that time we removed the two side altars so that the interior is returned to the original design.
The students and priests still maintain the chapel with workdays for repainting and repairing. After 9/11 a family from Huletts wanted a memorial for a family member (I believe) who was killed in the twin towers. He was fond of looking out from their place and seeing the chapel. The family provided funds to repair the bell, which had regularly malfunctioned. The bell now rings in memory of him.
I’m sorry and please forgive me but all my records are (at the office) at Lake George. All this is from my memory. I can you give exact facts, names and dates in June when I return to Lake George. (Editor’s Note: Fr. Ken was at his winter home in Ca. during this interview.)
We Paulists use the chapel on special occasions at present. In addition to the main altar there are two large predues and two seats of carved, stained oak. We can accommodate about 15 persons standing in the interior.
I’ve always wondered, because they are islands in Lake George, what Town are they technically located in?
The islands are officially in the town of Bolton although Huletts is the closest place to row to for supplies.
Because the chapel is so distinctive do you ever get requests for weddings?
Several brides have called asking if the chapel could be used for a wedding. The chapel is quite small and only has candles for light. It also doesn’t have any docking facility which makes such use impossible. Our boats can tie up at the shore and we scramble up the rocks, which is inappropriate and dangerous for wedding guests.
Many people have never seen the inside of the chapel. Are there any unique pictures of the inside that you could tell us about?
Dean Photography in Glens Falls sells cards with a view of the chapel looking south down the lake, as well as a card showing the stain glass window on the west side of the building which cannot be seen from the lake. The window is of Sts. Peter and Andrew.
We will continue with part 2 of our interview with Fr. Ken tomorrow.
We received so much interest in our post about the Mountain Dew commercial that was filmed off of the Paulist islands in the 1980’s, that we decided to learn a little more about the islands and chapel.
So we conducted a long distance interview with Fr. Ken McGuire, who is the Director of St. Mary’s on the Lake, the Paulist’s headquarters in Lake George. He was at his winter home in Ca., but he graciously took the time to educate us on all things about the Paulist islands. We will bring this interview to you in two parts over the next two days.
Somehow, I missed this press release from Verizon wireless which came out about a month ago, where they announced they had completed a cell phone tower/receiver in Lake George Village. This will help with cell phone calls from the village, parts of southern Lake George, and the Northway.
Lake George Association Starts “Don’t Trash the Ice”
The Lake George Association has started a new public service campaign aimed at winter enthusiasts. The Lake George Association is the oldest environmental organization dedicated to protecting Lake George.
School Enrollment Continues to Plummet – Why No Reduction in Taxes?
The Post Star has a good article on school enrollment in the area. This sentence caught my attention: “Ticonderoga has 960 students, and 88 come from Hague. The high value of property in Hague, the result of homes on Lake George, has its residents paying for half of the school district’s $16 million budget.” Sound familiar?
Readers of the Currentmay not know, that during the vote about the expansion of the Whitehall school a few years ago, the Whitehall school when asked to release the number of students enrolled by town released the information by zip code. Many Dresden and Clemons residents have Whitehall zip codes. This made it impossible to figure out the number of Dresden school children as a percentage of the total. The Whitehall District knows this number but my guess is that our proportion is even worse than Hague/Ticonderga. Sadly, Hague/Ticonderoga can at least get their number. We just know this …..
This may seem like a strange headline but here is a press release we received from the Lake George Property Owner’s Group, where they call the proposed stream corridor regulations being considered by the Lake George Park Commission a confiscation of private property. Many of their arguments are valid and worthy of discussion.
Additionally, here are two links from the Adirondack Journal and the Times of Ti to stories about the Governor’s proposal to alter the payment of real estate taxes on state forest preserve land.
These stories may combine to make a funny headline but they should be taken very seriously. If they both come to pass in their present form, they will cause property taxes to explode.
It is estimated that the stream rules being considered by the Lake George Park Commission will affect over 5,500 acres in the Lake George basin. If 5,500 acres become basically unusable, this will have a terrible effect on the tax base.
