August Newsletter 2023
View from overlook on Mahanna Cobble, pic by M Waldman.
Torrential rains cause Taconic Ridge Beaver Dam Break and flooding into Lebanon Springs
You may have heard of the flash flood in Lebanon Springs on June 29, 2023, when Main St. was flooded and washed out with water, mud, trees, and debris that tore down a ravine when a beaver dam on the ridge gave way. 4.5 million gallons of water in the large beaver pond along the Taconic Crest Trail between Lebanon Springs Rd. and Bird Rd. surged down into the Springs neighborhood. When a culvert into a tributary of the Wyomanock on Main St. plugged up with silt, trees and debris, the water overflowed and sent a mini-wall of water rushing down neighborhood yards in the middle of the night. The town removed 30 dump truck loads of trees and limbs that had backed up from the culvert, and volunteers from the town worked tirelessly to shovel and rake up the up to 3 feet of silt, mud, and stones the water had deposited.
That beaver pond is the same one that you hike next to on the Taconic Crest Trail (TCT) in Pittsfield State Forest. It is just north of the junction with the Lebanon Springs Rd. access trail. The picture shows how beautiful it was.
Over the years the beavers created that pond by building along a previous man-made dam there. The TCT used to run right through there but had to be moved up the east side hill multiple times as the pond grew. It had grown to a surface area of 3-5 acres before the dam broke. You could previously have walked across the 100’ long dam which seemed stable, but the 6" of rain the area had in the preceding month put too much stress on it.
The beavers started repairing the dam soon after the pond drained. However, Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation also quickly responded to the breach and installed “Beaver Deceivers” to prevent flow pipes in the dam from being blocked by the beavers. Beaver deceivers are an ethical, non-lethal, long term and effective method to prevent the beavers from blocking the flow pipes so that such catastrophic flooding will be prevented in the future.
Take a hike up there either through the Pittsfield State Forest trails off headquarters on Cascade Street or from the Rt. 20 start of the TCT (hike 4+ miles) or from Lebanon Springs Rd. in New Lebanon (limited parking here).
A good reference in case you want to learn more about beavers is the book “Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter”, by Ben Goldfarb. It’s a lively up-to-date account of their biology, history, importance to past economies and to current habitat and wildlife diversity and explores efforts to manage their populations.
Beaver pond 5/2020, view from Taconic Crest Trail, pic by M Waldman
Similar view point of beaver pond after the breach, 7/2023. Pic by M Waldman.
Annual Luncheon – Sunday, November 5:
Save the date! The Annual Luncheon will be Sunday, November 5, 2023, starting at noon, at Moscatiello’s Italian Family Restaurant on 99 North Greenbush Rd (Rte. 4) in Troy. See old friends and make new friends!
After a delicious buffet luncheon, we will have a brief business meeting followed by an interesting presentation by Jane Winn, Executive Director, Berkshire Environmental Action Team (BEAT). Find out what BEAT is doing now to protect the environment and wildlife and how it affects us.
Details about the menu, speaker, and registration information will be posted in the September Newsletter as well as the THC website Outings page.
OUTINGS: Refer to the THC website outings page for details about the outings and how to register. We schedule on a monthly and short-term basis, so check the website periodically.
Wednesday, August 9: Hopkins Memorial Forest Loops and Birch Brook Trail, Williamstown B
Wednesday, August 9: Flight Road Paddle B
Wednesday, August 16: Hoosac Range B-
Wednesday, August 16: Schodack Island Paddle B
Thursday, August 17 - Field Farm C
Wednesday, August 23: Sarah Tenney – TCT – Shepherds Well Loop B
Thursday, August 31: Harrier Hill to Greenport Conservation Area, Columbia County (afternoon walk)
“I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order.” John Burroughs
Frog near Monk’s Pond, pic by J Gorman.
Beaver pond, view from breached dam, pic by C Prewencki
Enjoying view from Manahana Cobble, pic by T Rodrigues
Breach in beaver pond dam, pic by M Waldman
Some of the group at Albert Family Community Forest, pic by M Waldman
View from the Burbank Trail, pic by J Gorman
Along the Cascade Trail, Albert Family Community Forest