Search this site

Working Together To Protect Fulton Chain Waters The beauty of Fulton Chain waters has made it a very popular destination. Traditional summer camps are giving way to year-round homes, as more and more people want to enjoy the beauty and tranquility of lakeside living. The landscape is dramatically changing as lots are cleared and driveways paved, and trees are removed to make way for fertilized lawns. The cumulative effects from such drastic changes to the landscape mean big changes to the health of our lakes. The FCLA has been active in the long-range development planning for the area, it is vigilant in monitoring our waters for non-native invasive plants and was instrumental in establishing programs such as the Bti program that is currently used to control black flies. Recent studies have linked water quality with property values on lakes throughout the US from Minnesota to Maine. Lakeshore properties are in demand, and the value of these properties depends upon the quality of the lake. People prefer clean water and will pay more to live on lakes with better water quality. What you and your neighbors do to protect and improve the water quality of The Fulton Chain of Lakes will protect your lakeshore property investment and quality of life. We address the four main ways to protect the water quality of The Fulton Chain of Lakes and your investment and enjoyment of your lakeshore property. If we all practice lake-friendly living, we can all enjoy the beauty and health of our lakes for generations to come. 1. Minimize Runoff Runoff picks up pollutants and carries them to the Lake. Minimize the hard surfaces that create runoff. 2. Eliminate Pollutants Eliminate pollutants at their source. Avoid using fertilizers, household toxins, and other chemicals. Prevent soil erosion and failing septic systems. 3. Capture and Infiltrate Capture and infiltrate any pollutant-carrying runoff that you didn’t eliminate before it reaches the Lake - with shoreline buffers, rain barrels, and rain gardens. 4. Monitor our Lake Monitor lakefront shorelines and your watercraft for unfamiliar aquatic plant forms. Alerting the Fulton Chain of Lakes Association and Lake Stewards at boat launches and washing stations is the best offense against invasive species. Households Lawns and Planting When you fertilize your lawn you are fertilizing our lakes. A state law limiting the use of phosphorus lawn fertilizer took effect on January 1, 2012. If you live near or on a lake use as little fertilizer as possible. If it feeds your lawn it feeds algae and seaweed. Rainfall will carry fertilizer into the lake. Use ONLY No-Phosphate (middle number 0) Click below to learn when fertilizer can be applied and the requirements for using fertilizer near an open body of water. Homeowner's Guide to Lake-Friendly Living

Publications & Links Watch for articles in the Adirondack Express related to preserving and improving the quality of our waters and safe boating. During the summer months, we run ads in the local papers to remind people of actions they should take to protect and improve the quality of our waters. We encourage property owners to adhere to all NY State laws when they use fertilizers on their lawns. We highly encourage everyone, particularly visitors, to get their boats inspected for invasive species before launching them and wash, drain and dry as necessary. We run ads reminding boaters of some of the laws pertaining to navigation on the lakes. We also run ads encouraging everyone who enjoys the Fulton Chain of Lakes to join FCLA. Preserving and Protecting our waters is everyone responsibility. Be Informed homeowners_guide 15 simple strategies for sustainable lakeshores & landscapes to protect the Fulton Chain of Lakes. NYS Boaters Guide A handbook of registration, operation and safety information for the prudent boater in New York State.Basic rules and regulation pertaining to navigation on the Fulton Chain of Lakes. Aidrondack Watershed Institute The mission of AWI’s AIS Spread Prevention Program commonly known as the Stewardship Program is to prevent the introduction of new invasive species into Adirondack waters and to prevent the spread of established invasive species between Adirondack waters following Clean, Drain, Dry best practices. AWI accomplishes this mission by providing voluntary boat inspections, free boat wash stations , and public education. Diet for a Small Lake The expanded guide to New York State Lake and Watershed Management Aquatic Plant Survey This report consists of summary tables, aquatic plant maps, and supplemental reference materials pertaining to the aquatic plant survey performed on the Fulton Chain of Lakes by the Adirondack Watershed Institute of Paul Smith's College. Water Quality Monitoring DEC programs collect monitoring data on rivers, streams, and lakes. Results are analyzed and evaluated for quality assurance, used to inform applied research and reporting, and made publicly available through the online data portal and waterbody assessments . Adirondack Lakes Alliance The ALA provides a forum for lake and river associations to share information and resources and to make recommendations to appropriate state, county and local agencies, and educational and other relevant non-profit organizations, regarding environmental and ecological issues threatening Adirondack lakes and rivers. Adirondack Park Invasive Plant Program APIPP works with a dedicated network of 30+ cooperating organizations to protect the adirondack region from the negative impact of invasive species.

Contact Us Get in Touch Feel free to reach out to us for any inquiries or concerns. We can be reached at P. O. 564, Old Forge, NY 13420 or create a message below. First Name Last Name Email Address Subject Type Your Message Here Send Message Thank You for Contacting Us! Support Our Cause Make a Donation

Meet the Team President - Mark Steigerwald Vice President - Ray Letterman Secretary/Treasurer - Phyllis Sanzone Board Members Martha DuMont Butch Hartsig Don Kelly Ray Letterman Tom McCabe Steve Mulvihill Phil Sanzone Phyllis Sanzone Gary Schafran Michael Schreppel Connie Schreppel Mark Steigerwald Tom Vawter Paul Willsey Historian - Phil Sanzone Website - Martha DuMont Directors Emeritus Janet Blakeman Jack DeBevoise Richard Knight Jim Murphy Jodelle Pross Amy Sauer Ron Smith Ed Stafford Heather Stafford Honorary Directors - Thomas Greco, Supervisor of Town of Webb John Frey - Supervisor of Town of Inlet 6th & 7th Lake Improvement Asso. - Terence Whyte Committees Thomas B McCabe Sr. Environmental Studies Scholarship Don Kelly - Chair Danelle Keifer Tom Vawter Publicity/Marketing Paul Wilsey - Chair Martha DuMont Butch Hartsig Nominations/Awards Tom McCabe - Chair Don Kelly Phil Sanzone Annual Meeting Ray Letterman Phyllis Sanzone Mark Steigerwald Water Quality Ray Letterman - Co-Chair Gary Schafran - Co-Chair Don Kelly Connie Schreppel Mike Schreppel Tom Vawter By - Laws Phil Sanzone Boating Martha DuMont Navigation Butch Hartsig - Chair Steve Mulvihill Tom McCabe Paul Willsey Government Liaison Tom McCabe - Chair Martha DuMont Don Kelly Kevin Jost

Clean, Drain and Dry – Protecting our Lakes from Aquatic Invasive Invasive species are detrimental to boating activities on the lakes. Non-native species can overtake the lake and effect boating, fishing, kayaking etc. To prevent inadvertent introduction of non-native species boats and trailers should be cleaned after they are taken out of the water. This is especially important if they have been in other lakes. Bilges should be drained. Boats, trailers and bilges should be thoroughly dried.

"Boat Smart from the Start" Below please find a concise equipment checklist. If you have questions consult the NYS Boaters Guide at https://www.nxtbook.com/newyorkstateparks/nysparks/ny_boatersguide_24/index.php#/p20

A Brief History of the Fulton Chain The First Dam Before white settlers came to the Adirondacks the Fulton Chain of Lakes in the Black River watershed was an unnamed group of small lakes strung chain-like along the Middle Branch of the Moose River. Some of the lakes became larger and more navigable in about 1799 when John Brown, a developer from a prominent family in Rhode Island, had a dam built below First Lake to power his settlement’s grist and saw mills. Using paths created by Native American hunters and trappers to portage between lakes, white sportsmen and their guides used the lakes as a water-way and point of entry into the Adirondack wilderness. The Erie Canal The Erie Canal required a constant inflow of water. The 60-mile long summit section between Utica and Syracuse, because of its length, elevation and location (and locks that released water at both ends of the section), was especially difficult to supply. To reduce the occurrence of troublesome and costly periods of low water levels, the canal commissioners looked far and wide for new supplies that would flow to this section. In the mid-1800s the then remote Black River on the western side of the Adirondacks was tapped. The water was diverted from the river with a dam and feeder canal at Forestport. It entered the Mohawk River watershed below the Village of Boonville and flowed south in the Black River Canal, one of the Erie’s lateral canals, into the summit section at Rome. New Dams and Reservoirs Water diverted from the Black River was essential for the operation of the Erie and Black River Canals. In the mid to late 1800s the State of New York built about ten dams and reservoirs in the watershed to increase its reliability by storing water when the flow in the river was high and releasing it in a controlled and coordinated way during low flow periods. Around 1880 the State of New York enlarged Brown’s dam at Old Forge and built a new dam at Sixth Lake. The flow from the dams and reservoirs at Old Forge and Sixth Lakes did not directly supply the diversion (its location at Forestport is upstream of the confluence of the Black and Moose Rivers) but it helped the State compensate the downstream mill owners on the Black River who had complained for years that they were hurt financially by the loss of water to the canal. Logging In the late 1800s intensive logging and fires decimated large areas in the Adirondacks and concern was growing that the forests would be ruined as a source of water for downstate, especially for navigation in the still commercially important Erie Canal. After the logging companies harvested the trees, they often stopped paying their property taxes and, consequently, the State of New York was acquiring thousands of acres of forest land. Speculators, many with plans to sell lots on the shorelines of lakes and reservoirs, were buying large sections of cheap land from the loggers and at state auctions. New Uses for the Reservoirs The Forest Preserve Act of 1885 and the landmark “forever wild” clause in the amendment to the state constitution that created the Adirondack Park in 1894 eventually ended intensive logging on state land in the Adirondacks and Catskills. As logging declined reservoirs in the Black River watershed, especially the two reservoirs of the Fulton Chain of Lakes, began to change. The industrial revolution was creating new jobs and many of these people, relatively prosperous and no longer tied to a farm, were eager to leave the disease and pollution of the cities and spend some quality time in the wilderness. Dr. William Seward Webb, a wealthy New York City financier and son-in-law of railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, owned large areas of land in the vicinity of Old Forge. He and other speculators subdivided the land on the shorelines and sold lots that were used to build hotels and summer homes. In 1892 Webb built the railroad to Old Forge and, for a time, he owned steamboats that provided transportation and carried food and mail from the train to the hotels and camps. By the early 1900s the Fulton Chain of Lakes was becoming an important summer and early fall recreation destination for all types of people, not just sportsmen. Eventually there were over 40 hotels on the lakes. Herkimer County’s Town of Webb where Old Forge is located, is named for Dr. Webb. Eventually the increasing commercial and recreational use of the reservoirs began to conflict with their original purpose, augmenting low flow in the Black River by releasing stored water. As early as 1910, shoreline property owners and local public officials complained and threatened to sue when the water in the lakes was released to supply downstream mills during the dry months of summer and early fall. Eventually the importance of tourism and recreational use and the significant property and sales tax revenue these generated was recognized and water levels were kept high until September and early October. Hydroelectricity and River Regulating Districts The growing importance of hydroelectric power began to impact the Black River watershed and the Fulton Chain of Lakes in the early 1900s. New laws and amendments to the state constitution helped the hydropower industry by making it easier to build dams and reservoirs on Forest Preserve land. The Burd Amendment of 1911 allowed 3-percent of the Forest Preserve to be used for flow-regulating dams and reservoirs and the Machold Storage Law of 1915 permitted private and public organizations to petition the State to form public benefit corporations called “river regulating districts” to build and operate these dams and reservoirs. Today the Hudson River Black River Regulating District still maintains and operates the dams at First and Sixth Lake on the Fulton Chain. The Burd amendment had weakened the effectiveness of the state constitution’s forever wild clause. Consequently, the Black River watershed became, in the 1940s and 50s, the backdrop for an epic dispute between conservationists and the proponents of new dams and reservoirs working with the river regulating districts. The legal and political battles of this period have been called the Black River Water War. The dam proponents pointed to how disgruntled shoreline owners on the Fulton Chain had made flow-regulation using existing reservoirs more difficult and they touted public benefits like flood control, but flow-augmentation during dry periods to enhance hydropower was always a key objective. The conservationists eventually won the conflict in the 1950s with new amendments to the state constitution that limit how commercial interests, such as hydropower companies, can use the land and water in the Adirondacks. Robert Fulton The Fulton Chain of Lakes is named for Robert Fulton, the inventor of the first commercially successful steamboat on the Hudson River. In the early 1800s, before the Erie Canal was built, Fulton was politically prominent, and a member of the state commission assigned to determine the best location for a state canal. Some (Donaldson [70]) believe that he travelled north, perhaps as far as Old Forge, to look for a canal route north to Lake Ontario and Montreal. Apparently, no usable route was found or recommended but after his death in 1815 the lakes northeast of Old Forge on the Middle Branch of the Moose River became known to many, if not initially by the State of New York, as the Fulton Chain.