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Blowin' in the wind at Maple Ridge Wind Farm on Tug Hill

NYS Gazetteer Pages 85, 84

Tilt at windmills:  to confront and engage in conflict with an imagined opponent or threat

 We spent quite a bit of time over the summer and fall studying our maps and checking out potential places where we’ll be able to take our camper and the 4 wheelers to spend a few days on the trails, and in the process we’ve made some great discoveries that you’ll consider “must sees” too!

Our friends Val and Norm Burditt told us about a huge wind farm they had heard about outside of Lowville, in Lewis County.  They had been up north to visit the Deer River Ranch (www.deerriverranch.net) on Route 177; it’s between New Boston and Bellwood - don’t blink when you drive through these “towns,” you’ll miss them.  They didn’t go quite far enough east to find the wind farm, and wanted to make sure we put it on our list of “to visits.” 

We were heading home from the Adirondacks last October and after leaving Stillwater made our way over to Croghan get some breakfast at Schulz’s and pick up a couple of pounds of the great XXXXX sharp cheese from E.M. Marilley and Co.   The typical early morning chilly fog at Stillwater prompted us to pull on jeans, heavy socks and boots and a fleecy jacket; by the time we finished breakfast a couple of hours later the early October sun outdid itself; we inconspicuously ditched the jeans and boots and slipped into shorts and sandals behind the truck.  Croghan is a cool little town, located where Routes 812 and 126 intersect, and it’s always fun just to take a stroll down Main Street.  Monnat’s General Store’s porch was covered wall to wall with huge pots of chrysanthemums.  At only $2.50 each, two of these giants with crimson petals and cheerful little yellow daisy-faces just had to go home with us; they were so big we each had to carry one back to the truck. 

Rolling southwest through gentle hills on Route 812 our next destination was Lowville, and the wind farm.   Lowville rests in a long valley and from our vantage point on the eastern ridge we had our first glimpse of an amazing sight.  Through a slight haze we began to see dozens, then tens of dozens of graceful wind turbines crowning the far ridge.  It was breathtaking and we couldn’t wait to get an up-close-and-personal view.   Navigating through Lowville isn’t too tough; there are only two main roads through town, Route 12 and Route 26.   We headed down a side-street off Route 26 that looked like it was going to head up the hill and out of town.  Bingo!  We found ourselves on Rector Road and in the middle of the 20,000+ acre Maple Ridge Wind Farm.  We counted about 90 towers already rising into the sky, and as we continued to drive we discovered more and more roads being put in, and site numbers up to 200. 

At that time, construction was in varying stages and the magnitude of planning and executing infrastructure upgrades was astounding. Each turbine requires a network of underground cables to carry the electricity from its generator to the Rector Road substation, which also had to be constructed.  Additionally, a 10+ mile overhead electric transmission line (requiring construction of 77 tower structures) would have to be run from the Rector Road substation that would provide the connection to Niagara Mohawk’s Adirondack-Porter line.  Existing roads have been improved to be able to handle the incredible number and size of the machinery and trucks that would be rumbling through the area for many months.  Through the forests and farmland, grids of roadways were being laid out, concrete pads were being installed, and behemoth cranes lifted turbines into place.  As far as we could see to the north and south, the regal towers stood silently - waiting for the day when the switch would be thrown and the non-stop wind high on the Tug Hill Plateau would provide power to nearly 60,000 homes. 

Since our trip, Phase I of the project has been activated and about 120 turbines are online.  You have to see these things to believe them; they are absolutely stunning.  Each tower is 260 feet tall, with a blade length of 130 feet.  These are real big boys, each generating 1.65 megawatts.  The amazing part is that after all the construction has settled and everything is in place, the actual “footprint” of the turbines will use less than 1% of the total acreage of the project.  The rest of the land will be available for farming, pastures, or whatever.  Two wind power companies are partners in what is currently the largest wind project in the eastern US.  PPM Energy and Horizon Wind Energy lease the land from private owners, who are compensated based on the number of megawatts that are generated by the turbines on their property.  In other wind projects, land owners have received anywhere between $2,000 and $9,000 per year for each turbine on their property.  Municipalities also can benefit greatly from this type of project, typically receiving payment in lieu of taxes and for a project this size it’s going to be an enormous boost for three townships. Lewis County definitely is clued in.   Hello...Wayne County???  It’s time for our communities to quit “tilting at windmills” - there’s no threat from these things and they certainly aren’t an enemy; there’s just a great big benefit for everyone and especially our environment. 

We continued on our way into the interior of Tug Hill with the sight of miles of those majestic towers not soon to be forgotten.  They kinda make you feel very small and humble, and the knowledge that with this project alone, the amount of pollution-free wind power in New York State has been quadrupled makes you feel pretty darn good.   Our trusty map indicated that if we followed Flat Rock Road we’d end up at the Tug Hill Wildlife Management Area, one of the places we’re investigating for the 4-wheelers.  As soon as we left the wind farm, the road became really interesting; I think it really is just a snowmobile trail that widens in a few spots.  A few hunting camps are cut back into the forest and trails and logging roads crisscross miles of wonderful nothingness.  We came out at a dusty intersection at Parker Road where we found a sign indicating there are a number of campgrounds, inns, B&B’s, and restaurants that would provide a great jump off on to the ATV trails.  We picked our way through the back roads - Parker Road to Rector Road past Sears Pond, north on Salmon River Road, Factory Road to Seven by Nine Corners, then north to Barnes Corners where we checked out Tug Hill Campground; with Tuggers Restaurant and Bar right next door  it will do very nicely next summer!!!

For more info on the Maple Ridge Wind Farm, visit www.mapleridgewind.com; better yet, plan a trip to Lowville and see this marvel for yourself!  And, as long as you’re there, head north to Croghan:  http://www.lcida.org/CroghanVillage.html