New York Mixed Bag: Happy Valley Wildlife Management Area expands by 58 acres

Williamstown, N.Y, — DEC recently acquired 58 acres that are now part of Happy Valley Wildlife Management Area (WMA), bringing the total acreage of the WMA to 8,956. The WMA is located in the towns of Albion, Williamstown, Parish, and Amboy in Oswego County and has generally flat terrain.

Due to the area’s close proximity to Lake Ontario, snow depths average about 125 inches annually. Fields in all stages of succession exist, along with northern hardwoods such as sugar maple, beech, yellow birch, and softwoods such as hemlock, white pine, and spruce. Popular activities at this location include hunting, trapping, and wildlife viewing. A system of town roads and some maintenance roads provide access for big game, small game, and waterfowl hunting.

Happy Valley has been the field laboratory for research studies in the past and currently is the site for a long-term grouse habitat improvement study.

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Region 9 Beaver Trappers Encouraged to Trap At Designated State Properties

Birdsall, N.Y. — DEC is encouraging beaver trappers to set up at specific Wildlife Management Areas and a State Forests in New York during the upcoming trapping season, which runs until April 7, 2025. These are areas where beaver activity is causing damage to roads, trails, and other features. Beaver populations have grown significantly at these locations, making it more challenging to manage water levels on the ponds, marshes, and impoundments.

The Region 9 Bureau of Wildlife is asking trappers to consider beaver trapping in Allegany County at the Keeney Swamp and Hanging Bog WMAs, as well as at Allegheny Reservoir and Birch Run Ponds WMAs and the Harwood Lake Multiple Use area in Cattaraugus County. In Chautauqua County, there are beaver issues in the Boutwell Hill State Forest– and the Kabob and Watts Flats WMAs.

For more information contact Land Management Biologist, Eric Maringer at 716-379-6367 or by email at eric.maringer@dec.ny.gov.

Artificial Reefs Help Restore Lake Whitefish In Otsego Lake

Oneonta, N.Y. — In partnership with SUNY Cobleskill and SUNY Oneonta, DEC has built and installed three artificial reefs on the bottom of Otsego Lake to provide clean spawning habitat for lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis), a native coldwater fish species that were once abundant in the lake.

Up until the 1980s lake whitefish thrived in the lake, but populations collapsed due to the introduction of invasive alewife, zebra mussels and quagga mussels. The alewife population crashed in 2010, and is now believed to be extirpated, making restoration of coldwater fish species like lake whitefish, lake trout and cisco possible.

DEC Region 4 Bureau of Fisheries and Operations employees with SUNY partners constructed the three new artificial reefs by hand and placed them in predetermined locations in the lake. The reefs are comprised of cobble-sized rocks and measure about 27’ long x 23’ wide x 3’ tall.

DEC will monitor the reefs in hopes they are used by spawning adult lake whitefish over the winter months. The reefs may also attract spawning lake trout and cisco, which require similar spawning habitats.

With assistance from the U.S. Geological Survey, DEC also placed egg collection mats on the reefs to determine which species of fish are spawning and utilizing the reefs. This project is expected to run for the next five to 10 years where more reefs will be installed around Otsego Lake.

Bassmaster Kayak Series Coming to Plattsburgh in July

Plattsburgh, N.Y. — Plattsburgh and Lake Champlain will be one of the stops for the 2025 Bassmaster Kayak Series. B.A.S.S. recently announced the schedule for the 2025 circuit which features stops across six states at top fisheries, including Lake Champlain July 26-27.

The series begins Jan. 18-19,  at Lake Havasu, in Arizona and will visit Florida’s Kissimmee Chain of Lakes Feb. 1-2. In April and May they’ll make stops in Tennessee and Oklahoma respectively. Lake Champlain will be the fifth stop before the series wrap up Sept. 27-28 at Toledo Bend Reservoir, in Texas.

A press release announcing the tour said Champlain is a storied smallmouth fishery familiar to other B.A.S.S. tournament series but will be a first for Kayak Series anglers. Champlain checked in at No. 6 in the Northeastern Division of Bassmaster Magazine’s annual 100 Best Bass Lakes list for 2024 and supports a strong population of both largemouth and smallmouth bass.

Improvements Made To Tooley Pond Easement Lands In The Northern Adirondacks

Newton Falls, N.Y. — DEC has completed two projects to improve roads and trails within the Tooley Pond Conservation Easement in the Adirondack Park’s Grass River Complex. The easement provides opportunities to the public for fishing, hunting, snowmobiling, observing nature, and accessing the St. Lawrence County Multi-use Trail. Over time, increased use and weathering had created uneven, rocky conditions on several roads and trails within the Tooley Pond easement, making navigation by visitors difficult.

DEC’s Region 6 Potsdam office supervised two separate improvement projects in the Tooley Pond Conservation Easement. The first project resurfaced 1.5 miles of the Old Railroad Bed Haul Road south of Tooley Pond Road. The second project resurfaced a half mile of the St. Lawrence County Multi-use Trail north of Tooley Pond Road and installed ditches and culverts to improve water drainage.

DEC contracted with Seaway Timber Harvesting, Inc., to complete the work. Completion of these two projects will allow visitors to continue to access the recreational opportunities in the Tooley Pond Conservation Easement.