Asserting the Public Trust at Lake George, 1909-1957
By Dave Gibson
Before Adirondack conservation leader Paul Schaefer began to organize his coalitions and, after a titanic ten year struggle, finally defeat through public referendum proposed big dams on the South Branch of the Moose River and elsewhere (1945-1955), Paul’s mentor John S. Apperson (often known as Appy) was waging another, longer, less well known struggle concerning an actual, late 19th wooden and early 20th century concrete dam at the outlet of Lake George, built to power pulp, paper, and other mills in Ticonderoga, and to float logs to those mills.
The struggle was not about water levels per se, but whether or not New York State would be responsible for Lake George, and many other irreplaceable resources, holding the lake in the public’s trust because the lake was far too important to leave solely in the hands of private interests. The fluctuating levels of Lake George caused by the dam were eroding the shores of over 80 of the lake’s islands, some public, some private, harming their natural beauty and, as Apperson and his allies viewed the situation, permanently taking public Forest Preserve and privately owned shorelines for monetary gain without compensation.
To stave-off more erosion and to stabilize the condition of the shorelines, Apperson, General Electric Nobel Laureate Irving Langmuir, and many men and women who joined their cause began to rip-rap the islands with boulders, at their expense.
As explained in a book authored by Ellen Apperson Brown, Apperson’s great grandniece, “Apperson realized that the islands were threatened by erosion caused by fluctuating water levels, and he came up with a plan to protect them by piling rocks around the shores. The ambitious plan, launched in 1909, required him to recruit friends camping in the islands and contributing many hours of hard physical labor.”
“He, Apperson, built a barge, Art. 7, Sec. 7, a reference to the “forever wild” clause of the New York constitution, for use in the summer and, in the winter, he used sleds and even horse-drawn sleights to haul the rocks. In 1917, he had persuaded the state legislature to put up $10,000 to expand this project, eventually saving about 50 islands” (Ellen A. Brown, John Apperson’s Lake George, Images of America, 2017, page 45).
John Apperson, right, joins the president of Union College to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Adirondack Forest Preserve.
Apperson did more. In 1912, he and his allies persuaded the state legislature to direct the Conservation Commission to investigate the causes of unusual high and low water at Lake George and to recommend ways of correcting conditions causing the high and low water. The subsequent report, highly detailed, nevertheless was inclined to support the economic activity below the dam, as well as boating and docks on Lake George. The report found the idea of regulating or removing the industrial dam unnecessary. Rip-rapping of the islands continued in the decades ahead, aided by these small legislative appropriations. A considerable work force came to Appy’s assistance, women as well as men, with sufficient resources to acquire equipment like a large barge equipped with a crane to lift and move huge boulders along the shorelines.
As World War II raged, Appy’s own war against the industrial dam’s effects on Lake George turned to the state courts. Early in the 1940s, Apperson persuaded the state’s attorney general to sue the owner of the dam, “System Properties, Inc. commonly known as the Paper Co. (International Paper Co) to determine rights and titles relative to the outlet of Lake George and Ticonderoga Creek, and to oust the dam of said Paper Company as a trespass upon State property.”
Simultaneously, in 1942 the Lake George Association representing property owners along the lake convened its Committee on Water Levels, formally petitioning the state legislature “to appoint a joint legislative committee to investigate all phases of the problem of water levels in Lake George and to make recommendations which will fix the permanent policy of the State… and provide for carrying such policy into effect.”
The New York State Joint Legislative Committee on Lake George Water Conditions was born. It struggled with lack of state funding during the World War II emergency. However, through its auspices by 1945 some remarkable research and writing was done by both public and private biologists and water engineers. Extensively illustrated, the revised report was published in March 1945.
Decades prior to the environmental movement, the report is an early example of state legislative interest in and responsibility to research, document, and report on State natural resource problems. Right after World War II, Paul Schaefer drew on its example by helping to create, in 1947, the Joint Legislative Committee on River Regulation which proved instrumental in analyzing, evaluating, and defeating large power dams elsewhere in the Adirondack Park.
Recently, Adirondack Wild obtained a copy of this 1945 Lake George Water Conditions report from one of Apperson’s followers and “forever wild” volunteers, Larry King, a native of Johnstown and, during his long career with General Electric, a resident of Schenectady. Larry and Maryde King volunteered for many years with the Adirondack Mountain Club’s Schenectady Chapter, the Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks, and many other environmental and social service nonprofits.
As I flip through the 250-page Committee report, one cannot fail to be impressed by its maps, diagrams, charts, photos, and comprehensive written treatment, covering the lake’s geological origins, watershed, physical features, bed of the lake, the tributaries, the outlet, its transformation by water power development, its hydrology driven by rain and snowfall, history of the water level controversy, interests affected, controlling water levels, and conclusions and recommendations.
The report concluded that yes, the natural elevation of the lake prior to industry downriver in Ticonderoga and the building of the first dam in the late 19th century at the lake’s outlet was, on average, two feet lower than in 1945. However, “the fluctuations” of Lake George’s water levels “are less than those in most lakes of its size.”
The report concluded that the “principal interests,” those being the State of New York, private shoreline owners, citizens of Ticonderoga, and the International Paper Co. would be best served by retaining the industrial dam and continued rip-rapping of the islands’ shorelines. The report stressed regulating the water levels within strict limits and that the dam was needed to do so. Taking down the dam would “greatly impair the beauty of the lake and would cause serious damage to much private property along its shores as well as to the town and village of Ticonderoga and to the mill owners.” The report presented evidence that removal of the dam and allowance of the natural rock dam to maintain water levels would very negatively affect shoreline owners, their docks, and downstream industry. It stated that:
“At the present time (1945), the regulation of Lake George water levels is provided for by an agreement between the mill owners and the Conservation Department and the Lake George Association. Under this agreement the mill owners undertake to maintain the lake surface levels not above 4.00 on the Rogers Rock Gage, and not below 2.50 on said gage between June 15 and September 15 in each year…the performance of the mill owners has for the most part been conscientious and satisfactory, but could probably be somewhat improved in certain respects.” The report went on to recommend state legislation that would codify and regulate water levels consistent with the existing informal agreement.
Needless to say, Apperson and others were not satisfied with the report’s conclusion to maintain the existing industrial dam. Given continued erosion of the lake’s islands, Appy and his allies pressed the State for the dam’s removal in the courts. The 1945 legislative report excoriated Apperson for failing to appear and testify before its public hearings, and for allegedly slandering members of the Lake George Association for their favoring of the status quo.
The State’s legal complaint supported by Apperson and others, launched in 1942, “seeks judgement declaring that the waters of the Ticonderoga River are navigable…that the State is the owner of the river’s bed and has control of the waters flowing through it. It further claims that the defendant, System Properties, Inc. has no title to the bed of the river and that the dam maintained by it is an encroachment upon State property and constitutes a trespass upon the proprietary rights of the State and raises the water levels of Lake George. The prayer for relief asks that the defendant be restrained from maintaining the dam and interfering with water levels and that the defendant remove the dam.”
In 1945, state legislation was passed to regulate Lake George water levels, but that bill was vetoed by then Governor Dewey because it would interfere with the ongoing litigation. The court case dragged on until 1957.
As Ellen A. Brown wrote in 2013, “after 14 years of litigation the highest court in the State ruled in 1957 that the State had the sole right to regulate the water in the lake and the water in the outlet of the lake. While the court awarded the ownership of the dam site to the power company, the dam can only be operated as directed by the State, since the State has the sole authority to regulate the water. The private shore owners lost their riparian rights, having failed to assert them before the lapse of time” (Adirondack Almanack, July 2, 2013).
The Court of Appeals ruling of 1957 asserting state control over the bed, banks, and surface waters of Lake George continues to have important consequences today, most conspicuously through the planning and regulatory responsibilities of the Lake George Park Commission.
A new exhibit about the legacy of John S. Apperson is now on display on the main floor of the Lake George Courthouse and Historical Society in that village. It is notable that this 18th century Lake George Courthouse was restored by Apperson’s protégé Paul Schaefer in 1965 with funding from the State during the mayoral term of Robert Flacke and with the support of Lake George Historical Association’s Winnie LaRose.
The new Apperson exhibit is well worth seeing to appreciate all that Appy did to preserve that lake and its shorelines, add to the Forest Preserve, donate Dome Island to the Nature Conservancy, but also all he and his many associates, men and women, did to protect and expand (by 1.5 million acres) the entire Adirondack Park during the 20th century.
The exhibit concludes this way:
“Want to learn more about John Apperson? Visit the Adirondack Research Library in Schenectady, NY, which is home to Apperson’s collection of letters and photographs, courtesy of the Adirondack Research Library of Union College. Visit Adirondackactivism.com to read Apperson’s letters and learn more about his story and his impact. Ellen Apperson Brown, great grandniece to Apperson and the leading historian on the subject, has curated the website to encourage others to research and discover more about this history.
Books to explore:
John Apperson’s Lake George by Ellen Apperson Brown;
John S. Apperson’s Preservationist Community on Lake George, 1919-2019 by Douglas S. Langdon, and;
Dome Island: Forever Wild on Lake George by Noah Chirnomas.”
And, I would add to this list (if you can find a hard copy), The Complete Report of the New York State Joint Legislative Committee on Lake George Water Conditions, March 1945. Hopefully, the Adirondack Research Library of Union College and the Crandall Library in Glens Falls have copies.
Photo at top: Lake George. Photo by Ken Rimany.