Attention turns to the Mohawk

MOHAWK VALLEY — Plans to build public parks and make improvements in and around the Capital Region are increasingly focusing on a major local resource some believe could be a key to economic development in the future: the Mohawk River.

Contractors are building a parking area, concrete pier and paved walkway leading to a popular fishing site beneath the Crescent Bridge in Halfmoon as part of a $76,000 effort.

To the west, the Montgomery County villages of Fultonville and Fonda are planning waterfront access projects of their own.

Fonda, with the help of the county’s Planning Department, is cooperating with the state Canal Corp. to plan a public park and access site at the state Canal Corp.’s maintenance facility in Fonda, with the help of a $70,500 grant from the state Environmental Protection Fund’s Local Waterfront Revitalization Program.

Fultonville was awarded $135,000 in LWRP money to design and build a scenic overlook and waterfront access facility on the south side of the river.

There are dozens of other projects in various stages funded by the Canal Corp.’s 2006 Canal Greenway Grant Initiative which provided $8.36 million toward the efforts.

time is right

Though the downturn in the economy may foreshadow fewer grant opportunities in the near future, agency leaders say momentum focusing on the state’s second largest river is growing as officials in cities, towns and villages work to capitalize on the economic benefits that come with drawing people out for various forms of recreation.

State Canal Corp. Director Carmella Mantello said when she arrived to head up the agency just over three years ago, there were 40 recreational events planned in canalside communities.

“This year we had over 200 and some-odd events,” Mantello said.

“I will say in just the three years I’ve been at the Canal Corp. that the momentum, the positiveness I’ve seen is working,” Mantello said.

It’s clear fewer state dollars may be available in the future as New York contends with budget deficits, but other funding opportunities could come in the near future from the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor.

Established by Congress in 2000, the corridor is one of 37 federally designated National Heritage Areas organized to help preserve and interpret various aspects of the Mohawk River and Erie Canal, including its history, scenery, nature and recreation.

Schenectady and Montgomery counties shared in part of a $200,000 grant program established last year by the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor.

A $12,500 grant supported the Montgomery and Schenectady counties’ Lock 7–12 Canalfest. And other grants helped pay for interpretive signs along the canal in Buffalo, for an exhibit at the Erie Canal Museum in Syracuse and for signs and promotional materials for the Ithaca waterfront, called the southern gateway to the Erie Canal.

It’s possible another round of grants will be established for the upcoming year, said Jean Mackay, director of communications and outreach at the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor.

The corridor commission is meeting in October to finalize plans, look at budget figures and see what money will be available, Mackay said.

evidence of success

Providing funding and assistance, officials say, ultimately leads to more people coming to the area and spending money.

“The interesting thing that we’ve really seen is that the return on the investment for the amount of money we gave to grantees just far exceeded our expectations,” Mackay said.

“People are coming here from all over the world. We see communities working together more than they used to when they start to see that bigger picture,” Mackay said.

The Canalway’s commission is conducting a survey this year to gauge the financial impact of these programs, so beyond anecdotal evidence the economic impact has not been quantified.

For Fred Miller, Executive Director of the Mohawk Valley Heritage Corridor Commission, the Mohawk River “is the spine of all our work.”

Miller believes the Mohawk River is long overdue for more-comprehensive attention beyond access to its banks.

“It’s many, many decades past time when the poor Mohawk gets attention,” Miller said.

laying groundwork

Miller is pitching an idea to the state Department of Conservation, which coordinates the Hudson River Estuary Program, a regional partnership made up of local, state and federal government entities working to conserve natural resources, clean up pollution and promote public use and enjoyment of the state’s largest river, the Hudson.

Begun in 1987, the law that created the program called for a management program for the Hudson River and ultimately garnered more than $173 million in funding for improvements, including water quality and habitat restoration projects, monitoring and cleanup of pollution, state and municipal park improvements and brownfields cleanup.

“There’s a lot of money going into the Hudson River,” Miller said.

A grants program established in 1999 started providing grants from $2,500 up to $100,000 for interpretation and education, habitat preservation, local scenic resource projects, community conservation and improvements to river access, including boating, fishing, swimming and wildlife-related recreation, according to program materials.

Miller admits the Hudson River played a vital role in the country’s development, which led to the designation as an American Heritage River.

But Miller argues the Mohawk River should be considered one as well.

“It’s just as important as the Hudson River, maybe more so,” Miller said.

The history of communities that developed along the Mohawk River is but one topic of interest Miller believes can draw people to the region, but other elements, he said, are being left out.

eco goldmine

The river itself is home to numerous species of fish, providing a variety of sport fishing opportunities, but there’s little material to be found on the Internet or elsewhere highlighting the river’s fisheries.

“If we had a bass tournament on the Mohawk you couldn’t get a hotel room for 30 miles,” Miller said.

The Mohawk River valley itself is also home to a variety of species like the threatened Northern Harrier.

National Audubon Society maps show a variety of migratory birds pass above the Mohawk river’s narrow passage at “The Noses” near Canajoharie as well — but there aren’t any sites set up for bird watchers to view them, Miller said.

“We are in the great flyway,” said Miller, who said birds traveling the flyway “fill the sky at night.”

Were a program similar to the Hudson River Estuary project to be implemented for the Mohawk River, Miller envisions platforms on the hills overlooking state Route 5S so bird watchers could take advantage of the views.

“Birding alone is a massive industry,” Miller said.

In terms of pollution, Miller said projects to pull contaminants out of the Hudson River are worthwhile. But the Mohawk River represents more than a quarter of the Hudson River’s drainage basin, so minimal efforts to clean the Mohawk ultimately mean the Hudson isn’t as clean as it could be.

The state Health Department advises people not to eat any carp and to eat no more than one meal monthly of largemouth bass and tiger muskellunge taken from the Mohawk River between the Oriskany Creek and West Canada Creeks in Oneida and Herkimer counties because the fish are contaminated with PCBs.

Carp between the West Canada Creek and Fivemile Dam below Little Falls in Herkimer County are also contaminated with PCBs, and the state recommends eating those no more than once monthly.

FUNDING UNLIKELY

Miller is trying to get the state Department of Environmental Conservation behind the idea of creating a program similar to the Hudson River Estuary effort, but DEC Region 4 Director Gene Kelly said the state’s current economic situation makes it unlikely a major effort focusing on the Mohawk River would find support.

Budget cuts are ongoing, Kelly said.

“It’s not exactly a time where the state is looking for opportunities to create new programs requiring funding and staffing,” Kelly said.

“We’re struggling with very difficult times and we’re trying to avoid neglecting critical programs that are already up and running. The last 10 to 12 years were lean years for the department, and we’re still recovering,” Kelly said.

Kelly said the Hudson and Mohawk rivers are different in many ways, but he said there are extremely rare and unique bogs to the west, and endangered turtles in the Mohawk River region.

The state’s Environmental Protection Fund does provide money to improve access to the river, though, Kelly said.

“I firmly believe there’s probably ample opportunities for using EPF money to acquire properties of interest where there’s significant recreational hunting and fishing opportunities. Bringing more people into the outdoors, that’s one of our sort of core missions,” Kelly said.

Mantello at the Canal Corp. said she believes shrinking funding sources won’t stem the momentum that continues in communities surrounding the Mohawk River.

“We all recognize, certainly, the economy is not in favor of new grant programs or maybe even some new initiatives. But I think it allows us to actually think out of the box a little more, work together, maybe harder than we used to to still try to capitalize on the assets we do have. Sometimes it’s about creating partnerships to develop opportunities where you might not need funding,” Mantello said.