The First Wilderness Corridor: Origin and Impact
A Civic Conversation with Wayne LaMothe
Built between1865 and 1871, the Adirondack Branch of the Delaware & Hudson Railroad runs from Saratoga Springs to North Creek along the Hudson. Just 150 feet from Wayne LaMothe’s front door in Greenfield were the tracks that ran through his yard.
“Since I was brought home from the hospital, I heard the train whistles come through every morning and every night,” he says. “As kids, my brother and I would go out to watch the train. From the caboose, people would throw us oranges or candy. They always recognized we were there.”
The tracks of the Delaware & Hudson Railroad ran through Wayne LaMothe’s front yard when he was growing up in Greenfield Center.
Sweets aside, LaMothe was particularly interested in the train’s design, an interest he retains 37 years after the D&H ran its last train on the Adirondack Branch. For four decades, LaMothe has been serving as County Planner and Director of the Department of Planning and Community Development. His life remains tightly intertwined with the railroad through the First Wilderness initiative he spearheaded in 1998.
In a Civic Conversation, we asked LaMothe to describe his experiences with the with the First Wilderness, as well as his responsibilities and accomplishments over the course of his career.
“What I am most pleased about with the corridor is the whole concept,” he says. “From our perspective, this is an economic zone project. We work to make these communities more resilient, less dependent upon a single source, of either recreation or resource extraction.”
Starting as an intern in the Planning Department, LaMothe has overseen many significant projects within the First Wilderness Corridor since its initiation. We also asked him about his upcoming retirement.
“It will be 40 years in July,” he says. “That’s enough.”
Below is an edited transcript.
A First Wilderness initiative, Dean Farm in Stony Creek offers 3.6 miles of family friendly trails.
Please tell us about your background, beginning with your childhood and leading up to your decision to make planning your career?
I grew up in Greenfield Center and went to Saratoga schools. Where I lived was remote, but every weekend, in the summer, my family would go camping at Lake Durant or Cranberry Lake. The family home had 60 acres, with horses and trails, so being outdoors was a way of life.
I went to college originally to be an earth science teacher. At that point, college and I were mutually exclusive. I wasn't quite ready, so I ended up in the military. I got out of the military in 1980 and went back to college. Warren County had an internship program open in the planning department. I came here then, and I'm still here.
As County Planner, what are your main responsibilities, and how would you describe the service that your team provides to other agencies of county and town government?
The role of the planning department has evolved over the years. My role is to funnel the technical expertise of the department into the projects that we are assigned by the Board of Supervisors. We've always been paying attention to the needs of the county. A lot of times the job really is looking for a funding source to address the problems.
The county's capital improvement plan is close to $200 million worth of projects. Upon notice of a funding announcement from the state, we look at what the allowable uses of that funding can be, and compare that to the list of projects that the county and towns have identified, and we try to marry them up and secure some funding.
Right now, we have the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding for the Covid response. Years ago, it was mostly working with local communities, and not really doing a lot at the county level. Now it's shifted to where we're doing a lot of work at the county level and still working with the local municipalities to develop community activities within those towns that broaden their economic base.
What are your department’s main challenges and priority projects right now?
The Chester Challenge was created based on recommendations in a Recreation Plan funded by the First Wilderness.
This comes back to the current will of the board, and obviously the response to Covid. I mentioned ARPA funding. We're heavily involved in helping to determine where that funding will be expensed.
There is a personal project I'm working on in one of the corridor communities, in the town of Warrensburg. It is the Countryside Adult Home, and we’re doing major renovations for air quality for the residents. That's a $4 million project. We secured $1.2 million from state grants, and the county is providing the rest of the funding, so that's a project that's moving forward.
The North Creek sewer project is another one, along with a feasibility study for a municipal sewer in the hamlet of Stony Creek. We’re looking at securing the economic base there for future development.
When and how did the idea of the First Wilderness Program occur to you, and what specific steps did you take to put your plan into motion?
The precursor to the First Wilderness Plan was the North Creek Action Plan. After the mine shut down at Tahawus, that plan included repositioning and redeveloping the economies of local communities.
The North Creek Action Plan and Upper Hudson River Redevelopment Strategy were precursors of the First Wilderness Heritage Corridor.
It stipulated that if the rail line from Saratoga to North Creek ever became available, the county should consider purchasing it. Congressman Jerry Solomon, in a public meeting, said, "We need to fund this." So the county received a couple of million dollars to buy the line.
In 1996, I went to the National Planning Federation Conference in Seattle, and they had a session there on the National Heritage River Program. We realized that we could use the North Creek Action Plan as a starting point, and expand it to the communities along the river rail corridor in Warren County.
The towns of Hadley and Corinth requested to be part of it, so we brought them on board. The plan was then called the Upper Hudson River Redevelopment Strategy, and that was the genesis of the First Wilderness Plan. The name stems back to the concept that the Adirondacks were the first area in the country that legislatively was deemed wilderness, to preserve wilderness.
In 2002 we started the action plan, which identified 241 specific projects and goals. That whole process was a lot of fun. We met with community groups, town boards, state agencies, citizens. I know I logged 182 separate meetings over the two years the plan was in development. In the years since then we’ve implemented a lot of projects. It was a fun project. And it still is.
What benefits has the First Wilderness initiative produced for the region, and what are some specific projects from the initiative that have been significant in this way?
One of the most significant benefits is that we got everybody talking to everybody else. The communities learned to complement each other, and not compete. We have them work out schedules so significant events in different towns don’t conflict.
“One of the best things that has happened is the Recreation Mapper,” says LaMothe.
One of the best things that has happened is the Recreation Mapper. We're able to use the technology to point people to trails and other recreational opportunities that they probably wouldn't know about. Warren County is known for Lake George. We point out that there are things on the other side of the county that are just as enjoyable.
What I am most pleased about with the corridor is the whole concept. From our perspective this is an economic zone project. We work to make these communities more resilient, less dependent upon a single source, of either recreation or resource extraction. I think we've done that, but there's always room for improvement.
We've completed sewer feasibility studies as well as map and plan reports for North Creek. The town used that plan to secure some funding for public infrastructure. We've done some streetscape work and trails at the Dean Farm recreational area in Stony Creek.
We've been responsive to new opportunities. One of those is the Harris Preserve in Lake Luzerne. We worked with a not-for-profit organization to secure funding to develop the trail at Potash Mountain. That’s something that was not specifically spelled out in the First Wilderness plan, but was an opportunity we saw, and it's been very well received. There are always things left to do and that gives us something to do tomorrow when we come to work.
The management of invasive species like milfoil is among the county’s top funding priorities.
As you head into a new funding cycle, what's your approach to defining priorities and identifying projects that you might be interested in?
One of them is invasive species management. We’ll also be doing an assessment of the recreational opportunities in the county as a whole. Are there areas that need to be further developed? Are there holes in the services that are being provided, or in the opportunities for recreation?
There are underserved areas with broadband, and that is very important, given how the economy has shifted. There's an opportunity for economic growth within the First Wilderness Corridor, but it’s predicated on good broadband service.
A lot of what we do requires us to have project partners at the local level. There are always public water and sewer projects that need to be pursued. The rural communities have a harder time with finding funding for specific programs. It's always a matter of finding the working capital to make projects go forward.
How did your connection to the Adirondack railroad begin, and how would you describe it today?
If you talk to people here in the office, some of them will call me a gearhead. I've always liked the technical side of things. I've always appreciated technology and mechanical processes. When I grew up, right across the lawn were the railroad tracks that ran from Saratoga to North Creek. I always heard the train whistles come through every morning, every night, and I developed an affinity for the railroad, because it was a part of our lives.
When I came to work at the county, I saw that we owned the railroad that ran in front of the family house that I grew up in. So I was excited about the opportunity to keep the railroad operational.
What drove the whole concept of the First Wilderness was that the rail corridor was important both from a historical perspective and as an economic engine.
What do you most want those outside of the county or those who haven't visited to know about it? What makes it a special place?
There is an interesting story about rural life and the development of the communities along the river rail corridor. People demonstrated a strong work ethic. It wasn't always easy to get here. The rail opened up the possibility, and the improvement in the roadways and the private automobile really changed the landscape.
The first log drive on the river in the north and in this country was started at Thurman and went to Queensbury. That's a little-known historical tidbit that demonstrates the entrepreneurship and the adventure of the residents of the area.
The river is beautiful. The rail line gave you a great opportunity to see that, and there's an appreciation for that and for the architecture of the area. But really, for me...I've done the North Creek whitewater race, and I've hiked a lot of the trails. This is an area that's close to the Capital Region, close to other areas, but yet is really an environment unto itself.
What’s your latest thinking about retirement and the time you’ll be able to spend with your family? What are you most looking forward to?
Those around me here have heard me say the retirement word for about 10 years, and it always seems that just when I get ready to retire, another project comes along that I want to finish before I leave.
I'm in trouble now because the funding project for the Countryside Adult Home, which I secured a significant amount of funding for, is in the design phase. We'll go to construction this fall, but I had hoped to be out of here by Halloween. That project may extend beyond Halloween.
LaMothe’s Harley has made it to every state in the nation but Alaska and Hawaii. When he retires, “It won’t get to Hawaii, but it might get to Alaska.”
But I am looking forward to retiring. It'll be 41 years in July. That's long enough.
My wife and I live in Bolton near the trailhead of Cat and Thomas Mountain. I have done some kayaking in the past. I’m looking to get a lighter boat.
We have a blended family with five girls. I've got grandchildren in San Antonio and Seattle and locally. I used to go every year to San Antonio to visit the grandkids in March and then Seattle. I'd go in December because the two granddaughters there dance professionally with the Pacific Northwest Ballet, so I go for their Nutcracker performance.
With Covid I haven't been out there in a couple of years, so I'm really looking forward to getting those trips back. I have a daughter and a couple of grandchildren in Saratoga, and she's done some of the high peaks with me. I’d like to do some more of that.
I did go back to Lake Durant last year. I also hiked Blue Mountain again. Blue Mountain was the first mountain I ever did as a kid, so it was interesting to do it again. I've got some projects around the house. Don't we all.
And I've had the motorcycle, the Harley, in every state but Hawaii and Alaska. It won't get to Hawaii, but it might get to Alaska.
So those are the things I'm looking forward to. We'll see if my old bones will let me do it.
Claire Seleen is a junior at Glens Falls High School. She is a member of the girls swimming and diving team and the co-editor of the school newspaper. Claire is also participating in the International Baccalaureate Program through Queensbury High School. Her family owns a cabin between Indian Lake and North Creek.