Hemlock & Canadice: An Appraisal

Hemlock Lake & Canadice Lake are two of the most western Finger Lakes of Upstate, New York. Nestled away inside what was once known as the land of whiskey and pumpkin pie, Hemlock and Canadice are the last two undeveloped Finger Lakes. Currently negotiations are taking place behind closed doors between the City of Rochester, the Monroe County Water Authority, the State of New York (Dept. of Environmental Conservation [D.E.C]), and outside actors, such as two separate appraisals of the lake for the City of Rochester and the State of New York to ultimately decide the fate of these two unequivocal exclamations.

Hemlock & Canadice:An Appraisal Putting the Finger Back in the Finger Lakes! [Hemlock Lake, Geese @t North End] Hemlock Lake & Canadice Lake are two of the most western Finger Lakes of Upstate, New York. Nestled away inside what was once known as the land of whiskey and pumpkin pie, Hemlock and Canadice are the last two undeveloped Finger Lakes. Currently negotiations are taking place behind closed doors between the City of Rochester, the Monroe County Water Authority, the State of New York (Dept. of Environmental Conservation [D.E.C]), and outside actors, such as two separate appraisals of the lake for the City of Rochester and the State of New York to ultimately decide the fate of these two unequivocal exclamations. First, a bit of history. Long before the colonization of the Americas, the peoples calling themselves the Haudenosaunee or "People of the Long House" also referred to as the Iroquois inhabited these lands. More specifically, it was the Onondowahgah or "People of the Great Hill" also referred to as the Seneca and the keepers of the western door who kept the fires burning at night. [Hemlock Lake, North End] The Seneca's territory streched from Seneca Lake and on to the west, nearing Lake Erie. They were the most numerous of the Iroquois Nations and within the geographic middle of all this; the fertile Genesee Valley region encompassed some of the Seneca's principal towns. In 1776, with the American Revolutionary War in swing the Seneca joined their brothers and sisters, the Mohawks, Cayugas, and Onondagas to fight on the side of the British Empire and American Tories in an all out battle against the Continental Army of the American Patriots and the other Iroquois nations of the Oneidas and Tuscaroras. Thus, the Iroquois League of Peace and Power was successfully divided in two. In 1777, the British and allies recognizing the importance of the region decided to try and take control of New York State away from the Continental Army. This lead General George Washington on February 25th, 1778 to order action for the protection of the frontiers and the "chastisement of the savages." On June 11th, 1778, the Board of War estimated the expedition would cost $932,743 and six days later Congress approved $600,000 and considered authorizing an additional $332,743 in August. Washington soon asked General John Sullivan of New Hampshire to lead the main force. [Hemlock Lake, North End Outlet] War is an ugly thing and on both sides I'm sure a lot was happening. However, I find it important to note Washington's instructions to Sullivan - "the necessity of pushing the Indians to the greatest practicable distance from their own settlements and our frontiers, (and) to the throwing them wholly on the British enemy." Washington also instructed "the destruction of their settlements so final and complete as to put it out of their power to derive the smallest succor from them in case they should ever attempt to return this season." With these orders Sullivan marched on, literally burning his way through Upstate New York to soon reach the most western New York battle front during the campaign, right outside present day Hemlock, in the nearby town of Conesus. Sullivan set up camp there and sent out a scouting party, most of whom would never return alive. The two bodies of the leaders of the party were found with their intestines wrapped around a large tree that still stands and has become known as the torture tree. Due to the continued retreat of the British Empire and Seneca, Sullivan's army was never able to force a final battle. Sullivan and the Continental Army soon turned around and headed back home, in all having destroyed over forty Native towns and vast quantities of food. It is believed that Sullivan's army marched right by Canadice and later forded the Northern outlet of Hemlock Lake. Some have said you can find cannonballs in the woods, while others have spread rumors of buried treasure left behind from the soldiers. Anyways, sorry for the long tangent, but I think it is of the utmost importance to realize who these lands were originally stolen from, especially considering the fact that these days almost everyone wants to put a price on something. So let's have a look at some modern numbers. [Hemlock Lake, North End] On April 16th, 1852 the State of New York Legislature passed an act incorporating the City of Rochester Water Works Company. In 1868 Hemlock and Canadice Lakes were selected over Lake Ontario and the Genesee River as the future source of the city of Rochester's water. In 1872 came the final decision to construct a 30 mile pipeline from Hemlock to Rochester in order to transport Hemlock's pristine waters. By 1876 the water was flowing. The city took total control of the lakes, which included kicking everyone off the lake. By 1883, there where over 70 cottages on Hemlock lake and in years past around 15 steamboats. Hemlock was capitalism floating down the lake in the form of the logging industry. The city purchased St. James Hotel and 55 other buildings on Hemlock Lake, resulting in the acquisition and removal of all Hemlock and Canadice Lakes' shoreline properties was finally completed in the early 1950's. A lot of things have changed over time, but the place remains. [Hemlock Lake, Tree in Woods] In all, the City of Rochester owns more than 7,000 acres within the Hemlock and Canadice watershed. Nowadays, it has been reported that the City of Rochester makes $4.68 million a year from water sales and pays around $700,000 a year in taxes on the land. The undeveloped land is not only made of of the lakes and the surrounding shoreline, but the city also owns part of an old ghost town, formally known as Jacksonville, which sits a few miles up the Hemlock outlet, now just another abandoned town Upstate. Also, reportly - one of the largest remaining old growth forests in all of the Northeast blankets the western side of Hemlock Lake. Around 15 years ago the only place you could find a bald eagle in New York was at the southern end of Hemlock Lake, which allowed this area to become further protected. These are the lands of the black bear and coyote, ancient and wild. When Europeans arrived, a billion acres of forest covered half the land that would become the United States. By 1900, forests covered less than a third of the US. Since 1992 alone 13 million acres of forest have been lost, an area almost the size of West Virginia. 23 million more acres are estimated to be gone by 2050. This decline in forest acreage will put 340 species of animals at risk of extinction, 20 percent of the total that depend on forests for survival. [Hemlock Lake, South End] In 1854 in Wayne County, New York, a local resident wrote that "there would be days and days when the air was alive with them, hardly a break occurring in the flocks for half a day at a time. Flocks stretched as far as a person could see, one tier above another." Let's face it - not only have the native inhabitants of these lands been brutally repressed with the continued onslaught of the system, but nature has also taken a hell of a beating. The Finger Lakes combined with the Great Lakes probably make up the largest overall body of fresh water in the entire world, and Hemlock and Canadice are two fine places, but how about a price? [Hemlock Lake, Middle South End]

Imagine the North American wilderness as the explores Lewis and Clark saw it: forests thick with chestnut trees in the East, prairies teeming with bison and rivers overflowing with salmon in the West. Now picture the continent today: superhighways link colossal cities, suburbs strech farther and farther into the countryside, industrial farmland goes on for miles, and a few patches of greenery and a national park or two break up the monotony. - Jonathan S. Adams, The Future of the Wild