Bramley Mountain Fire Tower Opens to the public

The Bramley Mountain Fire Tower received its Certificate of Completion on January 2nd, and the Friends of Bramley Mountain Fire Tower held the first public opening of the tower on January 4th. Due to the very cold temperatures and high winds, the opening was brief, just one hour. Given the harsh conditions and the short notice, there were a surprising number of attendees. Seventeen visitors came from as far away as Lake George, Utica and Warwick and from as close by as Andes, Bovina, Bloomville, Delhi and Roxbury. Tom Clark, Andrea Clark and Lauren Packard, members of the Clark family who donated the tower making its return to Bramley Mountain possible, were in attendance at this first opening.

Tina Mole’, chairman of the Delaware County Board of Supervisors, commented on the Fire Tower’s return: “Delaware County is excited to see the newly reconstructed Bramley Mountain Fire Tower completed. I am proud of all the work that went into making this a reality and I want to thank the Friends of Bramley Mountain Fire Tower for their diligence and perseverance in making this happen. We look forward to welcoming visitors to the County as they make their way up the mountain to catch a glimpse of what makes Delaware County such a special place to live.”

The Bramley Mountain Fire Tower was erected on property owned by NYC DEP, and in addition to allowing the return of the Fire Tower on their land, the DEP assisted in the project by improving the access road used during construction, and by building an additional parking area to handle the increased number of visitors

that the tower will draw to the mountain. DEP Bureau of Water Supply Deputy Commissioner Paul Rush said, "This fully restored iconic asset represents an historic era of critical forest protection as we continue working with all of our community partners today protecting the natural resources throughout the Catskill Mountain region. DEP is proud to have partnered with Delaware County to enable the return of the Bramley Mountain Fire Tower to its summit perch overlooking the forests of the Cannonsville and Pepacton watersheds.”

Ann Roberti, President of Friends of Bramley Mountain Fire Tower says “We’re so excited to finally be able to open the tower to the public and we are so grateful to everyone who helped make this possible – the Clark Family, Delaware County, the NYC DEP and all the generous donors. There’s still more we are planning to do including signage inside the cab that identifies all the visible mountains and other sites and some benches for the summit. We will be recruiting and training volunteer stewards in the spring so if you are interested in helping with that and haven’t already been in touch with us, contact us at

info@bramleymountainfiretower.org.

The view from the tower is spectacular. To the north and to the west the town of Bloomville and the beautiful forest and farmland of the area are visible. To the south and the east, Lake Delaware, the Pepacton Range and some of the Catskill High Peaks can be seen. With binoculars, one can see the fire towers on Balsam Lake Mountain and on Mount Utsayantha and the many wind turbines located near Deposit – almost 60 miles away.

From Memorial Day weekend through Indigenous People's Day, volunteer tower stewards will be present every weekend and holiday (weather permitting) to open the tower to the public. They'll be sharing historical insights, fascinating facts about the surrounding area, and even lending out binoculars for a closer look at the stunning views!

Stewards will also be present on an ad hoc basis on nice weather days throughout the winter and spring. Announcements of these openings will be made on The Friends of Bramley Mountain Fire Tower’s Facebook and Instagram accounts.

The Friends of Bramley Mountain Fire Tower will be announcing the official ribbon-cutting ceremony and other celebrations in the near future.

Background:

The Bramley Mountain Fire Tower fire was erected on the summit of Bramley Mountain by the New York State DEC in 1950. For 20 years, Fire Observers and Forest Rangers monitored the local area for fires from this tower, triangulating locations in conjunction with the Mount Utsayantha and Balsam Lake Fire Tower Observers. According to the DEC, the Bramley Mountain tower was also visible from the Hunter Mountain and Tremper Mountain towers. A vital part of protecting the surrounding region from forest fires, the tower stood prominently on the summit for 25 years. The tower was decommissioned in 1970 and, in 1975, it was sold to Pete Clark, a local farmer and removed.

In 2016, with the approval of the NYC DEP, The Catskill Mountain Club created a loop trail to the summit of Bramley Mountain. After the creation of this popular hiking trail, Tom Clark, the son of Pete Clar contacted the Catskill Mountain Club and offered to donate the tower if the Club would be able to return the tower to its original location. Mr. Clark had been approached in the past about selling the tower to a company who would move it out of the area, but he remained hopeful that it could be returned to Bramley Mountain one day. Recognizing what an incredible recreational, historical, economic and educational benefit the reconstructed Tower would have for the community and surrounding towns, the Catskill Mountain Club began working on this project.

In 2020, after the NYC Department of Environmental Protection had generously supported the concept of reconstructing the tower on their property, the Catskill Mountain Club initiated the formation of Friends of Bramley Mountain Fire Tower (FOBMFT), an organization dedicated to rebuilding the Bramley Mountain Fire Tower. The Friends are an all-volunteer 501c3 corporation, whose mission was to restore and reconstruct the Bramley Mountain Fire Tower, and to maintain the tower going forward. FOBMFT is comprised of Catskill Mountain Club representatives and leaders of the local hiking and business communities.

From 2020 to 2024, The Friends of Bramley Mountain Fire Tower worked hard to raise funding and to obtain the many necessary permits and permissions to build the tower.

While other fire towers have been removed and then restored, most of them were either taken down, repaired and put right back up, or were restored to be re-erected in new locations. The Bramley Mountain Fire Tower is the only existing fire tower

in the United States which was disassembled, stored for years, and then reassembled in the exact same spot, saving a piece of local history.