It’s been a busy week in all our local towns; the last weekend in June is typically Graduation time. Teachers, students, and parents have been bustling around getting ready for the big day. Roscoe Central School said goodbye to its last class of Roscoe seniors on Friday evening, and Livingston Manor Central School graduated its last senior class on Saturday morning. Both celebrations were wonderful, although a bit bittersweet, as the schools have merged and students will begin their school year in September in the new district, which will henceforth be known as Rockland Central School District.

Fishing this past week had been disappointing. With water levels beginning to recede by mid-week, my friend Laura and I decided to try our luck on the Beaverkill on Tuesday evening above Roscoe, which resulted in a very quiet evening. The river was still high, with the 7:00 p.m. water temperature at just 70 degrees, and very few flies on the water save for a couple of Light Cahills. No rises were noted.

Seth Cavarretta was out on Thursday with a similar report - saying there were no flies to be seen; he waited until dark and never saw a rise.

However, Bob Adams, of Roscoe, was also fishing on Thursday evening and had some success. Venturing out on the (lower) Beaverkill, Bob found that nothing was happening till about 7:30 p.m. He was “swinging a wet fly, and then saw a fish raise, but the fish did nothing.” Then he saw another fish that came up twice - and so tied on a dry fly. He cast his fly, a size #12 Rusty Spinner, and caught the fish!

At this writing on Sunday evening, the flow on the Beaverkill at Cooks Falls was gently receding to about 397 cubic feet per second, a healthy amount of water which is still above the average flow of 212 cfs over 111 years of record-keeping. The water temperature reached 72 degrees Fahrenheit before heading back down into the evening.

Anglers should note that beginning Tuesday, July 1, fishing on the stretch of the lower Beaverkill from the Iron Bridge at Horton downstream to the first Route 17 overpass is prohibited from July 1 through August 31, to protect thermally stressed trout. (Trout fishers would be wise to carry a water thermometer with them during these summer months; once water temperatures reach the 70s it’s time to look for cooler waters to fish - such as further upstream, perhaps a cooler tributary or in a smaller stream, or on one of the Tailwater fisheries below the NYC reservoirs.)

Last week, we hosted an informational meeting of a handful of Livingston Manor and Roscoe residents who met with Jesse Vadala, Engagement Manager for New York and Connecticut of the Northeast Coldwater Habitat Program of Trout Unlimited. Jesse and his group have been working with biologists and the DECs, and collecting scientific data on the streams in our area and the trout that inhabit our streams, and will be helping us to re-launch the Beamoc Chapter of Trout Unlimited.

The Beamoc Chapter was originally Chartered and declared an official chapter of Trout Unlimited on November 22, 1974. Original founding members were Dr. Alan Fried, President; John Hoeko, Vice President; Paul Updike, Secretary; Carolyn Hobbs, Treasurer; Walter Carpenter, Director; Russell Stahl, Director; and Ed Van Put, Director. The chapter was very active in our area, and included members such as Harry and Elsie Darbee and Walt and Winnie Dette.

Sadly, it was dissolved about 15 years ago for lack of leadership - but a movement has been underway to re-launch the Chapter, with a target date of August 2-3, 2025. Informational meetings will be held at the Livingston Manor and Roscoe Libraries during July. Members need not be trout fishers, fly-fishers or those who fish at all. The focus of the group will be Conservation, Preservation and Protection of our streams and the fish that reside in these clear waters.

Back in 2022, a plea was made to encourage people to become involved and voice their opposition to the Kerilands development project that was destined to be constructed in the environmentally sensitive 3,000-acre property containing the pristine headwaters of Fir Brook and the Willowemoc Creek. 

The developers, with the hearty endorsement of the Sullivan County Partnership for Economic Development, planned to construct a major undertaking, involving building a 170-unit hotel, residential development of 180 multi-family units and 74 single family units, including 189,854 square feet of commercial space; along with an adventure center, recreational trails, and outdoor activity hubs, which they referred to as a “conservation resort.” 

The project would require a zoning variance to the Town of Neversink’s longtime Master Plan in order to proceed. Fir Brook, known as one of the best wild brook trout nurseries in the Catskills, would be directly affected by wastewater runoff and the resulting chemicals from the development; which would ultimately cause irreversible damage to its unique strain of wild brook trout, their eggs and the pristine water that sources the Willowemoc and ultimately the Beaverkill.

Led by group efforts such as the Theodore Gordon Flyfishers and passionate members of the public who wrote letters and attended Town of Neversink Board meetings, the project was defeated. Thankfully, on March 6, 2025, Open Space Institute (OSI) announced the acquisition of the more than 3,100-acre parcel of land, safeguarding one of the largest tracts of private-owned, contiguous forestland that remains within the Catskill Blue Line. 

OSI will ultimately transfer the land to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) as an addition to the Willowemoc Wild Forest, thus ensuring forever the protection of nearly 20-miles of streambanks, wetlands, hardwood forests, and ridgeline of mountain peaks. It will become the largest addition to the Catskill Forever-Wild Forest Preserve in nearly 25 years.

Our area of the Catskills has been targeted for widespread development, and it is a critical time to become involved to protect the very woods and waters that make our area so special. We have seen the Town of Rockland Board unanimously voted to pass Local Law #3 of 2024, an extension of the Building Moratorium they imposed earlier in the year, and in addition to other projects, the Beamoc Chapter can be instrumental in helping to prevent such development.

Watch for more information on the re-launching of the Beamoc Chapter, coming soon! 

Judy Van Put is a long-time member of the NYS Outdoor Writers Association, and is the recipient of the New York State Council of Trout Unlimited’s Professional Communications Award.