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Bog River Complex

The Bog River Unit Management Plan (UMP) includes multiple parcels of Forest Preserve and Conservation Easement lands in the towns of Colton and Piercefield (St. Lawrence County), Long Lake (Hamilton County), and Tupper Lake (Franklin County).

This management unit is commonly referred to as the Bog River Complex as the area includes the: Horseshoe Lake Wild Forest, Hitchins Pond Primitive Area, Lows Lake Primitive Area, and Conifer Easement lands. The area begins the access to a wilderness canoe route leading from the Bog River above Lows lower dam into and across Lows Lake to the western shore in the Five Ponds Wilderness. The route is connected by a carry to the upper reaches of the Oswegatchie River. Many recreational opportunities exist at the Bog River Complex. Canoeing, hiking, hunting, fishing, bicycling, camping and snowmobiling are popular pastimes.

Bog River Unit Management Plan (November 2002)

Entire Plan - (2.56 MB pdf, This file is very large and may take a long time to download or even cause some computers to crash)

Plan Parts

Sections I - IV and Appendices A - M - (1.0 Mb pdf)
Appendix N - (1.3 Mb pdf)
Appendix O - (350 kb pdf)


Lows Lake Amendment/FSEIS (April 2009)

The 2002 Unit Management Plan (UMP) for the Bog River Complex called for public float plane access to Lows Lake to be eliminated after a five year period. The decision to eliminate float plane access was based on two factors: 1) the UMP's conclusion that significant user conflicts between float planes and paddlers were occurring; and 2) the desire to fulfill the management goal in the Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan (APSLMP) of establishing a Lows Lake-Bog River-Oswegatchie wilderness canoe route.

The UMP's creation of a five year phase-out of float planes, as opposed to an immediate ban, was in recognition of the economic significance of Lows Lake to the two remaining commercial float plane operators in the Adirondack Park. Furthermore, in order to ease the economic impact on commercial float plane operators, the UMP included a commitment that the Department of Environmental Conservation (Department) would attempt to find a suitable substitute lake for float plane access during the five year phase-out period.

In the past five years, the Department has evaluated 23 lakes and ponds as possible alternatives to Lows Lake. Each of the 23 lakes and ponds was determined to be unsuitable based on either (i) ease of access by other means (road or trail), i.e., not remote enough to be attractive for float plane use; (ii) lack of sufficient surface area to accommodate float plane landing and take-off; (iii) existing regulatory prohibition against motorized aircraft; or (iv) inappropriateness due to natural resource considerations. Thus, the Department's efforts to find a suitable alternative to Lows Lake for float plane access have been unsuccessful.

In 2007, the Department commenced a re-evaluation of float plane access to Lows Lake and the potential impacts of such use on paddlers. As part of that re-evaluation, the Department contracted with the State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry (CESF) to conduct a Lows Lake Primitive Area Visitor Study. The Lows Lake Visitor Study was completed and a final report issued on April 8, 2008. The results of the study indicate user conflicts between paddlers and float planes are not as frequent or severe as previously assumed in the UMP, and that some paddlers support less restrictive management measures than an immediate ban on float planes.

In response to the Lows Lake Visitor Study, the Department evaluated the management alternative of controlling float plane access through a mandatory permit system. A Draft Amendment/DSEIS was submitted to the APA in January 2009 for consideration. The amendment proposed a revised timeline for phase out of commercial float plane access and, through regulation, imposing restrictions on landing and takeoff areas on Lows Lake, limiting flights per month, annually, and by time of day, specifying a drop off location and prohibiting high speed taxiing.

This Amendment/FSEIS provides that float plane access to Lows Lake would be allowed to continue until December 31, 2011 subject to restrictions set forth in an annual permit. The permit restrictions would be tailored to avoid or minimize potential conflicts between paddlers and other users who access Lows Lake by float plane.

After careful review and following consultation with the two remaining commercial float plane operators, advocacy groups representing paddlers who use Lows Lake, and the staff of the Adirondack Park Agency, the Department has determined that taking this action is preferable to the immediate exclusion of float planes called for in the UMP. This determination is based upon several factors, including the continued existence of three private in-holdings on Lows Lake which currently (and will for the foreseeable future) prevent attainment of the Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan (APSLMP) goal of creating a wilderness canoe route through the lake; the continued motorized use by owners of the private in-holdings; the data from the Lows Lake Visitor Study, which (as noted above) indicate that user conflicts between paddlers and float planes are not as frequent or severe as previously thought; the Department's inability to find a suitable substitute lake for float plane operators to use; and the economic consequences to the two remaining commercial float plane operators in the Park should an immediate ban be adopted.

Developed in consultation with APA staff, this Amendment/FSEIS includes a revised timeline for phase out of commercial float plane access and will, through regulation, require that commercial operators of float planes landing on Lows Lake obtain an annual permit from the Department. The permit will impose the following restrictions on float plane access:

  • All commercial float planes will be required to obtain a permit to land and takeoff on Lows Lake.
  • The maximum number of allowed commercial float plane flights into Lows Lake will be limited to 165 flights for the entire flying season (May through November). This will ensure that the total number of allowable commercial flights into Lows Lake will not exceed the average total commercial flights that were made between 2005 and 2007.
  • No more than 35 flights per month will be allowed by all commercial operators combined;
  • At the end of each flying season, each float plane operator will provide the Department with copies of flight records to Lows Lake for that season so that compliance with these conditions can be verified.
  • Commercial float plane operators will be prohibited from storing canoes or other equipment on Forest Preserve lands at Lows Lake;

The annual permit system will be monitored to determine operator compliance with the permit conditions. Repeated failure by an operator to comply with permit conditions would constitute grounds for permit denial, thereby excluding that operator from Lows Lake.

The annual permit system as outlined in this Amendment/FSEIS be maintained until December 31, 2011. All public float plane access to Lows Lake will be prohibited after that date. The Department will immediately proceed to promulgate regulations establishing a permit system for float planes using Lows Lake. In addition to the permit restrictions and conditions recited above, the regulations will include a "sunset" clause providing that the regulations will automatically terminate on December 31, 2011 and that all public float plane access to Lows Lake will be prohibited after that date. This will ensure that no further extensions of float plane access to Lows Lake will occur.

By letter dated March 31, 2009, the two commercial float plane operators, together with local government officials from the towns of Long Lake and Inlet and Hamilton County expressed support for this amendment. Furthermore, the letter expressed the commitment of the two float plane operators to voluntarily abide by the conditions and restrictions set forth in this amendment pending the Department's final promulgation of permit regulations.

This Amendment/FSEIS recommends that DEC and APA continue to work on analyzing float plane opportunities within the Park and to jointly develop a study and report which would evaluate and document existing opportunities and make recommendations for State actions to provide recreational opportunities via float plane. The Study will look at where float planes have historically gone, for what purpose and in what numbers. It will determine how the use and trends have changed over the years and what may offer the best opportunities for future commercial float plane operation in the Park. In addition, this Study will provide a broader and more comprehensive evaluation of existing and potential lakes for float plane opportunities in the Adirondack Park than was done previously. This evaluation will go beyond simple analysis of lake size, alternative access and recreational pursuits to include lakes that may require administrative, regulatory or SLMP changes in order to provide attractive float plane opportunities and which minimizes impact on other recreational users. Examples of additional analysis to be undertaken includes but is not limited to, evaluation of water bodies on easement lands for possible float plane use, evaluation of potential to limit motorized access other than float planes from specific water bodies, fisheries management options to enhance angling opportunities, and providing specific camping opportunities and regulatory restrictions on floatplane operators use of lean-tos. This effort will require significant input from the two (2) remaining float plane operators. The study will also look at the economic significance of float planes to operators, Adirondack communities, and the Park in general.

The Department is committed to the exclusion of float planes from Lows Lake after December 31, 2011. Until that goal is achieved, the Lows Lake Visitors Study suggests that paddlers and float planes can continue to co-exist on the lake on a temporary basis as called for in this UMP amendment, particularly if potential user conflicts and resource impacts are further reduced through a mandatory permit system.

Lows Lake Amendment/FSEIS (616 kb pdf)
Lows Lake Area Map (217 kb pdf)