Friends of Tillson Lake

Friends of Tillson Lake Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from Friends of Tillson Lake, Charitable organisation, New York, NY.

Friends of Tillson Lake is a volunteer-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organized to save Tillson Lake from a plan by the Palisades Interstate Park Commission (PIPC) to remove the dam, drain the lake and get rid of it forever.

Support our fund raising event on November 3rd, 3-5 pm at The Greenhouses * Buy tickets, bring your family and friends *...
10/12/2019

Support our fund raising event on November 3rd, 3-5 pm at The Greenhouses * Buy tickets, bring your family and friends * Donate prizes for the raffle and silent auction * Bring finger foods and beverages to share * Dance to the music of Soul Purpose for a worthwhile cause ***SAVE TILLSON LAKE***

Listen to (or read) WAMC's Allison Dunne interview - featuring Friends of Tillson Lake's Morey Gottesman, Sen. Jen Metzg...
08/20/2019

Listen to (or read) WAMC's Allison Dunne interview - featuring Friends of Tillson Lake's Morey Gottesman, Sen. Jen Metzger and representatives of the DEC and NY State Parks - on the new engineering study and where things stand with respect to Saving Tillson Lake. We're making progress but we need to do more. Keep sending those letters and making phone calls.

Area residents who have been pushing to save a lake in Ulster County are encouraged by a new engineering report. They hope the report’s findings will

Dear Fellow Tillson Lake Saver,Our crusade to Save Tillson Lake is moving forward. We have made significant progress si...
06/15/2019

Dear Fellow Tillson Lake Saver,
Our crusade to Save Tillson Lake is moving forward. We have made significant progress since our last update: (a) PIPC commissioned a more detailed engineering cost estimate for fixing the dam, but there is still no commitment to get it done; (b) we filed a petition with NYS DEC to include Tillson Lake in the Freshwater Wetland Map and elevate its status with respect to regulatory protection and conservation; and (c) we met with newly elected and appointed officials to bring them up to speed on our campaign to Save Tillson Lake and advocate for their support. A full summary of our efforts is presented below with most recent events/developments highlighted in bold.
Our fight is far from over. We need your continued support and donations. Please scroll to the end to see how you can contribute.
WHAT FRIENDS OF TILLSON LAKE HAVE DONE SO FAR:
• Set up a web page, created a Facebook group with combined members of over 700 and growing
• Put up lawn signs, received extensive media coverage and wrote to various newspapers to raise awareness on issues affecting our Lake
• Organized campaigns to call and write to elected officials and Park executives to petition them to Fix the Dam and Save Tillson Lake
• Incorporated a 501(3)(c) organization to raise funds, promote public awareness and advocacy for saving Tillson Lake
• Attended PIPC meetings to announce our opposition to their plan to permanently remove Tillson Lake
• Hired ecologists, wetland specialists, legal counsel and other professionals who validated the importance of Tillson Lake to environmental protection, to wildlife conservation and to the community as a whole. The studies presented empirical evidence to support our argument for saving Tillson Lake.
• Met with NYS Parks leadership and all elected officials - including new incumbents NYS Senator Jen Metzger, US Rep. Antonio Delgado and NYS Parks Commissioner Eric Kulleseid (Pat Ryan will be next!) - to advocate for the preservation of Tillson Lake and share the scientific reports
• Petitioned the NY State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to map Tillson Lake as jurisdictional Freshwater Wetland under the Environmental Conservation Law. If Tillson Lake is classified and mapped under this program, the permitting process entailed in removing the Lake would be significantly more onerous.
WE ARE CLEARLY BEING HEARD:
• The Towns of Gardiner and Shawangunk passed resolutions asking PIPC to stop its plan to drain Tillson Lake.
• All of our elected officials have expressed support and reached out to PIPC and NYS Parks to advocate for saving Tillson Lake.
• A majority of the members of the Ulster County Legislature signed a joint letter to PIPC opposing the removal of Tillson Lake.
• Hudson River Sloop Clearwater added its voice by writing to NYS Parks to support the preservation of Tillson Lake and the renovation of its dam.
• Due to our persistent clamor and pressure from politicians and community leaders, PIPC put on hold its plan to drain Tillson Lake and commissioned a more detailed engineering study to determine the cost of fixing the dam. The study is expected to be completed by summer 2019.
BUT WE NEED TO DO MORE!
• We need to continue writing letters and calling on our elected officials, PIPC and NYS Parks to let them know that we are still here, and we will not stop until they fix the dam and SAVE TILLSON LAKE.
• We need to prepare for the results of PIPC’s engineering study, potentially hire our own engineers to evaluate the report. We need to continue our advocacy with NYS Parks and the NYS legislature for funding to repair of the dam.
• DEC informed us that it would require more information and processes before a decision to include Tillson Lake in the regulatory Wetland Map could be undertaken. We will continue our dialogue with the DEC and keep pushing for Tillson Lake’s designation as Protected Freshwater Wetland, but we will need more resources to succeed.
Please continue sending your tax-deductible donations to Friends of Tillson Lake
• by check to Friends of Tillson Lake, Box 228, Gardiner NY 12525
• by credit card or PayPal at savetillsonlake.org/donations.

For almost 100 years Tillson Lake has been a refuge for wildlife and a magical treasure for Ulster County and beyond.

I smell something happening a week from today! Get your tickets on savetillsonlake.org
06/15/2019

I smell something happening a week from today! Get your tickets on savetillsonlake.org

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New York, NY

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+16465718528

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Tillson Lake - Why we need to save it

Tillson Lake was built in 1930 for recreational use - swimming, boating, and fishing. Over the years, nature has taken its course: the lake and its environs have developed into a rich, vibrant and diverse biological community supporting both water and land-based plants and animals. The rich aquatic-terrestrial habitat, along with its recreational use, would be lost to the area should the lake be drained and become a stream in a field.

There have been threats to both the lake, and lake-access in the past. In 1983, it was drained by its previous owner in retaliation to community opposition to his proposed development of a trailer park. More recently, a golf course around Tillson Lake was put forward as part of a proposal to the Awosting Reserve gated community project on Shawangunk ridge. The project fell through and the State acquired Tillson Lake and made it part of Minnewaska State Park Preserve in 2006. The State’s acquisition of Tillson Lake was widely celebrated because it meant continued public access and better stewardship and protection – our taxes working for us!

Unfortunately, that long anticipated honeymoon was a mirage. Soon after the acquisition, Minnewaska’s Master Plan listed repairs to Tillson Lake dam as a high priority but no repairs to the dam have been undertaken to date. Failure to undertake necessary repairs to the dam has certainly contributed to its further deterioration. Now we find out that PIPC’s first major capital investment in Tillson Lake will be spent for its demolition – a complete abrogation of its duty of stewardship and protection.

Tillson Lake is a critical part of Minnewaska State Park Preserve - the only one of its lakes designated for fishing, and one of two lakes where boating and kayaking are allowed. It is the most accessible area within the Preserve for people with disabilities. The boat launch is a short distance from the parking lot, allowing people who may have difficulty walking to experience kayaking, boating and fishing. Tillson Lake is one of the largest in Southern Ulster and an important venue for recreational activities in the region. People from Ulster county and visitors from as far as New York City have been using this lake to picnic, fish, kayak, birdwatch, or spend a relaxing time with family and friends.