ESF College Foundation
Gifts Keep Fire Tower Working into a Second Century

Nearly 100 years ago, a 60-foot metal fire tower was raised on Goodnow Mountain in the heart of the Adirondacks. It was a key piece of the communications network that would alert authorities if a blaze broke out in the sprawling forest below.

Now, with the tower long a part of the ESF Newcomb Campus and approaching its centennial, ESF College Foundation is raising funds to support structural repairs and update research and communications equipment that is part of the College's scientific mission, and to maintain the tower's role in relaying environmental information to scientists and the public.

"The tower was built for forest observation and communications and it still serves that purpose, although in a different way," said Stacy McNulty, associate director of research for ESF's Newcomb Campus.

The fund-raising campaign has raised nearly $53,000 in donations that will allow ESF to begin a project in summer 2022 to restore the tower's foundation, structure and roof. Additional gifts will support educational and research related material such as signage, interpretive materials, scientific equipment and development of programming for students and visitors. The Town of Newcomb and the New York State Chapter of the Forest Fire Lookout Association are important supporters of the project.

When the tower was part of New York state's fire monitoring system, a telephone line connected it to regional forest rangers. Today, some 40 years after the last fire watcher served there, the tower holds antennas providing wireless internet connection to part of the Newcomb Campus. The tower also supports critical research infrastructure for ESF, the state and the global research community.

"It contributes in a big way to our understanding of the Adirondacks," McNulty said. "Not only the data collection, but it's important for students to have a bird's-eye view of the landscape. It ties into decades of on-the-ground data collection."

The tower is used for ESF courses, ESF clubs, other colleges, K-2 groups and visitors exploring the area's ecology, forest management and history, and other topics. The tower is also a magnet for visitors, with some 7,000 people signing the trail register each year. A two-mile hike brings them to the tower atop Goodnow Mountain.

The Goodnow Mountain fire tower is one of only a few dozen still standing in the Adirondacks. It draws families and young hikers from across the world, prompting the next generation to explore the outdoors, learn and care about the environment, and even perhaps, attend ESF.

"With help from the College and the donors who support us, we'll be able to continue to use the tower as an educational tool for the next generations of both students and researchers," McNulty said. "It's exciting to see the progress we are making on this unique project."