President’s Message Moving Forward ow quickly man-made “structures,” David S. Marsh and Construction, and Director of Trail on which we have conditioned Maintenance. The existing position of Vice H ourselves to rely, can change. Like President of Trail Protection will assume trees in a forest after a microburst, we have responsibility for landowner relations, and watched as financial institutions and major the FLTC office will expand its corporations, flawed from mismanagement, responsibilities for data base management snapped and tumbled. A warming climate and other trail data tasks. I believe this new threatens the natural world we hold dear and organization structure will provide a more the very existence of future generations of effective Board focus on the critical task of living creatures. We are shaken to our very keeping the FLT fully operational and in roots, but out of the rubble, new growth excellent condition. We seriously need your begins to appear, and we dare to hope again. help in staffing these new positions and some These are difficult times indeed. All FLTC of the tasks that support them. You may read members and volunteers will be affected. A more about this on page 14. Please step very serious lesson has once again been forward and volunteer. The FLTC must Move learned, that greed is short sighted, our Forward! Photo by Jacqui Wensich strength is in following our fundamental The good news is that more and more people principals, and this earth, while resilient and forgiving, must be are discovering and enjoying the FLT. The bad news is that respected and protected. Our country must Move Forward! sometimes the trail is used for recreation that it was not These conditions, coupled with the sudden death last fall of designed to handle. The FLT was built as a footpath only, to Howard Beye, our long time VP of Trails, provided an provide a “wilderness type” experience. When persons use other unusually serious and sobering backdrop for the annual FLTC conveyances on the FLT, the permission we receive from Board (planning) Retreat in January at Letchworth State Park. It permitting landowners is violated, those who seek the was clear that we had to assure that our goals will concentrate experience for which the trail was designed to provide are the FLTC effort on critical tasks, reorganize our trail disappointed, and the trail tread is often damaged, creating maintenance activities, prepare financially for the economic additional work for trail maintainers. The FLTC Board has conditions that will be with us at least through 2009, and established an FLTC Footpath Use Policy which may be viewed maintain our membership base. We are satisfied that we are at www.fingerlakestrail.org along with the Special Events making important progress in most goal categories. In 2008, we Policy that was announced in the last FLT News issue. See page failed to achieve our 5% membership increase (per year for five 4 of this issue for the new policy. years) after meeting the membership goal in the previous two After two years as VP of Finance and three years as Board years. We are hopeful that in spite of the difficult economic President, I have decided it is time to step down and allow new conditions, and with your help, we will be able to meet the leadership to guide the organization. I believe that organizations important membership goal for 2009. The financial position of are refreshed and significantly benefited by a well spaced the FLTC is solid, and we are very grateful to those of you who change in leadership. For me, it is a time to make some contributed to our annual appeal and helped us to exceed important changes in my life. Much of my life has been devoted budgeted expectations. Our goals have been revised and in some to administrative-type work, either finance in my career or cases increased, as is the case for the Great Eastern Trail goal. administrative functions in various organizations I have There Pat Monahan and his team have made impressive supported. I have reached a point where it is important for me to progress and have increased the goal to complete new trail spend a far greater portion of my time outdoors where I long to additions, from five miles to fifteen miles by January 2010. You be, time devoted to birding, hiking, maintaining trail, preserving may review our revised goals on page 5. natural space for wildlife, etc. There are “so many trails, and so We have completed an organization plan for trail management little time.” The years I have spent with the FLTC Board have that will distribute Howard Beye’s former responsibilities over been very rewarding, and I hope that I have contributed five functional areas, three of which are new. It is our belief that something worthwhile during that time. The people, the Board, the responsibilities of the Vice President of Trails have grown in volunteers, members, employees, are the best. I will continue to both quantity and complexity and are too much to expect one support the FLT in many ways. person to handle. The Board has elected to use 2009 as a (Continued on page 4) transition year to allow the three new positions to be staffed and integrated into the organization. The new positions are temporarily titled Director of Trail Quality, Director of Crews Are you a Finger Lakes Trail groupie? The FLTC has an email group (e-group) open to anyone interested. This service can be used to discuss hiking issues, inquire about trail conditions or find hiking partners. Go to the FLTC website (www.fingerlakestrail.org) to sign up. FINGER LAKES TRAIL NEWS Published for Members and Friends of the Finger Lakes Trail Conference, Inc. Spring 2009 Volume 48 Number 1 3 Trail Easement News 16 2009 Alley Cat and NCTA Mission Statement 3 New Board Member: Ray Recchia Volunteer Vacation Opportunities The mission of the Finger 4 Announcement: Footpath Use 18 Invitation to the Annual Meeting Lakes Trail Conference is to Policy 18 Board Candidates build, protect, and enhance 5 FLTC Long Range Planning: 28 Nine Ladies from Western New a continuous footpath Strategy and Goals York Traveled to the Catskills across 6 Lessons and Luck: Rebuilding and 28 Spring Conference, Frost Valley New York State. Rerouting in South Bradford SF 33 SUNY Geneseo Trail Project Forever! 8 History of the FLT: Part 1 34 Great Eastern Trail in NY 7 Easement News 38 2009 County Hike Series FINGER LAKES TRAIL NEWS 9 You are our Eyes and Ears: Empire 38 Howard Beye Memorial Hike Volume 48 Number 1 Pipeline Story Spring 2009 15 FLT Forever Society New Finger Lakes Trail Conference Members Service Center 585/658-9320, fax: 585/658-2390 [email protected] Departments Editor 14 Notes from the Field Jo H. Taylor [email protected] 22 End-to-End Album: Scott Lauffer (#247), Susan Collier (#253), Pat Monahan (#259), Editing Assistance Sharon L. Galbraith Erica LaBuz (#264) 32 2008 Contributions End-to-End Update Edward J. Sidote 38 Faces of the FLT: Mary C. Coffin Trail Medicine 39 Hiking Calendar Bob Michiel 40 Name that Map! Wildflowers Answers to Winter quiz, page 9 RWW Taylor Walking through Time Columns Irene Szabo, Tim Wilbur Inside front cover... Natural Connections President’s Message Rummel Lynda Page 6 John A-X. Morris 2 From the Desk of the Executive Director FLT Archives 10 Invasive Species: Hemlock Woolly Adelgid ADK-Pro Trail Crew Georgeanne Vyverberg 11 Trail Medicine: Lyme disease members (l to r) Mike Invasive Species 13 Notes from the Archives: The Mapmakers, part 1 Robbins, Paul Ranon Todd Bittner 17 Wildflowers along the Trail #25: Buttercups (leader), Theresa Troy, and Finger Lakes Trail News is the Andrew Hamlin. official publication of the Finger 21 End-to-End Update Lakes Trail Conference, Inc, and 30 Walking Through Time #23 is published four times each year by the Finger Lakes Trail Con• ference, 6111 Visitor Center And on the back cover... Road, Mt. Morris, NY 14510. Favorite Trail Sections in Central New York, a great spring walk in the woods Comments and original con• tributions are welcome and may Cover: Early FLT mapmaker Valda Laton checking her map from Hi Tor on the Bristol be submitted to Jo Taylor, 967 Meigs Street, Rochester, NY Hills Branch Trail. This view of Canandaigua Lake with South Hill in the foreground is 14620. Phone 585/473-6729. not easily seen today except in winter when the leaves are down. Today South Hill is Send address changes to Gene also heavily forested, but when the photo was taken nearly 50 years ago in 1964 there Bavis, Executive Director, at the were many fields. Mt. Morris address above or [email protected]. The photograph was taken by Rosa Wolfer, an FLT pioneer and friend of Valda’s. Read about Rosa and Valda in archivist Georgeanne Vyverberg’s column on page 13. Copyright 2009 by Finger Lakes Trail Conference, Inc. Spring 2009 - 1 - Finger Lakes Trail News 008 was a good year for the coordinated by Jon Bowen. The Fall Finger Lakes Trail Confer- From the Campout will be on October 16-18, 2 ence…well, mostly. Despite Desk of the 2009 at Camp Turner in Allegany State the rocky economy, we were able to E x e c u t i v e Park, hosted by the Foothills Trail balance our budget and in each area of Club. In addition we are looking budgeted income, we exceeded the Director forward to our three “named” hikes and projected amount. This included Dues, perhaps some other opportunities for Gene Bavis Unrestricted Contributions, Sidote NEW or inexperienced hikers.