Syracuse.com - Cuomo announces $17 million in outdoor recreational improvement projects across the state

[HuntingNY-News]

Central New York is slated to get $306.888. Among the local projects are plans for building stone steps and paths on both sides of Tinker Falls and connecting them on top with a path.

Richard Pancoe, supervising forester for the DEC's Cortland District, near the base of Tinker Falls.David Figura | [email protected] 

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced today more than $17 million in outdoor recreation improvement projects across the state.

Cuomo's list includes $306,888 in work around Central New York, including plans for stone steps and a trail up and around Tinker Falls, located on the border of Onondaga and Cortland counties.

Local state Department of Environmental Conservation announced the Tinker Falls project during a noon press conference today at the location, which is in the Labrador Hollow Unique Area off Route 91.

"This latest round of improvement include strategic investments to upgrade and expand recreational opportunities throughout the state, which will attract more visitors and boost regional businesses that benefit from people utilizing outdoor recreational facilities," according to a press release from the governor's office.

Cuomo said the projects will begin this summer, covered by money from the New York Works II program and the state Environmental Protection Fund.

The Tinker Falls project, expected to cost $100,000, will be covered by the New York Works II program, with the remainder of the money for the local work coming from the Environmental Protection Fund, said Ken Lynch, regional director of the DEC's Region 7.

The remaining projects include road and culvert repair work at state-owned roads and trails across the region, an engineering study of existing sheet piling rehabilitation and lighting improvements along a shoreline on Oneida Lake in Cleveland and some stream rehabilitation along parts of Oquaga Creek near Binghamton.

Tinker Falls is easily accessible, with parking areas on both sides of Route 91. The quarter mile trail leading to the falls was constructed by the DEC during 2008-2009.

"Before this trail was put in here, this stream flowed down through this valley and people walked up and created their own trail. There was a lot of erosion and the stream was making things a little treacherous. The only parking here was a pull-off for one or two cars," said Ken Lynch, regional director of the DEC's Region 7. " We expanded the parking area, made it accessible to handicapped people and now have a hardened trail for handicapped-accessible access and we have the protection of the natural resource, the stream, the banks. "

The Labrador Hollow Unique Area which encompasses 1,474 acres, is located in the towns of Fabius and Truxton. In addition to Tinker Falls, the area includes an above-ground boardwalk of nearly 2,000 feet over a wetland area and a picturesque pond.

Richard Pancoe, supervising forester for the DEC's Cortland District said visitors like to get on top of the falls and underneath in the 50-foot-high area called the amphitheater. He said people for a long time have been scurrying up both sides of the falls.

From left, Mayleena Holm, of Baldwinville, Tamin Holm, of Melbourne, Fla., Kathleen Davis, of Melbourne, Fla. and Caden Holm, of Baldwinville, cool off in the amphitheater area of Tinker Falls.David Figura I [email protected]David Figura | [email protected] 

"There's spring seeps that come out of the ground. They're very wet, very treacherous," he said.

The path at the top, Pancoe said, will connect with a pre-existing section of the North Country Scenic Trail, which locally is maintained by the local Adirondack Club members.

Pancoe said $100,000 will pay for the stones and other supplies and to contract out the work to paid workers supplied by the Adirondack Mountain Club. The idea, he said, is to create a situation where visitors stay on the designated paths and keep off areas that are unsafe or that cause erosion.

Work is expected to start later this summer and should be finished by the spring or summer of next year.

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog