Docks left must be removed by spring, DEC says
By Gwendolyn Craig
Norman’s Cove, on the eastern shores of Indian Lake, leads to a hiking trail up Baldface Mountain in the Jessup River Wild Forest. Eugene Rall Jr., on his boat-to-hike trip there in July, was stunned to discover the cove lined with docks, some deteriorating.
“A sad sight to see,” he said. “A complete disregard for the pristine nature of the Adirondacks and the lake.”
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This long-standing, yet improper, storage practice of a few residents seems to have since grown.
Glenn Van Norstrand, president of the Indian Lake Association, said for a half century or more, residents overwintered their docks in the cove. Recently, he counted more than two dozen docks there, he said. New owners of Indian Lake Marina also used the cove since last fall to store old docks they had replaced.
“It was never a secret,” said Ryan Baker, one of the marina owners.
The numerous docks strewn at the shore, visible from Google Earth, drew the attention of the state Department of Environmental Conservation. The DEC warned residents not to drag any more docks to the cove or face a violation.
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“Consistent with DEC’s regulations and practice, DEC is notifying the dock owners that they must remove their personal property from state lands as soon as water levels will permit,” the DEC told the Explorer. “Dock owners who are winterizing their camps should not move their docks into the cove or elsewhere on state lands as doing so would be a violation.”
The lake is an impoundment managed by the Hudson River-Black River Regulating District. Baker said Indian Lake is already down to mid-October levels, and the marina is closing early on Sept. 15 because of it. He plans to remove his few docks stored at the cove in the spring.
Van Norstrand is concerned by the DEC’s sudden crackdown and is hoping it will reverse course.
Rall and Van Norstrand are particularly frustrated by the marina’s docks left there all year. Van Norstrand said he was concerned some of the marina’s “derelict docks” drew complaints. He took it upon himself to remove many of them. Both believe if the docks had been removed by Memorial Day, like most residents have done in years prior, the issue would not have become a problem resulting in state intervention.
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Baker disagreed that any lake association members had removed his docks. Some he had sold and given away, he said. He wanted the docks to be used or repurposed if they could before going to the dump.
Baker and co-owner Robert Gallup said they, too, removed some of the marina’s docks recently before the water levels went down.
“We sensed people don’t like it,” Baker said. “We’ve made arrangements for other places for our docks to be stored in the winter.”
Baker called the marina’s docks “a fraction” of those brought to the cove. The two owners highlighted various lake cleanup days they organize.
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Van Norstrand emailed lake association members asking them to contact Interim DEC Commissioner Sean Mahar and state Assemblyman Robert Smullen “to continue the tradition of dock storage on the eastern shore during the off-season.”
“It’s the eleventh, close to the twelfth hour,” Van Norstrand said of many seasonal homeowners likely closing up for the winter. “The last thing residents need is to deal with this when it’s time to put your dock away.”
Rall is glad to see the cove getting cleaned up and would prefer it done even sooner than the spring. The owner of a landscape design and maintenance company outside of Philadelphia, he is frustrated to see how the marina used the lake cove as a dumping ground, even if temporarily.
“We want to see them thrive in their business and be successful, but not at the expense of the environment,” Rall said and likened the storage practice to a form of littering.
Outside Philadelphia, he said, “you see dumping all the time on vacant lots, alongside roads. It’s the same mentality.”
A seasonal resident on Indian Lake, Rall also disagrees with the Indian Lake Association’s concerns about dock storage in the cove. Rall always winters his docks at his property.
“They’ve survived,” he said.
It does not appear that the DEC will waiver from its decision. The department said it will not require the removal of beached docks now, but it will require removal of them in early spring.
The DEC has issued similar directives in the Adirondack Park, it pointed out. In 2020, it required the removal of a floating boathouse on Raquette Lake from state underwater lands. In another case in 2007, floating camp owners on Cranberry Lake were required to remove their structures.
Top photo: Docks stored in Norman’s Cove on Indian Lake this summer. Photo provided by Eugene G. Rall Jr.
I wonder when the DEC is going to say or do something about the lone privately owned floating dock out on Middle Saranac Lake. Pretty far out on the lake from the shoreline. None of the other privately owned camps on that lake have one. My guess is that since its owner, Fran Yardley, is extremely wealthy and locally influential, most likely, never- but most everyone else who frequents Middle Saranac Lake who I know agrees that floating dock is totally out of place there and questions how it can possibly be legal. But the rules are always different for rich people.
DEC has overstepped – they have acquiesced to this practice for at least 50 and probably more years. Dock owners have little choice – tow the floats to Norman’s Cove or risk destruction of the dock in the spring. I think they have created a situation that they now have to live with.
How about pulling your docks out of the water, stacking them in your property and putting them back in the water in the spring. Why must docks be brought to the cove for the winter??
Because my property abuts rock ledge and I don’t happen to own a fork lift. Many of us are in the same situation and it doesn’t help that the lake level fluctuates all winter. Heavy ice flows in the spring rip docks apart and from their moorings. Ever see it You might be surprised.
Grab friends or neighbors and figure a system to get the docks over the wall. You obviously have a way to get to your dock so there is a way to get the dock out of the water. And yes I take both of my docks out of the water in the fall and put them back in when the weather is good in the spring. Can get a lot done with pizza, wings and a 30 pack of beer. Many hands make light work !!
It’s amusing that the DEC enforces the law for everyone else, but when it comes to their own compliance, they seem to look the other way. For instance, their rangers fail to adhere to boating laws by frequently exceeding the speed limit of 5 mph when they are within 100 feet of the shore, causing significant impact on the shoreline.
I find it hard to believe that storing docks in a cove over the winter would have an impact on the environment. While leaving docks in a cove indefinitely is a problem, imposing a time limit for dock storage in a cove could be a solution that benefits everyone.
It’s time to reevaluate the law.
People with enough wealth to own lakeside property are whining because they can’t abuse the law to their benefit. I certainly hope the DEC doesn’t acquiesce to special interests at the expense of everyone else. A legacy of abusing the system is an unacceptable precedent.
What on earth are you talking about here? Your comment does not apply to this discussion. This has nothing to do with entitlement or money. It has to do with landscape, tradition and common sense. If you are familiar with some of the shoreline, you can see that is too difficult or even impossible to remove the docks in the fall to a safe spot on land which is why they are dragged over to the cove.
Evidently, this commenter is unfamiliar with the fabwork of the Indian Lake residence; most of us are hardworking individuals who value Mother Nature more than the establishment does.
I agree. Just because you have lake front property doesn’t mean you are rich. For many local families in the Adirondacks these properties are their only wealth.
It is not explained in the article. Are these mostly “stored” here temporarily because there is current here and less ice? Not everyone has fancy boat houses like the DEC.
So much entitlement. If it’s your property, store it on your property.
It’s not hard to follow the law. “Tradition” is just an excuse by the entitled. You’re not special.
An entitlement is the right to a particular privilege or benefit, granted by law or custom. It seems to me that it was a custom of property owners to store their docks in a cove for the past 50 years plus. I agree that coves should not be used as a dumping ground for derelict docks and they should be out of the coves by Memorial Day. With this deadline, the DEC would have the right to tow them away.
Why should the DEC waste their time and our tax dollars cleaning up a mess that shouldn’t be there in the first place.
No, store the dock on YOUR property, you don’t own the lake. The lake belongs to ALL tax paying New Yorkers.
Actually this depends on the littoral rights in the state. In many states (NY I am pretty sure is one) you actually own the lake bottom out like a pie shape in front of your waterfront. Not the water – but the ground.
https://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/story/38516/20190424/tri-lakes-takes-who-owns-the-lake-bottom-and-why-it-matters
Mr. Rall is perhaps unaware of the real attributes of the Adirondacks, equally as special as the landscape; the people and their Adirondack way of life. One such example is how people in Sabael use common sense in storing docks in the fall so they are not destroyed by winter ice on the Sabael shoreline. This is what we have done for decades. I don’t know when it started but I know my great grandfather, grandfather, father, my generation and my son’s generation have used Norman’s Cove for dock storage in the fall. It works because the cove is shallow enough that when the water goes down in the fall the docks rest safely on beach. It is unfortunate that the relatively new marina owners left docks in the cove over the summer. I see that as a mistake that can easily be corrected and prevented in the future. There is no need to put a full stop on taking docks across the lake to the uninhabited cove in the fall. The cove is the perfect place and why it has been the tradition of dock owners for so long. The cove is secluded and the few docks put there for safekeeping should offend no one all winter long. What is appalling to me is that Mr. Rall is comparing a few docks in the cove to city lots used as a dumping ground. Mr. Rall, if you are reading this, I ask you to learn more about the longstanding way of life on the lake and next time you have an issue, rather than impacting everyone by “whistleblowing”, instead do something we are able to do in a great small town like Indian Lake, take your complaint locally so it can be reasonably addressed.
Sure – Come on over and lend a hand Rob – I’m sure you and a few of our friends can lift a 3,000 lb dock straight out of the water over a 6′ ledge. Doubt if beer will pay for the herniated disks though . . .
The need to store docks in Indian Lake’s Normans Cove during the winter months comes from the need to deal with the huge fluctuations in the lake’s water level during the year coupled with the nature of the lake shoreline, bottom and geography. It had been accepted as standard operating procedure for decades and has never been shown to cause any harm to the cove.
Indian Lake is in reality a man-made reservoir which was created by the construction of the Indian Lake dam in 1898. Prior to that, the modern lakebed once consisted of three small ponds connected by the Indian River, hence its long and narrow shape. Its flow carries water toward the dam, which is currently being restored. On most days, the wind blows up the lake, and any large objects, including boats, loose docks and huge ice floes, can and have been carried up the lake to the dam. Sometimes, after heavy rains coupled with spring thaws, the water level can rise very suddenly and significantly. When this happens, it raises boats, docks and ice floes together, while the prevailing southwest wind blows them all down toward the dam. Sometimes the water level rises so fast and high that docks can be crushed against the dam or even washed over the dam to shatter downstream. As climate change progresses, this is likely to get worse. Meanwhile, most of the lake bottom along the shore is sharp jagged granite which will chew up any icebound objects as they are pushed along the shoreline by the wind and current. Anyone who is familiar with the lake will notice remnants of destroyed and uprooted docks along the lakeshore, especially as they approach the north end of the lake. Some of them are several feet above the normal waterline and have been there for decades. Ironically, it recently became a self-assigned mission of the Indian Lake Association to remove these relics even as a part-time homeowner unfamiliar with the lake’s unique history has self-righteously announced that all the docks in the cove must be removed and not stored there in the future. Apparently he is ignorant of the ramifications of such an edict, but he has opened up a can of worms that has forced the DEC to choose between upholding a state regulation and causing many property owners to find some other way from having their docks damaged or destroyed.
Normans Cove is a unique feature of the lake where the entire shoreline in winter is either sandy or mud, and oblivious to the wind (which is why it is called a cove). It abuts State land that is completely undeveloped and features no homes, roads, or other manmade structures. It is able to accommodate the many docks that are stored there without interfering with any human activities. Even if a hiker on snowshoes wanted to climb Baldface in winter, they would have no trouble navigating around any docks in the cove.
The lake is unique in many ways, which is why it is so popular, but the combination of factors listed above make it a severe hardship to abandon the availability of Normans Cove as a solution in search of a problem. Certainly, the cove, and indeed the rest of the Indian Lake shoreline should be kept free of any debris that accumulates, and the ILA has assigned itself that task. It is clearly the hope of dock owners that the DEC can find a way to allow the cove to be used as it has been for generations as long as no docks or other debris be permitted to remain from Labor Day to Memorial Day.
Daniel Way MD
Vice-President ILA
Hello All my name is Thomas Palopoli and I am the owner of Adirondack Floating Docks here in Indian Lake and can’t imagine not permitting the residents to store there docks in Normans Cove and other areas on the Eastern Shoreline.. Indian Lake experiences severe winters with extreme Ice and snow that would damage and destroy docks throughout the winter and if not put in a safe place every year you’d be cleaning up the mess with the docks be left on the Western shore line with wood debris and billet floatation floating everywhere floating on the lake every ice out and would cause boating hazards year after year.. The easy solution here is to tag the docks with owners information so this doesn’t turn in to a problem down the road and a place for anyone to get rid of there old docks. Residents on Indian Lake have been storing there docks this way for decades. And if anyone knows the power of Ice and what it can do that would be me…so please don’t take this right from the people of Indian Lake this would do more damage than good.. and I know we’re not the only Lake that stores there Docks in a Safe place as there is many Lakes in the Adirondacks that do the Same thing. God Bless all and Be Safe…
Thomas Palopoli
Adirondack Floating Docks
The challenges detailed in the article are largely attributable to the marina’s operational decisions. While the marina is undeniably a valuable asset to our community and we want to see their business flourish, their decisions have not only impacted the current situation but have also diminished opportunities for the community as a whole. It is important to address the underlying issues within the marina’s practices rather than misplacing blame on individuals who are committed to positive environmental change. Our focus should be on improving these practices as a strong community to safeguard our natural resources and enhance the quality of life for everyone in our community, and for generations to come.
The Dock storage in Norman’s cove has been common practice for many years . Because or the fluctuations in lake level Dock owners are forced to keep moving there docks further in to the main part of the lake to be able to use there boats etc during the recreational season by seasons end leaving there docks unprotected in winter ,That’s why Norman s cove Is so important ,it is an area where dock are protected from the main part of the lake and when the lake is lowered in the fall most docks are rested on sand . In my opinion the solution would be ,to issue permits to allow residents dock storage Labor Day to Memorial Day with Id on the docks Identifying it
Permits and ID. Practical solutions! That’s what is needed.
A couple of points:
First, the Indian Lake water level (per USGS) varies 13 feet over the year. The lake level is lowered over the fall and winter to be ready for snow melt, and peaks in the late spring. At other lakes with this kind of fluctuation, you hear constant complaints but at Indian Lake they just accept it for what it is, and I commend them for that. But it is really tough on docks.
Second, Mr. Rall presumably has a full time job and year round income in Philadelphia. I would like to see some sympathy for the marina. Their business has to make it, or not, in the few summer months. The last owners of the marina were not able to. Indian Lake is a big lake, with only one, struggling, marina. Let’s cut them some slack.
Storing the docks over the winter is not hurting anyone. There just needs to be a deadline in the spring to remove them.