Town residents will have a new spot to fish following the expansion of public access along the Onesquethaw Creek.
A partnership between the town and the state Department of Environmental Conservation allowed for the acquisition of nearly 7,000 feet of public fishing rights along the creek, including a 1,375-foot access trail and a new angler parking area on Rupert Road. The project has been in the works for approximately 10 years.
“The collaboration between DEC and Bethlehem town staff, along with not-for-profit organizations like Trout Unlimited, has provided a valuable asset for the town and the region,” said Bethlehem Town Supervisor John Clarkson. “Fencing and other improvements were made available through good old fashioned, low-key cooperation among the staffs, and it’s a big win that we now have safe and legal public access to this great fishing location.”
The DEC approached the town about the project when former Supervisor Jack Cunningham was in office. The state was able to purchase access to the sites from the town and a private citizen for $21,000. The money was used from the state’s Environmental Protection Fund.
“In the past, people would need permission from the landowner to be able to fish in these spots,” said Fish and Wildlife Technician Dennis Wischnin. “The neat thing is, now these spots are preserved for the community.”
Wischnin said property owners often sell their rights to the state in order to preserve the land. In one instance in another part of the state, an aging farmer couldn’t afford his land anymore, but he wanted to preserve the fishing spot for his grandchildren. He did so by selling the access rights.
The new access points will open for the first time this spring. Not only do the easements provide the public access to the Onesquethaw Creek for fishing, but also they include a footpath to provides access to the creek.
Town Engineer Paul Penmen said the spots made sense because they were two of the best places to gain access to the creek. It had also already been known to be a good fishing spot. The DEC stocks the creek each year with about 1,200 brown trout 1.4 miles upstream of the new fishing area. Also, the creek was tested last year, and multiple classes of brown trout were found at the sites.
Through the partnership, crews built a new angler parking lot on Rupert Road next to the town’s Transfer Station. Anglers can also park in the South Bethlehem town park on County Route 53, as some of the newly acquired public access sites are within the park. The public fishing areas are spread out over 1.6 miles of the stream within the town and are marked with DEC signs.
Penman said the town was glad to help, since they were already doing work in the area. A former bridge over Onesquethaw Creek needed to be demolished following damage from Hurricane Irene in 2011.
“We coordinated the access work with the other project, knowing it would be coming,” said Penmen. “We used the staging area of that work for the permanent parking area for this endeavor. The town did clearing and construction of (the) parking area and the path to the stream.”
Some of the demolition work was slow going, since the DEC limited when the town could work in the stream because of the trout population.
Although the project has been in the works for some time, funding was released though Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s NY Open for Fishing and Hunting Initiative. This initiative includes streamlining fishing and hunting licenses, reducing license fees and providing “adventure plates” for license holders.
A significant component of the NY Open for Fishing and Hunting Initiative is the improvement of access for fishing and increasing hunting opportunities in New York State. NY Works has dedicated a combined $22 million in funding for fish hatchery repairs and more than 50 new land and water access projects such as boat launches, hunting blinds, trails and parking areas.
