I like to see land in the Adirondack State Park stay private instead of going to the state. That might sound odd because it restricts use, but you see I grew up in that private sector of the Adirondack State Park and I understand how remote it is. Once the state takes it over there’s no development allowed anymore and it hardly ever gets used by the public. In my experience most of these remote properties only get used by the original clubs after it becomes state land.
Therefor, I’d rather see the state keep the tax base income (we are short on funds aren’t we?) around and keep the land in the private owners hands to keep the usage up.
Found this article recently written at the time the Diamond Sportsmen Club purchased their land and thought it was interesting.
Written by Carol W LaGrasse, February 2001
While environmentalists salivated over the prospects of acquiring the land for permanent government ownership, Diamond Sportsmen’s Club succeeded in signing a binding contract during 2000 to purchase the 3,283 acres surrounding scenic Barney Pond near South Colton.
The club is looking for more members to make the club thrive. Each person contributing the one-time fee of $5000 will receive a transferable membership certificate, according to the spokesmen for the club, Richard Todd and his fellow officers. They plan to have about 125 to 150 hunting and fishing club memberships and 75 to 100 recreational memberships.
“Your foresight and good judgment are something your family, children and grandchildren will appreciate for years to come,” say officers of the Diamond Sportsmen’s Club in their notice to reach out for recreational members, hunting and fishing club members of their club.
The club, which used to be known as the Barney Pond Club, has signed a contract with Lothair, Inc. for $1,360,000 to purchase the property. This winter, they said that they are taking possession immediately and paying the corporation as memberships are sold.
After first offering memberships to the Barney Pond Club members, they have opened up memberships to the public, and announced that hunting club memberships, camps, building sites, and camper sites will be available on a first come, first served basis.
According to their flyer, the recreational memberships allow the opportunity to have camper parking sites, use of miles of trails and roads for four-wheelers, snowmobiles, hiking, cross-country skiing, two picnic areas (one on Barney Pond), use of a pavilion, horseshoe pits, swings, basketball, archery range, rifle range, berry picking, canoeing, photography, orienteering or just plain relaxing.
The hunting and fishing club membership have the opportunity to own permanent camps, according to the announcement about the club. This form of membership allows the opportunity to hunt for whitetail deer, black bear, turkey, ducks, geese, rabbits, and partridge. Fishing in the 37.8 acre pond affords a chance to catch large mouth bass, which were stocked in 1993 and are thriving. The largest so far was 20 inches and 4-1/2 pounds. Their large dock allows fishing for bullhead and pan fish.
“You should be interested if you want to own a camp you can improve without threat of someone taking it away,” say the officers of the club in their announcement.
The entrance to the club is about 3.6 miles south of South Colton on Route 56, with the club located in the township of Parishville, in St. Lawrence County, within the Adirondack Park.
For more information, contact Richard Todd (315) 386-4013 or Bob Hunt (315) 265-0468.
It was also really neat to see the way parts of the club looked at the time of purchase.
I bet you thought I forgot didn’t you?
Tonight is only the second time I’ve been here and it’s gone through a lot of changes since the last time. There’s a new pond, nice new green areas and a new 100′ hill which creates a barrier between the road and the property. The last time I was here it was sunrise (picture: left) and it was extremely quiet and peaceful.
Randy Aldrich 