Rangers burn marijuana plants, pull lost CNY hikers out of Rome swamp

DEC ranger report for week of Sept. 18, 2022

DEC forest rangers found 15 large marijuana plants in Swift Hill State Forest, in Allegany County, which they cut and burned under a state conservation law prohibiting agricultural use of state land.Photo by NYSDEC

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) forest rangers last week found 15 large marijuana plants unlawfully grown on land in Swift Hill State Forest, in Allegany County. Rangers cut and moved the plants to a safe area and burned them. Although DEC recognizes that marijuana laws have changed, unlawful agricultural use of state lands is prohibited under New York’s Environmental Conservation Law.

The following reports are excerpted from DEC

A 54-year-old from Liverpool and a 58-year-old from Cicero got lost Friday in the Rome Sand Plains Unique Area in Oneida County. The local Sheriff’s Office, which had coordinates for the lost subjects, blared sirens to guide the hikers out. But it didn’t work. The hikers kept losing their footwear in the deep mud of a swamp. Believing it unlikely that the hikers would be able to find their way out of the thick vegetation alone, rangers and DEC police sloshed through the swamp to find them and guided them to dry land to a waiting ambulance.

Also on Friday, rangers responded to an emergency beacon activated in the West Canada Lake Wilderness area. When they arrived at the Moose River Plains trailhead, a hiker emerged from the woods to report that a member of their group had hurt her knee and was slowly making her way back to the trailhead. A ranger found the injured hiker and determined the 62-year-old from Staten Island had a swollen, but stable, knee, which he bandaged before helping her back to the trailhead.

Three hikers from Quebec—two 26-year-olds and a 31-year-old—became ill Saturday while hiking up Mount Colden. A ranger made phone contact with the hikers and instructed them to head back down the mountain while another ranger hiked up the trail to intercept and guide them to Avalanche Lake. Other than fatigue, the hikers were healthy and did not require medical attention. The ranger then rowed the tired hikers across the lake so they could get to their vehicle.

Also on Saturday, three young hikers from Ogdensburg ran out of daylight while climbing Allen Mountain in Essex County. The 19-year-old, 22-year-old, and 23-year-old started their 19-mile round trip at 10 a.m. The group, which was not equipped with headlamps or flashlights, only reached the summit at 4:30 p.m., not realizing that sunset was at 6:47 p.m. They got lost in the dark on the way down the mountain. A ranger arrived to help them to their vehicle. DEC reminds hikers to be prepared with light sources as daylight grows shorter. The lights on cell phones only last as long as the battery and should not be relied on as the primary source of light after sunset.

Be sure to properly prepare and plan before entering the backcountry. Visit DEC’s Hike Smart NY, Adirondack Backcountry Information, and Catskill Backcountry Information webpages for more information.

If a person needs a Forest Ranger, whether it’s for a search and rescue, to report a wildfire, or to report illegal activity on state lands and easements, they should call 833-NYS-RANGERS.

If a person needs urgent assistance, they can call 911. To contact a Forest Ranger for information about a specific location, the DEC website has phone numbers for every Ranger listed by region.

Steve Featherstone covers the outdoors for The Post-Standard, syracuse.com and NYUP.com. Contact him at sfeatherstone@syracuse.com or on Twitter @featheroutdoors. You can also follow along with all of our outdoors content at newyorkupstate.com/outdoors/ or follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/upstatenyoutdoors.

If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.