Hoffman Notch Fishing: Access For All

Don Sage, the President of the Schroon Lake Fish and Game Club, is making a passionate plea to reopen to off road vehicles the old trials leading to the ponds of Bailey, Marion, Big and North.

In a letter to the Adirondack Daily Enterprise, published on February 23, Sage says that opening the old roads in the Hoffman Notch area will not only allow sportsmen to have easier access, but will also make the NY DEC compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Hoffman Notch should be more accessible

To The editor:

Re: Hoffman unit access:

As the state Adirondack Park Agency and Department of Environmental Conservation look to expand the use of the Hoffman area, we, the sportsmen, request designated routes to the fishing ponds be opened for off-road vehicles. Roads already exist to these ponds: Bailey, Marion, Big and North. DEC policy of denying boats left at these ponds, forcing anglers to carry in and carry out each day, greatly reduces their time to fish. Early morning and late afternoon fishing will not be allowed as time must be spent lugging prams, rowboats, etc., back and forth, in and out daily. The establishing of a designated corridor following the old town roads for off-road vehicles will allow the anglers to spend more time enjoying their sport.

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Adirondack Legend Anne LaBastille

This week we learned of the passing of an Adirondack legend, Anne Labastille. Anne was an author and champion of protecting the Adirondacks from over development. She served as commissioner of the Adirondack Park Agency (APA) from 1975 to 1983. Those efforts were not always appreciated, according to Dick Beamish, founder of the Adirondack Explorer magazine. From the New York Times:

“She would always come down on the side of protecting nature. She was reviled for that by those who didn’t believe in the APA or who didn’t believe the APA should be telling people what they can or can’t do with their land.”

LaBastille was the author of several books, among them the Woodsman series, written on an old typewriter from a log cabin on Twitchell Lake in the western Adirondacks. She was born in Montclair, NJ and died on July 1 at a nursing home in Plattsburgh, NY. She was 77.