Timber-harvesting operations on the forest are aimed at maintaining a variety of habitats for wildlife production and watershed protection, while improving the stands of native hardwoods and planted evergreens.

DEC managers are receptive to volunteer projects that assist with the management plan here, especially in maintaining the extensive hiking trail system that also benefits hunters.

The approximately 10 miles of trails here are also used by skiers, with three primary access points: Burtonsville Road, Hughes Road and state Route 30A, where small parking lots are provided.

Charleston State Forest is south of Fultonville. To get there from I-90, take Exit 28 to state Route 30A. The forest tracts are east of the highway off the stretch between the hamlets of Charleston and Oak Ridge.

WOLF LAKE STATE FOREST
Turkey numbers have been growing in portions of the St. Lawrence River valley, possibly due to recent mild winters. Wolf Lake State Forest, with 4,315 acres, in southwestern St. Lawrence County, should be a good bet this spring.

To the east -- about a turkey-flush away -- Fire-Fall State Forest, with 1,601 acres, and across the lake, Trout Lake State Forest, with 1,064 acres, complete this complex for a total of 6,980 acres of state lands. The landscape is flat with poor drainage, with extensive boggy areas scattered throughout the native hardwoods.

These forests lie east of Gouverneur and about two miles north of the hamlet of Edwards. Access is provided by county Route 19 (also called Trout Lake Road), county Route 13 (also called Chub Lake Road) and Campbell Road.

For more information on New York's state forestlands, contact the New York Department of Environmental Conservation by logging on to www.dec.state.ny.us.