LOCALadk Magazine

Fall 2019 LOCALadk Magazine 21 LOCALadk the vacation spot for the Rodgers Family. They wanted to see the land preser ved, and sold it to the Trust for the bargain price of $1.1 million. The Trust is now seeking donations to pay for the stewardship costs of what will be known as the Eagle Mountain Wilderness Preser ve, which will be a private- ly held cousin to the state's celebrated Forest Preser ve. The Adirondack Land Trust will hold a Forever Wild ease- ment, and trails will be developed by Champlain Area Trails (C ATS) of Westport. The primar y trail will follow the retreat's old mile-and-a-half drive to a cabin site on Clear Pond—a re- splendent blue sapphire set in a band of forested hillsides. A few scattered artifacts of the old cabin remain, as does what's left of the dock, still visible in the shallow waters. It is, Leibowitz said, something of an Adirondacks in minia- ture —both ecologically and historically—reflecting not just the varied natural features of the Park, but the historical el- ements as well, dating to a time when its natural beauty was first being discovered by stifled city dwellers. In its new and permanent incarnation, Eagle Mountain will be accessible to the public. The preser ve is open to hiking, swimming, fishing, and, with permit, hunting. The trail to Clear Pond is largely level, with a couple of grades to make for an interesting ski in the winter. But the Trust's primar y mission is to put nature ahead of people, so some sensitive areas are being restricted to protect biodiversity. Eagle Mountain itself, for example, is not presently accessible be- cause peregrine falcons are nesting on its bluffs. "There are a number of resources that are quite sensitive, and we're tr ying to find a way to invite the people to enjoy the property in a way that protects the wild characteristics of the land," Leibowitz said. The falcons are one of many creatures great and small that populate the preser ve. Brett Engstrom, a naturalist and board member of the Trust, discovered shells of an East- ern Pearlshell, a rare freshwater mussel. The mussel only sur vives in pristine waters, and the Eagle Mountain tract is awash in classic, clear Adirondack streams. At the heights on its eastern slope, black waters collect in a wetland beneath soaring cliffs, eventually drifting lazily downhill to become the chattering headwaters of the North Branch of the Bo- quet River. So, too, other streams tumble from high ponds over smooth bedrock to create unusual falls decorated with wild- flowers and cool green mosses. On a hike in, wildflower phone apps get a workout because of the variety—in spring there are spots along the trail that are virtually blanketed in elegant lady slippers, formally posing for the inevitable pho- tographs—and this is true as well of the stunning variety of trees, plants, bugs, birds, berries, mushrooms, lichens, and animals. "First, you notice that this diversity is beautiful," said John Davis, founder of the Split Rock Wildway, a protected natu- ral wildlife passage from Lake Champlain to the High Peaks. "And with diversity you get greater stability. It's more resil- ient because it has more players." That's increasingly important as the changing climate con- tinues to tilt the playing field. The West Champlain Hills ecol- ogy has a broad bandwidth that can absorb stresses that, for example, an alpine summit can't. Davis said the tract is also an important puzzle piece in an- other potential protective wildlife corridor of unfragmented forest reaching from Lake Champlain above Willsboro to Tay- lor Pond, and then bending south to the Jay and Hurricane Wilderness to connect with the Split Rock Wildway. Those

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