Remembering Camp Woodland

This message was sent to us by Dakin Morehouse -
"Check out this account of Camp Woodland which was located at the foot of Muddybrook Road where (Naren Dunlop lives) on Irondale Rd.
Alf Evers, Pete Seager, they were all there until it closed in the early 60's."

Camp Woodland

Bearly Noticeable

This photo was taken by Mark Braman on April 22 of a bear cub that showed up in his yard on his own. I guess the bears are out and about and looking for food. Everyone needs to bring the bird feeders in and be careful with their garbage again.

Book-N-Chet

There's a new dog roaming the valley! Many of you know Booker, who's owned by the Braman's. Well, Booker's got a new buddy named Chester, who Jay, Roscoe and Fletcher just picked up from Delhi's animal shelter on Friday. Chester's a shy and gentle pup of about a year old, and Booker is showing him the valley.

Photo by Jay Braman

Appeal Hearing Report

Our good neighbor Brave Emma was the only one who was able to attend our appeal hearing in Albany on Tuesday. I spoke to her last night. She said that it was an amazing experience. There were five justices who questioned lawyers on both sides. She said that our lawyers from Hogan & Hartson, Paul Werner and Gardner Gillespie did an outstanding job! They were well prepared, concise, and articulate. She felt the justices listened carefully, asked some very good questions and in the end understood the facts we were presenting. That being said, this could go either way. Just as a reminder to all of you, only about 10% of all cases are turned over on appeal. But our lawyers could not have done any better work so let's hope for a positive outcome. It will be 8 to 10 weeks before the final decision comes down. I will keep you posted.

Again, let me express our heartfelt thanks to Paul Werner, Gardner Gillespie and Hogan & Hartson for their excellent and generous work. We could never have afforded the quality legal representation that they have provided to us!! We are deeply grateful!!

Aerial Views of Woodland Valley

Here are some really cool photos sent to us by Dan Davis of the DEP. They were taken earlier in the week when he did his fly over Woodland Valley to get video and still images that track the meanderings of the creek. Just let him know if you are interested in viewing the video.

He is also interested in working with Woodland Valley residents when he does the stream channel assessment this summer. They are trying to figure out how to set this up as an organized volunteer opportunity and will let us know.

Thanks, Dan!

PS - Sorry I can't get these photos any larger. They are at the maximum size allowed by Blogger.

Talk at the Empire State Railway Museum

This was sent to us by Dakin Morehouse:

Wed, April 30, at 7:00 PM - talk at the Phoenicia RR Station on:
"25 Years on the Catskill Mountain Railroad"
With Earl Pardini (President CMRR) and Harry Jameson (Chairman & WCA Member)
This is the Empire State Railway Museum's pre-season lecture about
our summer exhibit celebrating the 25th anniversary of the
Catskill Mountain Railroad. 4 sections are planned;
1) old U&D, 2) early 'Tube Train' days, 3) recent decade 4) the Future
The Empire State Railway Museum is housed in the historic Phoenicia RR Station at 70 Lower High St. Just go down Woodland Valley Road and keep going straight. It is the 3rd and last building on your left after you cross Bridge St.

Reservoir Photo

I was out by the reservoir a couple of days ago and took this photo. We are very lucky that we get to live in such a beautiful place!

Woodland Valley Campground Reservations

So, summer is on it's way, and I don't know about you, but for me, that means lots of company. Most of them I allow to stay the night or the weekend if they are really well behaved. But for some, other arrangements need to be made. Some of my family and friends have pet allergies (I have cats), some arrive in large groups and some just work my last good nerve if I have to be with them for too long. For those situations the Woodland Valley Campground is the perfect solution. "Oh, your coming with 2 friends, your 3 children and their 3 friends, have I got the perfect place for you!" I actually did say that exact thing to one of my friends a few years ago. I know a potential train wreck when I see it coming. So I am posting a link to the Woodland Valley Campground site where you can go and make reservations for friends and other (partially) loved ones. I hope this helps you to enjoy your company this summer.

http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/24501.html

The Daffodils Are Here!!

My daffodils are finally in full bloom and they look spectacular!! If anyone would like to come see them I am having an open house this Sunday (April 20th) from 1pm-5pm. Please park on the street and walk up so no one gets blocked in. The driveway is long and narrow with no easy way to turn around. You can't see the daffodils from the road so don't get disappointed before you come all the way up. This is your chance to view my work in progress!














I wait all year for these babies to bloom. This year it has been worth the wait!!

Eugene Ruffolo Tours Europe

Here is a message from Eugene Ruffolo about his upcoming tour of Europe. If you planning a visit there soon maybe you can catch his show.

"I'm heading to Holland and Germany to do a series of shows---some with a band--some duo--some solo--a little something for everyone...

It would be great to see you..
Check out the websites for details and dates......"

Eugene

www.eugeneruffolo.com
www.eugeneruffolo.nl
www.myspace.com/eugeneruffolo

Appeal Hearing Information

Since we all chipped in together to fund the lawsuit against the water harvesting project, I wanted to pass along the hearing details if any of you would like to attend. Our case is scheduled for 1pm, April 22nd in the State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Department. The court is located in the Justice Building in the Empire State Plaza. Here is their website. There are directions to the court on the site. We will be the fourth case heard that day.

New State Supreme Court, Appellate Department, Third Division

Up a Lazy River

Here is another wonderful piece of writing by the late great Paul O'Neil, Woodland Valley resident and avid fisherman. Even though we don't have the photo he described, I think this is the perfect piece for the spring start to fishing season.

"Man would not be man if, somewhere in his heart, he was not a bum—, if he did not nurse a recurring dream of indolence and irresponsibility, and did not yearn to stretch out on a tropic beach or under a western watering tank and let his whiskers grow and occasionally have a shot of something rousing from a bottle. It is a dream which has a way of growing stronger in summer, but in most strata of society a fellow just can't hustle off to hunt for Tom Sawyer's island, or for pearl oysters, —he can't, indeed, even doze off on the courthouse steps at noon —without causing a raise of eyebrows and a wag of tongues. Fish, however, are a bum's best friend. Not the lusty salmon, nor the leaping trout, nor any fish which must be pursued, but the flounder and the catfish—, fish which inhabit the tide flats and the back eddies of slow rivers, fish which may be lured to the bait from a recumbent position. Millions of men annually escape that constricting maze erected over the centuries by their women with no more equipment than is reflected in the still life to the left. They escape in every country under the sun—, the photograph was made by W. Eugene Smith in a Portuguese tidal inlet off the Gulf of Cadiz—and, though the red wine in the jug might be white mule, or cider, or muscatel or rye in other parts of the world, it is a picture which reflects a universal aspect of the masculine soul. A man need not row a weather-beaten boat such as this Portuguese fisherman's craft more than a dozen strokes to achieve Purpose and, hence, a suspect but unassailable license for bumhood. After that languid series of motions he is free to drop an anchor (a tin can full of cement), bait his hook, float his bobber upon the softly gurgling flood, pull out the cork, tilt his jug, lower his hat over his eyes and sink back into that comatose and reflective state in which man reaches true nobility of character. In the process, although the odds are against it, there is a chance that he might even catch a fish."

-Paul O'Neil Sports Illustrated 1956

Melinda Stickney-Gibson Art Show in Oregon

If you find yourself in Portland, Oregon in the next few weeks talented artist and WCA member Melinda Stickney-Gibson is having an art show. The show runs from April 3rd through the 26th. Check it out if you are in that area. And if you can't get there in person, you can go to the gallery website and view her work that way. Here are the show details:

Melinda Stickney-Gibson
From The Woods
April 3 - 26
Butters Gallery Ltd
520 NW Davis
Portland, Oregon
97209

www.buttersgallery.com

Beautiful Spring Day in the Valley

Although the forecast was for rain, I woke up to a beautiful spring day here in the valley. Temperatures are in the 60's with a mix of sun and clouds.

My daffodils finally started to bloom this week. There are about 100 blooms so far which is just the tip of the iceberg in my backyard. As some of you may know, I plant 300 to 400 bulbs every fall and I have been doing that for the last 12 years. I have approximately 4000 bulbs in at this point. I am trying to naturalize the entire hill behind my house. That will probably take me another 15 years but hey, it will look awesome when I finish. I will keep you all posted on the progress of the blooms. Since you can hardly see them from the road I usually have one day when they are at their peak where anyone who is around can drop by and see them. Keep checking the blog for the update.

Date for Hearing

Our lawyers will appear before the State Supreme Court, Appellate Division in Albany on April 22nd to present our case for appeal. The brief is very good and we are cautiously optimistic that we will have a positive result. But win or lose, it is always the right thing to stand up for ourselves and our community when an injustice has been done.

Weekend Fun Reminder - April 12th

The paintings of WCA member Jim Frain will be in the members show for the Woodstock Byrdcliffe Guild at the newly opened Kleinert/James Art Center in Woodstock. The opening is this Saturday, April 12th from 5:00 to 7:00. Hope to see you all there.

DEP To Fly Over Woodland Valley Stream

Here is a message from geologist Dan Davis of the DEP:

I am a geologist with NYC DEP’s Stream Management Program and am responsible for stream management planning for the Esopus Creek watershed. You may be familiar with the collaborative work we have been doing on the Esopus with Cornell Cooperative Extension (www.esopuscreek.org). In this ongoing effort to improve stream management practices in the Esopus Creek watershed I am responsible for coordinating and completing stream assessment activities. I have found the best first step to be reconnaissance of the stream corridor by helicopter. From that unique vantage point I can obtain continuous video footage and aerial digital still photos of the Esopus Creek corridor and its tributary system. I have been doing this since 2003. I use the videography and photography for qualitative assessment of channel condition and to document changes through time. I also use the videography and photography in public presentations as education/outreach tools. I am currently planning to fly on April 22 along the Esopus corridor and hope to do so for the Woodland Valley corridor as well. We hope to walk and map most of the Woodland Valley creek corridor condition this summer. I am also interested and available to meet with any residents to discuss our assessment plans for Woodland Valley this summer and to go over our imagery. My contact information is provided below.

Most Sincerely,
Dan Davis

_________________________________
Dan Davis, Project Manager/Geologist
NYCDEP Stream Management Program
71 Smith Avenue, Kingston, NY 12401
845-340-7839
_________________________________

Grandview Falls

Rannie Arp took this photograph of the falls near Grandview Lane. Thanks for sending it to us Rannie!

Weekend Fun Reminder - April 5th & 6th

Just to remind you of some local fun this weekend.

Saturday (today) - The Phoenicia Library is having it's Grand Re-Opening from 11:00 to 2:30. All are welcome!

Sunday - Rick Altman and David Oliver are playing at the Olive Free Library at 2:00 pm. Check it out if you have the chance!

Library Grand Re-Opening and We're All Invited!!

Here is a message from the Phoenicia Library Staff:

Phoenicia Library’s
Grand Re-Opening Party
Please come admire our new look
and help us celebrate!

When: Saturday, April 5th from 11 - 2:30

Refreshments and Live Entertainment by Studio Stu

At 2:30 there will be a toast to the benefactors of the Phoenicia Library as well as a salute to Ren Dibbell for his many years of service to the Library!

For those of you who can’t wait to hit the books again, the library will be open Monday, March 31st. Although the Library may at first be somewhat disorganized, our staff looks forward to greeting you with their familiar smiles!

Josh Sheldon Photography Website

Although it is in the process of being revised, here is a link to the photography website of WCA member Josh Sheldon. Check it out.
http://www.joshuasheldon.com/

Opening Day, or Who's An April Fool?

To celebrate the opening day of fishing season here is a piece by our local Troutmeister Mike O'Neil -

Whan that Aprille, Piscator

In his definitive work Catskill Rivers, Mac Francis writes of the Catskill angling “mystique”, convincingly making the point that (a) there is such a thing in the first place and that (b) “lying in the heart of the mystique are the emotions of the angler, none of them stronger than his anticipation of spring.” Poets, natural philosophers, anglers and fools have always been drawn out by the approach of April. It wasn’'t by chance that Geoff Chaucer started his pilgrims on their Canterbury jaunt “whan that Aprille,” for the longing to be up and about stirs in us then. Izaak Walton, the sainted seventeenth century de n of fishing, that “compleat” angler, would hardly have you fish for trout until April approached, “till which time a man should not in honesty catch a trout.” Our own bard of the Catskill’s, John Burroughs wrote at length about the month, part of which I am compelled to quote, for how often do you see the word “hibernaculum” these days? Old Uncle whitebeard Burroughs wrote, “ "In April all nature starts with you. You have not come out of your hibernaculum too early or too late; the time is ripe, and if you do not keep pace with the rest, why, the fault is not in the season.”"
New York State’'s trout fishing season begins on April first, to be precise. Even the vaguely astute observer will recognize that it is also April Fool’s Day. If there is a connection, it is lost to antiquity. In point of fact, when measured against its neighbors’ opening dates, New York'’s is particularly early. Pennsylvania, for instance does not allow the hoards to descend until the first Saturday after April 11th.
In Connecticut, anglers must wait even longer to assault river, stream, pond and lake--the opener is the third Saturday of April. Wayne Elliot, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s District 3 manager (the territory covering the Catskills, as well as more southerly counties to include Westchester) points out that this was not always the case. In the mid forties, at least, New York’s season began the third Saturday in April. A careful reading of Ed Van Put’s recently published, magnificent book on the Beaverkill, titled--aptly--The Beaverkill , shows that from the early 1870’s until the 1920’s there was a relatively short season on Catskill waters that began May first and lasted only 106 days. Ed also dug out this tantalizing quote from Dr. E.A. Bates, from the Sullivan County Democrat, circa June 14, 1933 commenting on the season employed by native Americans long before the white man fished in the Catskills: "In the olden moons, at such a time, the boys of the village cut a long pole of sinewy willow, and at the end of a tough line made of the inner bark of the elm, they tied the sharp pointed fish hook made of bone. With a juicy piece of bear fat, they fooled the trout. Then one trout-fishing moon came when few trout were caught. The next spring this happened again. Finally a wise old fisherman opened one of the trout with his sharp stone knife and found it was full of eggs.& amp; nbsp; So the council drew from the wisdom of old fishermen, and a careful watch was made, and then it was found that the trout always swam over their spawning beds just before the wild apple bloomed. From that moon on, and even today, the redman stays far from the home of the trout until the apple trees are in full bloom, for he dreams of a trout-fishing moon for his grandchildren."
To an extent, the DEC’s trout stocking schedule is dictated by actual stream conditions, much as the Indians of prehistory paid attention to nature. On average the water in the Catskills is too cold to stock in March. Trout are not put into Catskill streams and rivers until after opening day--until the water reaches at least a temperature of 45 degrees F. It is axiomatic--the colder the water, the less active the trout. And while they never actually stop feeding, when it’s colder they eat less often. Heresy though it may be, I have to state the obvious--for all the hoopla and frenetic anticipation that surrounds it, Opening Day is not, usually, a very good time to fish for trout in the Catskills.
Fishing clubs and church groups climb over themselves in putting on opening day dinners, raffles, and monumental opening morning pancake feeds--all of which are fun in their own way. Others fortify themselves the way the early American angling author Thaddeus Norris described when he and friends prepared to fish the Willowemoc and Beaverkill rivers a century ago:

"There were three of us: baggage as follows:
Item: one bottle of gin, two shirts: Item: one bottle of schnapps, two pair stockings: Item, one bottle Schiedam, one pair fishing pants:
Item, one bottle genuine aromatic, by Udolpho Wolfe, name on the wrapper, without which the article is fictitious, one pair extra boots:
Item, one bottle extract of juniper-berry; one bottle brandy, long and wide, prescribed by scientific skill for medicinal purposes.
Also, rods, flies, tackle in abundance, and a supply of gin; in addition, each of us had a quart-flask in our pockets, containing gin. We also had some gin inside when we started."

This is not to say that no trout are caught on April 1. My friend Ed Ostapczuk of Shokan, a licensed New York State fishing guide and perhaps the most skilled Catskill fly fisherman I know, described an incredible opening day he and his son had on the Rondout, catching scores of wonderful native brookies on deftly sinkered nymphs. Karen Graham from Rosendale and her business partner Bert Darrow (she an escapee from the world of high fashion modeling, he a former NYNEX exec) fish so often and so well, as they instruct novices in the arcane art of angling (their business is called “Fly Fishing with Bert and Karen”), that I have no doubt they will catch trout, nice trout, if they choose to go out for the opener. But most of us will not do as well April 1 (in France,by the way, an April Fool’s Day hoax or mishap is known as a poisson d’avril--an April Fish!). Perhaps we are April Fools as we eagerly anticipate Opening Day in Ulster, or Sullivan, or Greene County. I think at the bottom of it all, having flailed away on one or another Catskill stream for over forty years, I subscribe to Sparse Grey Hackle’s fishing philosophy (aka Arthur Miller). While he preferred catching them to not catching them (one is not completely mad, after all), Sparse Grey had this to say, ... he who is content to no t-catch fish in the most skillful and refined manner, utilizing the best equipment and technique, will have his time and attention free for the accumulation of a thousand experiences, the memory of which will remain for his enjoyment long after any recollection of fish would have faded.”

- Mike O’Neil

Library Grand Re-Opening

The library unofficially opened today. They still have some work to do getting everything together. If anyone has the time you could call them and see if they could use some help. The grand re-opening is planned for this Saturday April 5th from 11:00am to 2:30pm. Welcome back Phoenicia Library, we sure did miss you!!!!