Express News Staff
Access to the remote community of Beaver River, in the Town of Webb, has been an ongoing issue for many years. The small isolated community is located at the eastern end of the Stillwater Reservoir. To reach Beaver River, residents and visitors alike must travel by boat on the reservoir, or by snowmobile on the rail corridor. Other less practical options include float plane, helicopter, hi-rail (by permit only), cross-country skiing, and walking.
The reservoir can be used for boat access in spring, summer, and fall. The Thompson family, who owns and operates the Norridgewock Hotel in Beaver River, and has done so for five generations, also runs a water taxi and barge service providing public access to Beaver River and other locations on the reservoir.
The water taxi carries passengers from Stillwater along the length of the reservoir to Grassy Point, adjacent to Beaver River. The barge takes passengers and their vehicles a shorter distance across the reservoir to a landing, where they can continue in their own vehicles along a six mile dirt road. This road provides access to many seasonal camps along the reservoir as well as the Beaver River community, but can only be accessed by the barge.
In the past year, the barge and water taxi service providing pubic transportation into Beaver River was asked to remove their docks from state land in Stillwater where they had been operating for years under a temporary revocable permit. The permit was not renewed due to an increase in use beyond what was allowed by the permit.
When the DEC asked the Thompsons to remove their docks and to no longer operate their boat service on state land, the Town of Webb board was called upon for help. According to Scott Thompson, “The Town of Webb has been very helpful and proactive in allowing licensed landing at Six Mile Road for the barging, looking at possibilities for the small portion of town-owned land at Stillwater, and co-operating and aiding with the docking at Grassy Point, so I believe the remaining problems are surmountable.” This assistance from the town has allowed the Thompsons to continue providing boat service and has allowed the public to continue accessing Beaver River.
This time of year, however, water access becomes impossible due to ice, and the need for a reliable land route again becomes the bigger issue. Once the reservoir freezes, the railroad corridor becomes the only access to Beaver River. Using the railroad corridor has it’s limitations, however, and is not the best long term option. Using hi-rail trucks, equipped to ride on the rails, is costly and impractical. Snowmobile use along the railway is difficult because a lot of snow is required to cover the tracks and make them rideable. According to Thompson, “We are forced to use older, less reliable snowmobiles in the early and late seasons. The manufacturers are making snowmobiles wider and wider for stability, but when any amount of rail is exposed, the newer snowmobiles don’t fit between them.”
In an effort to come up with a land access solution, Thompson has asked the town board to pass a resolution proclaiming the need for land access to Beaver River. Thompson feels that if the town passes such a resolution it would allow the residents of Beaver River greater representation. “If the Town would resolve to the State that this access is necessary, it would open the way to investigate how to accomplish reasonable access,” says Thompson.
“The only solution is land access to Beaver River. Anything else is recreation, and while that supports us all, we can’t live by recreation alone,” says Thompson.
Ideally, Thompson would like to see a Jeep/snowmobile trail constructed on a combination of state land and land owned by Lyme Timber Company. The trail would be approximately seven miles long and would connect Beaver River with the Twitchell Creek access on the Stillwater Road. Such a connection would allow access during bad weather, darkness, and low snowfall. It would provide an alternative to riding the rails in the winter, and an alternative to boating in the summer.
As the Thompson’s see it, the Town of Webb holds the key for the relief of this situation. By passing a resolution, it would allow the town to work together with the State DOT, state senators, and the Lyme Timber Company to gain the easement necessary to create year-round land access to Beaver River.