Upper Saranac Lake shoreland added to forest preserve

State buys land formerly owned by the Petty family

By Mike Lynch

The state Department of Environmental Conservation has purchased a five-acre parcel, including 570-feet of shoreline, on Upper Saranac Lake that was once owned by former regional director Bill Petty, brother to legendary conservationist Clarence Petty. 

The land is located on the southeastern shore on Upper Saranac Lake and will be added to the 75,000-acre Saranac Lake Wild Forest, which surrounds it on three sides. Its purchase will ensure that a mile-long stretch of shoreline between Indian Carry and Indian Point remains forever wild, according to the DEC.

Owned by the Adirondack Land Trust since January 2020, the DEC paid $225,000 in May for the property using the Environmental Protection Fund.

“Working with the Adirondack Land Trust and other partners demonstrates New York’s sustained commitment to protecting forest preserve lands, habitat, and the environment,” said DEC Region 5 Director Joe Zalewski. “This small but significant parcel will protect this Upper Saranac shoreline and keep it forever wild.”

The rugged shoreline purchased by DEC is edged by boulders and northern white cedars. Protecting wild shoreline improves water quality, promotes flood resilience, and provides fish habitat, according to the DEC.

The area also has an interesting history.

Clarence Petty, who died in 2009 at the age of 104, and his late brother Bill, who was once DEC’s regional director in Ray Brook, spent the first years of their lives on forest preserve just south of this parcel.

That is, until they were forced to move in 1908, when the New York Forest, Fish & Game Commission ended the practice of squatting on state land, and the Petty family moved to nearby private land.

The family remained fond of Upper Saranac Lake, and in 1952 Bill purchased the private inholding. Bill hoped to build a simple retirement cabin there, but he worked into his 70s and never found time, according to the Adirondack Land Trust. 

Bill Petty’s daughter Joanne Manning sold the land in 2017 to someone who sold it a few weeks later to Ed and Teresa Palen, owners of Adirondack Rock and River of Keene. 

The Palens bought it—as part of a deal for a separate property—with the intention of having it added to the Forest Preserve. The Adirondack Land Trust purchased the property from the Palens in January for $200,000.

Guy Middleton, lake manager for the Upper Saranac Foundation, said the shoreline there is rocky and shallow and there aren’t currently places to access the land. Campsites exist to the north and south of the property, he said.

The property is located between the villages of Tupper Lake and Saranac Lake and is north and slightly east of Indian Carry. The portage connects Stony Creek Ponds, located off the Raquette River, with Upper Saranac Lake. The route is used by paddlers for day trips or longer excursions from the Saranac Chain of Lakes to Long Lake or Tupper Lake.  

Upper Saranac Lake and Indian Carry are also part of the 740-mile Northern Forest Canoe Trail that stretches from Old Forge to Fort Kent, Maine. 

“We are proud to partner with New York State on this project and honored to have helped the previous landowners fulfill their wish to see this parcel become a public resource,” said Mike Carr, executive director of the Adirondack Land Trust.