Congrats, grampa!!!

Congratulations! Next generation of first mates for the boat!

Thanks folks.
I hope they are good field workers too 😀

CONGRATS

To the Grandparents a big congratulations.  To mom and dad .  To William Able, welcome to the world, you're in for some good times.  

Have a very large public owned area nearby where my favored Trout stream flows. Have been fishing there since I couldn't go alone and am now 71.
There is a 'FRIENDS OF' kind of organization managing the place having put in many miles of long hiking, bike and horse trails and maintain them very well.. To their  credit.
Have met some of them while fishing and had come to the conclusion the tail is starting to wag the dog. Some have  have come to think they own the place and try and put out restrictions or 'strong' suggestions' about use. 
A farmer leased a field from the Town for hay and one of the 'friends' came to him and told him he couldn't cut hay till late August ---after the birds finished nesting in the grass. 
I could go on with examples of the 'quirky' conservationist things they have said for pages.
Most recently though we had a tornado/big storm in early May leaving lots of trees down. The group had the entire hundreds of acres area closed. Every entrance has been clearly marked since the storm.
Seems  hikers and such are deemed, by the all powerful, to be unable to walk around trees on the trails.
That includes fishermen.
Seems they aren't gonna open it till they clear the down trees -for safety.
With all the signage now months after the storm it is questionable if the place will even get a State stocking next season- It stopped this May.
Big brother watching out for us 'no common sense' idiots.
Have read about similar things in other States- too bad.
Self styled conservationist big brothers are NOT our friends. The 'swamp' isn't just in DC.
 
 
 
 

A massive area in the Central Tug Hill was  acquired by the Nature Conservancy.  We ( neighbors) were assured the area would still be open for hunting and fishing even after TNC and NYSDEC took over management.  When the signs went up it was no fishing, no hunting except deer with written permission of TNC Pulaski office, so Rob Williams definitely has a place to hunt.  When TNC sends me a fundraiser now it goes right into the trash. 
 
You must be at least somewhat familiar with the Adirondacks?  Large formal groups have been controlling use of public lands up there for years.  You can't ride a bike or put peddles on a canoe in lots of places, but man- made dams can be preserved in wilderness areas to keep the paddlers happy.  An electric toothbrush is an affront, but bridges and boardwalks are built all over the place where it facilitates things for the hikers.   The double standard rules and all of New York is controlled by NYC. 

Have read things from guys in other states where the conservatory is viewed as OK-NOT FROM MY SEAT.
Every piece of land they pickup around here  is immediately posted no hunting or fishing- --hikers welcome.
Have lost some great fishing streams to them.
Another bunch of snowflake, self styled, anti sportsman so called  conservationists.
Watch their signage too- they commonly post way over their actual acreage.
One state Forrest I used to hunt had them take an adjoining property and they posted a parallel Forrest trail quite some distance from their line.
Thinking about it those signs you mentioned might not be in accordance with the deal- these people are  anti  IMHO and capable of anything therein.
Around here its mostly put and take fishing -so when they post the fishing is over with. That said I had a few where some natives were mixed in but --NO.
I hate antis-----------
If I was younger I could easily for see becoming and Indian again- just out there unseen and unheard  doing my thing.
My hard hunting/fishing cousin - a retired Warden- always says we are the last generation to be able do the things we do.
 
 

The TU has petitioned and got authorized to tear down an old dam known as the quarry hole on the Ausable in October. Citing that the water above is slow and un- natural habitat for trout.
It is a big mistake IMO. That water above has a series of deep bends which is where the holdovers hold over and get big. The water below is a bunch of shallower fast moving boulder strewn pocket water that is a death sentence for trout in the winter due to anchor ice.
Some things should be left alone

Leader of that 'friends' group here told me once while I was trying to fish that they were gonna cut out all the deadfall in the stream so' the stream could flow naturally".
I went nuts and told them of the benefit of logs and debris in the waters slowing the flow and keeping the stream from becoming a gutted out sluice, also making places for ducks and deep holes and shade for the fish in warm weather.
Told them in no uncertain terms THAT the debris and fallen trees were normal - not what these 'all knowing-thought it up all by myself- 'conservationists' think.
That was a couple of years back- they didn't do it. Will hope they don't during this idiocy they are doing now.
I sure hate busybodys who got all the answers to things nobodys asking about.