For those of you not in the Adirondacks or nearby to the Adirondack Park I would like to share a little of what's going on in Tupper Lake, my hometown (hence Tupper Cooks!)
Without going on and on here's a little history.
Tupper Lake was settled in the mid to late 1800's. Lumber was king by the turn of the century,and Tupper Lake was a major producer in the industry.
Many people moved here from all points in the Northeast, including my paternal grandfather Theophile Poirier, who came down from Quebec to work in the logging camps, where logs were moved by river and horse to the Big Mill on Raquette Pond.
Thousands of jobs were created and along with many mills and the Oval Wood Dish (which manufactured wooden bowls, spoons, and bowling pins among other products) the economy and job market was solid well through the 1960's.
Times change, and so does the economy. While lumber is still a vital part of our local economy, it's not king anymore.
The railroad shut down in the 1960's, making transportation from the Park a bit more expensive, the Oval Wood Dish closed. It did have a very successful 2nd life thanks to a man named Roger Sullivan who reopened it in the 70's and retooled it into a very successful plastic product corporation.
Well, times change, and with overseas manufacturing, the OWD was sold and subsequently closed in the past decade, costing a town with about 6000 residents 200 full time jobs.
To say Tupper Lake is economically depressed might be an understatement.
We still have one asset, the beauty of the mountains. Nearly 10 years ago a man named Mike Foxman proposed a development for housing and resurrection of our favorite place to ski, Big Tupper, which had been closed since the late 90's.
The project was named The Adirondack Club and Resort (ACR).
Things looked promising. This was just what Tupper Lake needed. Jobs would be created by the construction of "camps" , basically vacation homes, second homes for folks that could come and enjoy our area and call it home for the time they were here.
It would take up a small part of the Town of Tupper Lake and to any reasonable person have no environmental impact on the environment.
Many secondary jobs would be created. The tax base would increase.
There was light at the end of the tunnel.
The project would have to undergo a permitting process second to none in the U.S. by the Adirondack Park Agency (APA). The history of the APA is another story entirely, suffice it to say the restrictions we face in the Park are stringent, like ridiculously stringent.
Then, times changed again, the meltdown on Wall Street, which slowed economic development nationwide, but worse was the interference of environmental group, namely Protect the Adirondacks and recently the Sierra Club.
For the past three years Big Tupper has been run on a volunteer basis by ARISE, a local group promoting positive economic growth in Tupper. This year they can't afford to do it. Part of the reason is the lawsuit by the aforementioned twits. As a teacher I can say, there a lot of disappointed kids.
What has transpired over the past year has been mind-boggling and disappointing.
The ACR after almost a decade long permitting process won the right to proceed last spring.
A bigger light at the end of the tunnel we thought.
And then, Protect the Adirondacks, the Sierra Club and a couple of local residents filed suit saying the permitting process by the APA were flawed.
Evidently someone didn't get an accurate count of toads and blackflys on the property.
Needless to say, my take is that the locals and groups opposed have two separate agendas. For the locals it's a matter of, I have mine and go screw yourself. They own lakefront and simply don't want to share public water. We affectionately call them NIMBY's.
The environmental groups fall into a couple of categories. Some are like the locals, and some have a hidden agenda to make the Park part of the Bob Marshall Wilderness (another story indeed).
That said, my buddy Mark Moeller wrote a letter which was published in The Adirondack Daily Enterprise, which pretty much reiterates what I've said (or vice-versa). Here's the link.
And the twits at Protect the Adirondacks responded with this on their website.
The fact that they question Mark's credibility is sufficient to say these folks have none of their own. Come spend some time with us and the real working folks Protect and Sierra,instead of collecting your donations and sitting behind a desk. If you don't, you're chicken. And I know you're chicken. When is the last time any of you have spoken in Tupper? C'mon tell us what you're going to do for us and our kids.
No, you won't, because you're chicken.
Read them both, make up your own mind.
I'll ask this, why the hell is the Sierra Club involved?
Read Protect the Adirondacks mission statement,seems they value chipmunks over people, not that there's anything wrong with chipmunks.
Oh, and to finish my post title I'll say this:
Dear Protect the Adirondacks, Sierra Club and Phyliss Thompson-Nimby,
Please kiss my ass.
Please go away,
Don't make it last,
Another friggin' day!
Just sayin' ...
Sincerely,
Glenn Poirier
