Author: Ann Roberti

The Bramley Mountain Fire Tower welcomed visitors from around the Catskills, from around the country and even around the world.  Some visitors to the tower could pick their house out from the tower windows while others came from as far away as Australia, New Zealand, all over Europe, Japan and South Africa. According to our visitor log, approximately 44% of the visitors came from the Catskills area (mostly Delaware, followed by Otsego, and Ulster counties). 21% come from the downstate metropolitan area and 22% came from nearby but more than 1.5 hours away (Binghamton, Cooperstown, Albany, Pennsylvania).  13% of visitors came from the U.S. outside the metropolitan area, such as California, Illinois, Arizona, and from other countries.

Several school groups, environmental clubs, a boys’ camp and groups from various hiking clubs such as the Susquehanna chapter of the ADK, and the Catskill Mountain Club visited Bramley Mountain Fire Tower during the season.

The Bramley Mountain Fire Tower participated in the Light the Towers event and heard from folks who saw the tower lit from locations around the Delhi/Bovina/Bloomville area.  Bramley Tower lighters could see the lights from Mt. Utsayantha and Balsam Lake as well as the lights from the wind turbines in Windsor, NY.

After four years of dedication, collaboration, and your support, we are delighted to announce that Bramley Mountain Fire Tower has been completed! On Tuesday, November 19th, 2024, the construction of the iconic structure officially concluded, a well-earned achievement for our community. 
 
While we await the final certificate of occupancy before opening to the public, we couldn’t wait to share this exciting news. Hikers can already catch a glimpse of the majestic tower from the trail below the summit, and its striking silhouette can be seen from various points across the Delaware River Valley. For a particularly breathtaking view, head to Route 10 between Bloomville and Hoag’s Crossing!

We finally broke ground! Large holes were dug in preparation of creating new footers for the tower. The original footers from the tower will remain – a reminder of the first time this tower stood on this site.

We were hoping that the construction of the fire tower would begin in May, but there have been delays in the permitting process, and we are now aiming for construction to begin in late summer/early fall.

When we applied for our building permit, the Delhi Town Code Officer required several variances and so referred our application to the State Codes Committee.

Having our application go to the state committee was an unforeseen delay, but the Chair of the State Codes Committee has been extremely helpful in pinpointing the steps needed to be granted the variances. Another hearing on the variances will happen in mid-July, and, once we are granted the variances, we are hopeful that The Town of Delhi can process our building permit application quickly.

We are now aiming for tower construction to begin in August or September, and we will keep you posted.

We are now recruiting Tower Stewards who will staff the tower on weekends, from opening day until Indigenous Peoples Day.  We have a number of enthusiastic volunteers already signed up, but we need more.  

Are you interested in serving one or more weekend days this summer on the summit of Bramley Mountain, greeting visitors to the new tower?  If you’d like to join our group of Tower Stewards, please email us at info@bramleymountainfiretower.org and let us know.  More information can be found on our Tower Steward page ….and don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.

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With a personal passion for the outdoors and an extensive conservation easement background, Ryan has dedicated his career to finding the balance between the economic, environmental and political stresses that farm and forest communities face. The Fire Tower exemplifies projects that find that balance. Ryan is the Executive Director of the Watershed Agricultural Council and is an area native and eco-business owner. Naatz holds degrees in Environmental Science and Geography, with several specialized business certificates. In his free time, you’ll find him with his family in East Meredith NY rehabbing a 200 acre dairy farm, on the water at Goodyear Lake, wandering in the woods, hiking Bramley Mountain, or pursuing a number of property investments.

December 1, 2023 Press Release

Over the past two months, The Bramley Mountain Fire Tower Project has taken many positive steps forward.

In October, the A. Lindsay and Olive O’Connor Foundation approved a $10,000 grant towards the construction of the fire tower. 

On November 8^th, the owners of EIGHTYMAIN, James Arafut and Will Johnson, put on a fundraising dinner for the tower.  At the dinner, a tasting menu which featured dishes using flora and fauna that can be found on Bramley Mountain was served.  Over 40 people attended the dinner, and over $2500 was raised for the tower.

During the first half of November, NYC DEP workers improved the Summit Trail Road, a former logging road so that the fire tower components and the equipment needed to build the tower can get up the mountain more easily.  They also cleared the summit area to make room for the construction of the tower.  Finally, they built a second parking lot just uphill of the existing trailhead and parking area on Glen Burnie Road. 

Read more…..

We want to give a big thank you to James Arufat and Will Johnson for dreaming up and putting on this extraordinary event at EIGHTYMAIN restaurant in Delhi. James and Will and their staff put on a fundraising dinner for the tower on November 8th. At the dinner, a tasting menu which featured dishes using flora and fauna that can be found on Bramley Mountain was served. The tasting menu was creative and, most importantly, delicious. The staff at EIGHTYMAIN could not have been any more friendly or attentive. Over 40 people attended the dinner, and over $2500 was raised for the tower. There was an amazing amount of positive energy, and many fire tower supporters who had never met discovered that there were surprising connections between them.