A Wilderness Refuge | 2021–2022 A Wilderness Refuge
Dear Members, Partners, and Friends, because they were part of the health It also means a commitment by New York care and essential-services communities State to the public investments needed It is hard to describe in one letter just who kept coming to work despite the real to preserve and make the Adirondack how stressful the past year has been dangers to themselves and their families. Park work for everyone – forever. for everyone in the Adirondacks and everyone who loves the Adirondacks. We thank those who are leading the We thank all members, donors and And yet it was also a time of testing new nation in a hopeful direction that includes partners for teaming up with the ways to preserve the ecological integrity a well-protected environment and real Adirondack Council to achieve these and wild character of the Adirondacks actions to curb the impacts of air pollution and our other shared goals. and foster more vibrant communities. and climate change. Closer to home, we Thank You, are optimistic a new Governor will fix what Personal, family, and community health should be fixed and move us all forward. issues dominated. Each of us made important decisions about how – and The state of the Adirondack Park’s where – we would cope with the COVID-19 natural and human communities in 2021 William C. Janeway pandemic. Many of us looked to the is stressed, tested and hopeful. As we Executive Director Adirondack Park as our personal place move into 2022, the Adirondacks are a of refuge and a place where we felt Wilderness Refuge. It is an honor to those our children and grandchildren would who work to protect it that the Park is also be safer. We are reminded now seen this way. It also presents us with twin
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just how precious and essential the challenges. How do we make sure it is a L G
A T place of refuge for all New Yorkers? How T Adirondacks have become in our lives. A B IE do we keep the wilderness from being C AN Many of us worked to make our : N overcrowded and beaten down by the OTO communities safer and when the economy PH multitudes who wish to experience it? shut down and nearly everyone was William C. Janeway compelled to stay home, we continued This means a renewed commitment to Executive Director to help those in need. We are especially diversity, inclusion, justice, and equity in grateful to those who could not stay home the Park’s management and promotion. @WillieJaneway
Board of Directors Rush Holt Elaine Burke Aaron Mair Project Consultants Robert J. Kafin Director of Operations Adirondack Campaign Director Chair Lee Keet Adirondack VISION Project Kevin Chlad David J. Miller Sarah C. Hatfield Eric W. Lawson Tom Woodman Director of Government Relations Clean Water Conservation Associate Vice-Chair Jerome Page Government Relations Liza Cowan Justin Potter John Davis Ryan Nerp* The Parkside Group John Reschovsky Rewilding Advocate Conservation Research Associate Treasurer Legal Counsel Brian Ruder J. A. Tyler Frakes Deborah J. Pastore Curtis R. Welling Sean Donahue, Esq. Kate Russell Membership Director Development Director Secretary Douglas Schultz Donahue & Goldberg, LLP Lisa M. Genier Megan Phillips Ethan Winter Noah Shaw Phil Gitlen, Esq. Program Analyst Douglas Stewart Vice President for Conservation Robert Rosborough, Esq. Kurt Abrahamson Julia Goren Paul VanCott, Esq. Emily M. Bateson John F. Sheehan Adirondack VISION Project Director Director of Communications Whiteman Osterman & Hanna LLP Mary Bijur Staff Members David E. Bronston Jessica H. Grant Charlotte Staats Scott B. Goldie, Esq. Charles D. Canham, Ph.D. William C. Janeway Executive and Development Assistant Conservation Assistant Conboy, McKay, Bachman, and Kendall LLP Ann E. Carmel Executive Director Jess Kelley Clarence Petty Interns* Matthew Melewski, Esq., Georgina Cullman, Ph.D. Amanda Birchenough Development Assistant The Boutique Firm Thomas Curley Associate Development Director Alycia Bacon Justin Levine Bernard Melewski, Esq. Diane W. Fish Caroline Dodd Jackie Bowen Communication and Outreach Assistant Philip R. Forlenza J. Michael Naughton, Esq. Associate Director of Conservation Ryan Nerp Michale Glennon, Ph.D. Allison Stefanelli Young/Sommer LLC
2 ADIRONDACK COUNCIL The new “Forever Adirondacks” campaign will raise awareness of the need to fund clean water, jobs, and wilderness protection in the Adirondack
Park. The Adirondack Council hired Aaron Mair HEILMAN II/WILD VISIONS INC. © CARL PHOTO CONTENTS as Campaign Director, to lead an Adirondack Letter from the Executive Director Wilderness, Water, and Jobs Coalition, and appeal 2 for needed funding and policy changes. 5 2021 Report Card 6 The Governor 9 The Courts 10 State Legislature 12 Attorney General 13 In the Spotlight 14 Forever Adirondacks Campaign p.14 16 Local Government PHOTO: NANCIE BATTAGLIA 18 Dept. of Environmental Conservation Our Mission 21 Other Agencies The mission of the Adirondack Council is to ensure the 22 Adirondack Park Agency ecological integrity and wild character of the Adirondack Park for current and future generations. 24 Federal Government Written and Edited by Adirondack Council Staff 26 Awards © 2021 Adirondack Council | View online at: AdirondackCouncil.org Cover: View from Grace Peak, Dix Mountain Wilderness 27 2022 Priorities PHOTO © CARL HEILMAN II/WILD VISIONS INC.
STATE OF THE PARK 2021–2022 3 ABOUT THE PARK
PHOTO: ADOBE STOCK
The Adirondack Park is the world’s largest intact temperate deciduous forest. It is also the largest park in the contiguous United States. It contains six million acres (9,300 square miles), covers one-fifth of New York State and is equal in size to neighboring Vermont. The Adirondack Park is nearly three times the size of Yellowstone National Park.
More than half of the Adirondack Park is private land, devoted principally to hamlets, forestry, agriculture, and open-space recreation. Nearly 775,000 acres are protected from development by conservation easements held by the state or private organizations. The Park is home for 130,000 permanent and 200,000 seasonal residents in 120 hamlets and 9 villages. The Park hosts 12.4 million visitors yearly.
Nearly half of the Park is publicly owned Forest Preserve, protected as “Forever Wild” by the NYS Constitution since 1894. About 1.1 million acres of these public lands are protected as Wilderness, where non-mechanized recreation may be enjoyed. Most of the public land (more than 1.4 million acres) is Wild Forest, where motorized uses are permitted on designated waters, roads and trails.
Plants and wildlife abound in the Park. Old growth forests cover more than 100,000 acres of public land. The western and southern Adirondacks are gentle landscapes of hills, lakes, wetlands, ponds, and streams. In the northeast are the forty-six High Peaks. Forty- three of them rise above 4,000 feet and 11 have alpine summits that rise above the timberline.
The Adirondacks include the headwaters of five major drainage basins. Lake Champlain and the Hudson, Black, St. Lawrence, and Mohawk Rivers all draw MAP KEY water from the Adirondack Park. Within the Park are more than 2,800 large lakes and ponds, and more than 1,500 miles Public Forest Preserve of rivers, fed by an estimated 30,000 miles of brooks and streams. Private Land
Through public education and advocacy for the protection State Conservation Easement of the Park’s ecological integrity and wild character, the Adirondack Council advises public and private policymakers Waterbodies on ways to safeguard this great expanse of open space. Select Communities
4 ADIRONDACK COUNCIL 2021 REPORT CARD
PHOTO: ADOBE STOCK
Elected and appointed government leaders made decisions late in 2020 and in 2021 that affected the legacy of the Adirondacks. Here is a report on the 2021 State of the Park priorities (issued Sept. 2020).
Preserve Stop Invasive Approve Environmental Wilderness Species Agency Reforms New plans were released to address The state Senate and Assembly The state failed to increase funding, overuse, expand education, build approved comprehensive boat inspection staffing, and oversight of the Department of infrastructure, pilot enforcement of legislation to help prevent the spread Environmental Conservation or take action Wilderness resource capacity limits, of aquatic invasive species. to strengthen the Adirondack Park Agency hire Forest Rangers, and increase with updated planning and conservation personnel to protect natural resources. Support More Vibrant tools to better incentivize private Communities stewardship and responsible development. New Conservation More funds were approved for planning, Defend the NYS Funding smart growth, communications, Constitution The state reauthorized a $3-billion Clean health care, jobs, housing, and Water, Jobs Bond Act for the 2022 ballot, for recreational infrastructure. The Courts defended the integrity of the water, climate, overuse, and the Adirondacks. “forever wild” clause of the NYS Constitution The Environmental Protection Fund Expand Park Diversity and the Legislature secured second passage appropriation was a full $300 million. A new Equity & Inclusion Efforts of the “Environmental Rights Amendment” $500 million was set aside for clean water. so voters may approve it in 2021. Efforts were expanded to build a more Combat Climate Change welcoming, inclusive Adirondack Park that celebrates all kinds of diversity. and Acid Rain Federal and state governments promoted clean energy and implemented climate actions, rejoined the Paris accord, restored federal protections against acid rain, and enhanced research funding.
STATE OF THE PARK 2021–2022 5 THE GOVERNOR
PHOTO © CARL HEILMAN II/WILD VISIONS INC.
Taps Revenue for Water, Flood of Visitors Cuomo Resigns Gov. Andrew Cuomo negotiated a budget with On August 10, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced he was resigning following the Legislature that included a $300 million reports from investigations by the Attorney General and a NYS Assembly Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) for committee alleging he sexually harassed or abused 11 women and routinely open space, parks, solid waste, and climate bullied subordinates in an effort to maintain control over them. He mitigation/adaptation. The EPF also dedicated also stood accused of under-reporting nursing home deaths during the $1.5 million to manage overcrowding in the COVID-19 crisis; ignoring structural flaws in the construction of the Gov. Adirondack and Catskill Forest Preserves. Mario Cuomo (formerly Tappan Zee) bridge; misusing state resources and The budget provided an additional $500 CUOMO personnel for allegedly giving COVID-19 testing priorities to friends and million for clean water projects statewide family members; and for using state staff to write and edit a book on his that would otherwise be funded through handling of the pandemic, for which he was paid millions of dollars. local property taxes. A total of $4.4 billion has been approved for clean water since 2015, with $58 million in grants going to the Road Salt Program Adirondacks during that time. The Park’s nine Gets Rolling villages and some hamlets help to safeguard clean water for more than 12.4 million visitors Governor Cuomo signed into law the each year via more than two dozen municipal Randy Preston Road Salt Reduction Act – a wastewater treatment plants. bipartisan bill that will help reduce road salt pollution in wells, lakes, and streams and protect drinking water in the Adirondack Park. Named for the late Wilmington Town Supervisor who rallied local supporters, the law creates an Adirondack Road Salt Reduction Task Force. The task force will recommend a salt-reduction pilot program to Winter road maintenance on a state highway test proven alternative measures Park-wide. Now, the Governor needs to take another Fresh Welcome Mat step: see Salt Task Force of Zero below. for a Diverse Public The Governor continued to support the Salt Task Adirondack Diversity Initiative (ADI), Force of Zero agreeing to provide another $250,000 for While he signed the bill authorizing FY2021-22 via the Environmental Justice the creation of an Adirondack Road section of the EPF. ADI is working to Salt Reduction Task Force and Pilot make the Adirondacks a more welcoming, Program in 2020, the Governor has yet inclusive, and safe place for residents and to appoint recommendations made by visitors. It was created by local activists, the legislature or fill his own seats. unprecedented bipartisan support at the state level, and endorsement by more than 40 community agencies across the Lake George wastewater treatment plant Adirondacks and greater North Country. PHOTO © CARL HEILMAN II/WILD VISIONS INC. LAKE GEORGE LAND CONSERVANCY
6 ADIRONDACK COUNCIL Internet Must be Affordable Governor Kathy Hochul In April, Governor Cuomo approved a Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul assumed the office of Governor in August after the new law that guarantees access to high- resignation of Andrew Cuomo, who was serving in his third term. From speed internet for $15 a month, including Tonawanda in western New York, Hochul is the first woman to serve fees and taxes, for low-income residents. as the state’s Governor. Hochul was in her second term as Lieutenant Providers must offer this price to all New Governor, (a separately elected office from the Governorship, not a single Yorkers who qualify for other government ticket). She has also served a term in Congress. Hochul vowed to end assistance programs, including school what she called a culture of fear and intimidation in state government. lunch, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance HOCHUL Hochul has been attentive to Adirondack issues, frequently visiting Program (food stamps), rent assistance, the Park and participating in local events and celebrations. She has attended several of the affordability benefits for utility bills, and Adirondack Council’s awards ceremonies and social gatherings, including recording a special Medicaid. However, the Governor’s promise greeting for those who attended the Council’s 2021 Virtual Forever Wild Day Celebration in to provide universal coverage statewide July. Hochul told Council members, “the Adirondacks are God’s favorite place on Earth.” by 2018 remains unfulfilled and provisions are needed to ensure providers’ costs are funded. See Network Not in Range below. New Beginning APA Leadership Network Not for an Old Line Vacuum Lingers in Range In May, the Governor’s depts. of Governor Cuomo again failed to appoint new Transportation and Environmental members or a chair to lead the Adirondack There has been little progress in Conservation joined with the Office of General Park Agency (APA) board. His inaction has addressing gaps in broadband internet Services to begin rehabilitating the former created a leadership void in the state’s coverage in rural areas. Even New York Remsen-to-Lake Placid rail line into a bike and only agency that treats the Adirondack City officials reported that 1.5 million city walking path. The new surface will connect Park as a park. Of the APA’s eight citizen residents lacked broadband coverage in Lake Placid, Saranac Lake, and Tupper board member positions, two are currently their homes and businesses. In January, Lake. Walkers, runners, and cyclists will be serving on expired terms and one seat is matters were made worse by a veto of the able to travel for 30 miles between those vacant. The Governor also failed to add Comprehensive Broadband Connectivity communities on a relatively level surface staff to the APA, despite a written plea from Act, which would have surveyed the entire without competing with automobile traffic. four Adirondack organizations urging him state to see who still needs service. New Additional plans call for the rails to remain to hire new staff and rebuild the agency. broadband legislation passed in June in use from Tupper Lake to Old Forge and and awaits the Governor’s decision. out of the Park to Utica’s Union Station via a Mo Stands Alone on major rail renovation. The 122-mile railroad Frontier of Progress Gov Failing on was constructed in the 19th Century to carry Cell Coverage lumber, freight, and private passengers. With much fanfare, the Governor in 2017 announced a $32-million master plan to In 2020, the Governor’s Upstate Rural create a new welcome center for the High Cellular Coverage Task Force told him that Peaks Wilderness Area at the long-idle it would cost $633 million to close cell Frontier Town amusement park at Exit 29 phone coverage gaps in Upstate rural areas on the Northway (I-87) in North Hudson. outside of the Adirondack and Catskill The state’s plans to partner with other Parks. Another year passed without an investors have shown little progress. estimate of the cost of closing gaps inside Pakistani-American immigrant Muhammed the parks, or a plan to close the gaps. Cell Ahmad bought the former A-frame building companies have not been willing to provide on Blue Ridge Road, which was once part coverage in sparsely populated locations, of the defunct amusement park. In June, so investment is needed to close gaps he renovated the structure into a store, in the Adirondacks with well screened restaurant, and rest stop for those heading infrastructure, especially in and along travel into the High Peaks. For some reason, the corridors and between communities. Also, state has offered Ahmad no assistance. new generations of service such as 5G require more interconnected transceivers.
New trail construction along the former rail line between Lake Placid and Tupper Lake
STATE OF THE PARK 2021–2022 7 There ORDA be State Breaks Rules, Some Balance Towns Pay Price THANK YOU FOR Investments in the Olympic Regional The decision to ignore Constitutional limits YOUR ADVOCACY! Development Authority (ORDA) and the on alterations to the Adirondack Forest region’s sports economy are warranted. Preserve has halted a major public works The staff of the Adirondack In August of 2020, the Governor provided project and led to anger and resentment on Council would like to thank $147 million for new construction and the part of some local government officials. you and the thousands of renovation at ORDA-operated venues. This The state’s highest court in May rebuked other loyal and dedicated includes the Belleayre, Gore, and Whiteface a years-old deal with town supervisors. Adirondack Park advocates ski centers, Olympic Jumping Complex, Support from town officials for the state’s from all 50 states and several Olympic Center, Olympic Speed Skating Oval, purchase of new Forest Preserve lands countries around the world! and Olympic Sports Complex at Mt. Van hinged upon the construction of a new Hoevenberg. Also, in 2019, ORDA received snowmobile trail network linking North During these difficult times, more than $60 million. The concern is not Hudson, Newcomb, Minerva, Indian Lake, your personal letters, emails these investments but the widening gap in and Long Lake. Ignoring warnings from and phone calls to state and funding between Adirondack sports venues conservationists and a court, the state federal policymakers have and environmental protection. As the pushed ahead with plans to create a network made a positive difference Adirondack Park Agency celebrates its 50th of road-like, high-speed trails requiring the for the Adirondacks. anniversary, its annual budget is $5 million, removal of thousands of trees. The Court and it has fewer staff than it had in 1971. of Appeals ruled 4-2 that building these Together, we have better The Dept. of Environmental Conservation new snowmobile highways required the protected the Park’s clean cannot keep pace with a flood of new removal of so many trees that continuing water from road salt pollution visitors to the Park’s already overused High would result in an unconstitutional and invasive species, worked Peaks Wilderness Area and other popular destruction of protected timber. The state with partner organizations destinations. Both need more money and halted its construction. Town officials are to successfully challenge and personnel to carry out their missions. expressing grave disappointment, with reverse Trump-era rollbacks some calling for a halt to state purchases of federal clean air policies, of new Forest Preserve in the Adirondacks. and taken the first steps to address overuse and preserve our world-class wildlands New Law a Hit for future generations. with Farmers The Adirondack Park is a In March, Governor Cuomo approved national treasure. THANK legislation that legalized the cultivation, YOU for being a part of possession, and consumption of cannabis these accomplishments. for adult-only recreational use. The legalization of marijuana cultivation was a high priority for the Park’s farming community as it seeks to boost farmers’ earning potential from existing fields by Action Renovations at the Olympic Ski Jumping providing new products to expanding 12 Alerts Complex in Lake Placid, Essex County markets. The potential price per acre for cannabis is significantly higher than most Green Choice for Public currently cultivated feed and vegetables. Service Commission The NY Farm Bureau had endorsed 1,481 In June, the Governor appointed legislation legalizing cultivation and sale environmental justice activist Rory Christian since the 2019 Legislative Session. Rules to NEW Advocates to a term on the board of the NYS Public implement the farming and sales portion in the past year Service Commission (PSC). Christian of the new law are expected by 2022. was chair of WE ACT for Environmental Justice and director of New York Clean 13,145 Energy for the Environmental Defense Fund. The PSC regulates electric and gas Emails to services and has great influence over the Policymakers siting of new commercial power plants.
8 ADIRONDACK COUNCIL THE COURTS
PHOTO © CARL HEILMAN II/WILD VISIONS INC.
New York Court of Appeals significantly degrade the wild character Saves Forest Preserve of the Forest Preserve over time. In sum, the high court said state officials may not In May, the NYS Court of Appeals delivered use the excuse of improved recreation or a 4-2 decision protecting the “forever wild” economic development to justify material public Forest Preserve from destruction by destruction of the Forest Preserve, and a state agency. Protect the Adirondacks! only the voters can allow changes on brought and won this decision. The Dept. the Forest Preserve by a Constitutional of Environmental Conservation (DEC), with Amendment. The court’s decision didn’t the concurrence of the Adirondack Park affect the state’s ability to perform routine Agency, was building a network of road-like maintenance on or replace existing trails snowmobile trails through the public Forest on the Forest Preserve. Adirondack Council Preserve. Conservationists warned that the and Adirondack Wild were friends of the plan allowed clear-cutting and construction court and were represented in the case Tooley Pond Road, Town of Clare, St. Lawrence County for trail building on a scale like never before by Philip H. Gitlen (a former DEC General on the Constitutionally-protected lands. Counsel) and Robert S. Rosborough IV, Decision Detours both of Whiteman Osterman & Hanna LLP. Outside of Town Federal Court Shoots In April, Supreme Court Justice Mary Farley of St. Lawrence County went out of her way Down Trump’s ACE to avoid ruling against the Town of Clare’s In January, the U.S. Court of Appeals use of 10.75 miles of the Tooley Pond Road for the D.C. Circuit rejected the Trump within the town as an all-terrain vehicle administration’s attempt to repeal and (ATV) trail. The ruling upheld the local law replace the Obama-era Clean Power Plan despite what appeared to be violations of with a much weaker Affordable Clean the NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law and the Energy Rule (ACE). The Clean Power Plan State Environmental Quality Review Act. required cuts of 32% in power plant carbon For example, the judge’s decision veered emissions by 2030. Trump’s plan required outside of the town’s boundary to satisfy no carbon reductions. The court’s 2-1 the state law’s requirement to connect Class II snowmobile trail construction in majority said that the Trump rule “hinged to an existing ATV trail. Prior state court the Moose River Plains Wild Forest on a fundamental misconstruction” of the rulings had limited the use of roads to very Clean Air Act. The court also said Trump’s compact sections within towns, usually a Opponents persuaded the court that attempt to use the ACE rule to slow the pace quarter to an eighth of a mile, connecting the new network would violate Article of greenhouse gas reductions from power existing off-road trails. Clare’s law doesn’t. 14, Section 1’s prohibition against the plants was “arbitrary and capricious.” The One bright spot in the ruling was the judge’s destruction of timber on the Preserve. federal plan to regulate greenhouse gas recognition of the Adirondack Council’s The court instructed the DEC that it could from power plants now goes to President legal standing to challenge laws that might not continue to build this trail network. Biden’s Environmental Protection Agency harm the Forest Preserve or bring unlawful The new network would have carved out for a restart. A new draft rule is expected motorized traffic to Forest Preserve roads or 27 miles of wider, flatter, smoother “Class in late 2021. Opposition to the Trump rule trails. The Tooley Pond Road runs for miles II” trails between Long Lake, Indian Lake, was led by NYS Atty. Gen. Letitia James who through the Forest Preserve, facilitating Newcomb, North Hudson, and Minerva. It coordinated the objections of 23 states and unlawful ATV access to and damage to would also have set a precedent that could eight local governments in winning the case. public lands at random locations.
STATE OF THE PARK 2021–2022 9 STATE LEGISLATURE
PHOTO © CARL HEILMAN II/WILD VISIONS INC. BOTH HOUSES Clean Water, Clean Air = Facilitating Speedy Fundamental Rights Broadband Connections Uncommonly Great Step, In February, the Legislature granted its Both houses passed a bill (S.7028/A.2396) Motivated by Alliance final approval to the Environmental Rights that would make it easier for broadband Amendment to the NYS Constitution expansions to advance in rural areas such In a shining victory for the Adirondack (Article 19, Section 1), as the Adirondack Park. Common Ground Alliance, Assemblyman Billy guaranteeing each New Broadband providers Jones, D-Chateaugay, and Sen. Environmental York resident the right to are often hit with high, Conservation Committee clean water, clean air, and unforeseen costs when Chair Todd Kaminsky, a healthful environment. trying to install their D-Long Beach, The resolution had already lines on utility poles, broke a three-year been passed by the including requests to legislative log jam and Legislature that sat prior replace the entire pole. cleared the way for to the November 2020 This legislation would comprehensive invasive elections. The amendment JACKSON require utility pole owners WOERNER species inspections for now requires the approval to pay for a portion of powerboats and trailers of the voters in the November 2, 2021 pole improvements and prevent them prior to launch for all JONES general election. Four other inalienable and from shifting the entire replacement cost Adirondack waters. unabridged rights guaranteed by the New onto broadband providers. Under the bill, They also reinstated York Constitution are freedom of worship, all utility poles in a village or town will be a 2014 statewide law a trial by a jury of one’s peers, access placed under one contract, creating a more requiring boaters to to the Erie Canal, and protection of the efficient system for broadband service take responsibility for Adirondack and Catskill Forest Preserves. providers to gain permission for their build- ensuring that their crafts The resolution was sponsored by Senator out. Regulations currently require providers are clean, drained, and Robert Jackson, D-Manhattan, and Assembly to obtain contracts for each utility pole they dry before launching in Environmental Conservation Committee intend to use. The bill was sponsored by Sen. any New York lake or Chair Steve Englebright, D-Setauket. Michele Hinchey, D-Kingston, and Assemb. river. That law took effect KAMINSKY Carrie Woerner, D-Saratoga Springs, and in 2015, expired in 2019, Bond to Heal Environment, co-sponsored by Sens. George Borrello, and was twice extended by one year before R-Jamestown and Dan Stec, R-Queensbury. the improvement requiring inspections in Spur Economy the Adirondacks was approved. Preventing Sen. Kaminsky and Assemb. Englebright Let’s See Who’s invasive species infestations not only protects gained approval for a $3-billion Clean Water intact ecosystems, it saves local communities and Jobs Bond Act for environmental (Not) Connected from spending millions of dollars on projects statewide. The specific proposal will In April, both houses approved a state control methods, or losing significant be spelled out for the voters to consider at budget that included language and funding tourism once recreation is affected. The the November 2022 general election. It is to implement the Comprehensive Broadband Adirondack Common Ground Alliance is expected to include several categories that Connectivity Act. The bill requires the a non-partisan group of community and would benefit the Adirondacks, including Public Service Commission to study the organizational leaders who gather to set a $200 million for open space, $100 million for availability, reliability, and cost of high- mutual agenda for state government action farmland protection, $700 million for climate speed internet services and to publish a important to the Park. Adirondack Council mitigation, $1 billion for restoration and flood detailed internet access map of the state. staff helped to create the Alliance and risk reduction, and $100 million for inland The budget includes $1 million in funding participate in its gatherings every July. flooding and local waterfront revitalization. to conduct the mapping. The bill originally
10 ADIRONDACK COUNCIL passed both houses in 2020 but was vetoed Ray Brook, coordinated a comprehensive approved in the final version of the state by Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The 2020 legislation physical and chemical survey of more than budget. The EPF has remained at a steady had been sponsored by Sen. Jen Metzger, half of the Park’s 2,800 major lakes and $300 million for five years running. D-Middletown, and Assemb. Sean Ryan, ponds. The idea was to create a baseline now a member of the Senate, D-Buffalo. from which to monitor the state’s recovery Seeking Tighter Lid This year’s sponsors were Senator Kevin from acid rain. The Adirondacks need new for RGGI Cookie Jar Parker, D-Brooklyn and Assemblyman funding to provide a contemporary update Michael Cusick, D-Staten Island. and comparison to the three-decade-old The Assembly passed a bill that would halt baseline data while incorporating new criteria the Governor and Legislature from raiding Healthy Soil is Root for the study of climate change impacts. funds intended for conservation, renewable energy development, of All Growth This information can be used to defend the state’s residents and natural resources from and sustainable energy In June, both houses passed a bill to upwind pollution that causes acid rain, soot, job-creation and using establish the New York Soil Health and and smog. Advocates and state officials have them for non-conservation Climate Resiliency Act to enhance and used the data to demand additional measures purposes to close gaps in maintain the health and resilience of from the U.S. Environmental Protection the state budget. At risk agricultural soils. This legislation links New Agency, Congress, and the nation’s courts. are tens of millions of York’s farm, water quality, and climate dollars in the custody of change policies into one strategy that the NYS Energy Research will increase the resiliency of farms and SENATE and Development MAY communities, protect water resources, and Authority from the sale expand the role of our farms in meeting Senate Advances of carbon dioxide allowances to power state climate goals. It establishes a Soil Green Package plants through the state’s participation Health Initiative, a Climate Resilient Farming in the 10-state Regional Greenhouse Initiative, and a Research Initiative through Senators led the effort to revive a Gas Initiative. The bill would require any the NYS Department of Agriculture and $3-billion bond act to provide new revenue funds transferred be used in a manner Markets. The bill (S.4722/A.5386-A) was for environmental capital projects consistent with NYSERDA’s existing rules sponsored by Sen. Hinchey and Assemb. statewide, which had been cancelled by supporting green energy and jobs. It also Donna Lupardo, D-Binghamton. the Governor’s budget director in 2020. directs the Comptroller to issue a report In addition, the Senate approved several detailing the use of any transferred funds. environmental and public safety bills. They The bill (A.7611/S.6268) was sponsored included bills to protect pollinators from by Assemb. Anna Kelles, D-Ithaca, and the impacts of neonicotinoids, enhancing Sen. Rachel May, D-Syracuse. It did not state protection for wetlands, and get out of committee in the Senate. increasing the minimum age to operate an all-terrain vehicle from 10 to 14. These bills Waiting to Protect did not pass in the Assembly. More Wetlands ASSEMBLY The Assembly opted not to pass legislation PHOTO: BEN STECHSCHULTE this session that would have protected an estimated one million additional acres of 400 Million Reasons wetlands in the state. This bill would have Wild Work Farm, Keene Valley to Grow the EPF expanded state jurisdiction over wetlands currently lacking protections, including The New York State Assembly proposed some wetlands found in the Adirondacks. It’s Better to Know a $400 million Environmental Protection Wetlands provide benefits that clean our What We’re Up Against Fund (EPF) as part of its one-house budget water, protect communities from the impacts proposal for the 2021-22 state budget. This The Legislature dropped an opportunity of climate change, and support a diverse proposal acknowledges a level of need to support an important scientific effort spectrum of wildlife. The Assembly has that far exceeds the current EPF total. The and provide protection to the Adirondack contended that they are holding out for $400 million EPF included $44 million Park’s waters when it failed to budget stronger legislation. Meanwhile, various for open space protection, $9 million for funding for a survey of climate change forms of this legislation have languished for Adirondack and Catskill visitor safety and and Adirondack lake ecosystems. In the roughly 20 years. The Senate passed this wilderness protection, $19.3 million for mid-1980s, the Adirondack Lakes Survey bill, sponsored by Senator Pete Harckham, invasive species spread prevention, and Corp., a not-for-profit partner of the Dept. D-Somers; the failed Assembly bill was more. Ultimately, this proposal was not of Environmental Conservation based in sponsored by Steve Englebright.
STATE OF THE PARK 2021–2022 11 ATTORNEY GENERAL
PHOTO: ADOBE STOCK
James’ Suit Trumps Weak ACE In January, New York State Attorney Gen. Letitia James won a lawsuit overturning the Trump administration’s replacement for the Clean Power Plan (CPP) it repealed in 2019. James led a coalition of Attorneys General from 23 states and eight municipal governments to nullify the Affordable Clean Energy Rule (ACE). Unlike PHOTO © CARL HEILMAN II/WILD VISIONS INC. the CPP that would have cut power plant carbon JAMES Junk oil tankers stored on the Tahawus Rail Line along the Hudson River just north of North Creek in 2018 emissions by 32 percent within a decade, Trump’s ACE rule required no significant cuts. In a 2-1 decision, the U.S. Adirondack Tahawus Crucial Funding for Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit said that Rail Line “Critical Loads” the Trump rule “hinged on a fundamental Attorney General James’ team continues Attorney General James’ legal actions misconstruction” of the Clean Air Act and to press ahead with the Federal Surface frequently result in pollution reductions that Trump’s attempt to implement the ACE Transportation Board (STB) to force or financial settlements. The NYS Energy rule was “arbitrary and capricious.” The the removal of bankrupt Iowa Pacific Research and Development Authority federal plan to regulate greenhouse gas from Holdings’ rights to the Adirondack (NYSERDA) reinvested settlement money power plants now goes to President Joe Tahawus Rail Line. Iowa Pacific is the it received into a comprehensive study of Biden’s Environmental Protection Agency for company which was storing dozens of the ability of Adirondack landscapes and a restart. A new draft rule is expected in 2021. derelict oil tankers here, adjacent to the watersheds to withstand air pollution. Acid Hudson River. The STB continues to delay rain and soot from the coal-fired power action. The Department of Environmental plants of the Midwest change the Park’s soil Conservation and Adirondack Council and water chemistry in harmful ways. For attorneys continue to support the state. decades, the answer to how much pollution it takes to make acid rain-caused damage James Pursues was murky. But no longer. NYSERDA now the Truth has all of the tools needed to judge the “critical load” beyond which damage to Attorney General James’ investigations of ecosystems begins for Adirondack lakes, Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s behavior in office streams, and soils. This new standard will led to his resignation. She uncovered allow New York officials and advocates PHOTO: ISTOCK troubling evidence of unlawful actions in to seek new, science-based pollution his treatment of women and in his use of limits from federal regulators. Coal-fired power plant along Lake Erie state personnel and resources. Her report made it clear that the Governor would be impeached by the Legislature and that she would support the whistleblowers.
12 ADIRONDACK COUNCIL IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Kate Fish retired this spring after 12 years In February, Lee Keet of Saranac Lake ORGANIZATIONS AND PEOPLE as executive director of the Adirondack realized a long-sought dream when he It takes more than government to make North Country Association (ANCA), an converted a lot he bought to prevent the world’s greatest park work so well. economic development organization focused Walmart from building on it into the Saranac Here are some of the organizations and on clean energy, local food, and small Lake Community Solar Project, co-owned by people who made a positive difference in business development. ANCA also hosts the local residents. the Adirondacks this year: Adirondack Diversity Initiative. Longtime partners, the Lake George The Adirondack Common Ground AdkAction of Keeseville partnered with the Association and the Fund for Lake George Alliance’s support for the new legislation Hub on the Hill in Essex during the pandemic merged in March into a single organization, to combat aquatic invasive species helped to create Emergency Food Packages that keeping the association name. spur its approval. provided more than 64,000 meals to friends and neighbors facing food insecurity due to The Lake George Association removed The Adirondack Mountain Reserve endured the COVID-19 crisis. about 20 tons of hand-harvested Eurasian criticism and complaints but instituted a Watermilfoil from the lake this spring. workable parking reservation system for its In June, Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Paul Smith’s College hired retired High expanded parking lot serving the High Peaks Hamilton and Herkimer Associations held Peaks Forest Ranger Scott Van Laer to run Wilderness Area. a Brook Trout Conservation Field Day in collaboration with Trout Power and Great its Visitor Interpretive Center on Route 30 in In May, the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Camp Sagamore where participants learned Brighton. Studies published a new study questioning about the tremendous strides in research On June 19, John Brown Lives! held a some of the broad assumptions about the and conservation helping to restore lost rousing Juneteenth celebration at the John value of forests in sequestering atmospheric heritage strains of brook trout. Brown Farm State Historic Site to recognize carbon: “Rethinking Forest Carbon Offsets” the 125th anniversary of the state protection by senior scientist Charles Canham. It is a The New Yorkers for Clean Water and Jobs of the site and to celebrate the effective end critical examination of markets for forest coalition, some 175 organizations, banded of slavery in mid-June, 1865 when federal carbon offsets in the U.S. together to support a state Legislative proposal for a 2022 $3-billion environmental troops freed the last enslaved Blacks in The citizens and organizations who served bond act. Texas, months after the Confederacy had on the NYS High Peaks Wilderness surrendered. Overuse Strategic Planning Advisory In December 2020, the Adirondack Land The Adirondack Chapter of The Nature Group, including the Adirondack Mountain Trust purchased a 17-acre parcel of land Conservancy continues to work to make Club, helped state officials frame a solution in Johnsburg, Essex County, completing sure the Follensby Pond property is well to negative impacts of overcrowding and the protection of all of Thirteenth Lake’s protected. worn-out trails. shoreline, which is surrounded by the Siamese Ponds Wilderness Area and Garnet The Conservation Fund protected 8,000 The Adirondack Diversity Initiative (ADI) Hill Property Owners Association. acres of the Adirondacks along the South is offering diversity, equity, and inclusion Branch of the Grass River in St. Lawrence training to local governments, police The Open Space Institute purchased County. departments, and other Adirondack public 2,229 acres from Bar MH Timber LLC in servants to help them make the Park a more Chesterfield and Lewis for future addition to bias-free environment. the Adirondack Forest Preserve that protects a key Champlain Wildway. The Ausable River Association has spent much of 2020-21 installing larger drainage The Lake Champlain Basin Program culverts to handle larger storm events awarded 98 grants for a total of more without damage to riverbanks and roads. than $2.6 million to protect water quality, It also installed a series of fishing wader including $50,000 to AdkAction for efforts washing stations to prevent the spread of to reduce excessive use of road salt. microscopically small invasive species.
STATE OF THE PARK 2021–2022 13 IA L AG TT BA IE ANC PHOTO: N FOREVER ADIRONDACKS Clean Water, Jobs, and Wilderness PHOTO © CARL HEILMAN II/WILD VISIONS INC.
New York’s Adirondack Park is a national treasure but is threatened.
We must act now to preserve it and build a better future for visitors and residents. Aaron Mair, as PHOTO: NANCIE BATTAGLIA PHOTO: Director of the Forever Adirondacks Campaign, will raise awareness across New York State and the nation of the need to fund clean water, jobs, and wilderness protection in the Adirondack Park. AARON MAIR PROTECTING CLEAN WATER Director of the Forever Adirondacks Campaign: The Park has more than 2,800 large lakes and Aaron joined the Adirondack Council in May 2021. He is a national ponds, 1,500 miles of rivers, 30,000 miles of wilderness advocate and environmental justice pioneer who brooks and streams, and billions of trees. has worked over the last 40 years in the spaces of health, Its protected forests sequester carbon environment, climate change disparities, and park protection. and replace it with oxygen, help fight He is an urban environmental activist and a regional and national climate change, filter our drinking environmental justice organizer and strategist who has advised water, and provide the clear air we two presidents and Congress, and served on the national board breathe, and keep our rivers and of directors of the Sierra Club as its 57th president. streams cool enough for native
trout and salmon to survive. K C
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E D O B A 14 ADIRONDACK COUNCIL : O T O H P “Aaron Mair has been at the forefront of the national movement for environmental justice. What good news that he is bringing his passion and expertise to bear on the six million acres inside the Blue Line, where I have no doubt he will make a tremendous difference!” - Bill McKibben, Environmental author, climate activist/expert, and Adirondack Park resident
INVESTING IN NEW ADIRONDACK ADIRONDACK JOBS GREEN NEW DEAL
IA L AG The Adirondack Park’s 130,000 year- A Green New Deal for the TT BA IE ANC round residents and 130 communities Adirondack region would PHOTO: N need state and federal investments to improve the quality of life upgrade green infrastructure; to double by funding community-centered Forest Rangers and diversify the Forest Ranger force; development, expanded housing options, better are asking the to put people to work, foster more wilderness protection, clean water, and a welcoming, state to hire additional rangers vibrant communities, and preserve the safe environment for all. Better visitor-management Park’s clean water and wilderness. would help spread out economic benefits and relieve congestion in crowded communities. The Park can expand job opportunities and build a sustainable year-round population with new Renewable energy, green transportation, and climate- investments in improved housing, education, smart farm projects would build the economy in ways childcare, visitor management, cell service, and that complement Park protection. More long-term broadband communications infrastructure. rental housing and reasonable purchase options would help provide affordable living spaces for new PRESERVING WILDERNESS residents, young families, and professionals.
The Adirondack Park is home to 90% of all motor-free Wilderness from Maine to Georgia and irreplaceable wildlife such as moose, trout, and
loon. The wilderness should be G R
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S managed and enjoyed sustainably. E G A IM R The Park needs funding to address E T S A M overuse and protect the Whitney R, TE AS Estate and Follensby Pond properties. RY M PHOTO: LAR
FUNDING SCIENCE
Resources for science, climate monitoring, acid rain research, and restoration have been cut significantly. They must L-R: Adirondack Diversity Initiative Executive Director Nicky be restored and expanded to Hylton-Patterson, former Adirondack Park Agency General protect nature and public health. Counsel Bill Kissel, and Aaron Mair at a John Brown Lives! event
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E D O B A : STATE OF THE PARK 2021–2022 15 O T O H P LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Balancing Act Earns Braymer Leads Fiction Adds Encore Performance on Clean Water Friction Once again, Keene Town Supervisor Joe In June, Warren County Supervisor Claudia An essay in the Albany Times Union Pete Wilson has shown patience and Braymer, D-Glens Falls, proposed a new newspaper by a local government leader leadership in guiding his town’s reaction local law that would require septic systems inaccurately accused the Adirondack Council to the flood of new near major waterbodies to be inspected of reneging on a promise to support a new visitors to the High at the time of sale or transfer. She wasn’t network of road-like snowmobile trails Peaks Wilderness. More happy when one member of the board’s connecting Adirondack communities. Not people are using the Environmental Concerns and Real Property only did the Adirondack Council refuse to Forest Preserve as a Tax Services Committee blocked the agree to the building of these so-called COVID-19 refuge and measure. So she brought the proposed law “trails,” it filed two lawsuits to prevent their using his community to to the full board, which appointed her to construction, before the first trees fell. In get there. He worked chair a special committee to discuss and both cases, the court said the Council acted with state officials to gather public comment on the measure. too hastily, since no damage had yet been acquire new shuttle WILSON The law would apply near Lake George, done to the Forest Preserve. After trees buses to help control the Schroon Lake, Loon Lake, Brant Lake, and were cut and earth moving equipment was number of visitors at over-visited and worn the Schroon and Hudson Rivers. Homes used to plow flat, level surfaces through the out trails and campsites. Confident that his with septic systems situated within 250 feet Forest Preserve, the organization, Protect town has more than enough visitors and of these waters would need to have their the Adirondacks!, filed a third suit. That traffic to sustain the economy, Wilson has disposal systems inspected whenever they made its way to the state’s highest court, shown the courage to provide visitors with are sold to new owners. Lake George has where the Council filed a Friend of the Court alternative hiking and camping options in over 6,000 septic systems in the watershed (amicus curiae) brief supporting Protect’s other towns. This generous act protects the with a majority of those within Warren objections. The court ruled 4-2 that the vulnerable Forest Preserve while it preserves County, and time-of-sale inspections are state had violated the “forever wild” clause the quality of life for town residents. the least disruptive to the homeowner. of the NYS Constitution by destroying Warren County and the state departments a material portion of the forest without Re-Running of Environmental Conservation and Health, permission from the voters. The Council has the Numbers and the NYS Environmental Facilities Corp., no objection to the construction of lawful offer financing to homeowners for fixing snowmobile trails which, under state law, In May, St. Lawrence County planners septic systems in the Lake George basin. must be the same as existing foot trails. worked with the Development Authority of the North Country to complete a survey of Long Lake Dreams residents’ broadband internet needs. Also, of 2040 Washington County officials used federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic At press time, the Town of Long Lake Security Act funding to carry out a similar had nearly completed its first 20-year survey. Local officials are reacting to comprehensive plan. Residents want the lack of accurate data available from officials to seek new businesses and internet providers or from state officials want basic and reliable services such promising universal coverage. Two years as dependable electricity, cell phone ago, town officials in Essex County carried reception, and a grocery store. They out their own surveys and discovered that also value the outdoors, so a recreation Hoss’s Country Corner general store in Long Lake the local cable TV and internet providers’ plan is part of the big picture. estimates of coverage were exaggerated.
16 ADIRONDACK COUNCIL Throttling Back It’s a Park, Uncontrolled Events It’s a Brand The Lewis County Legislature started off It wasn’t so long ago that Adirondack town with the right idea in August 2020 when officials could be counted on to say the it enacted a local law requiring organizers Adirondack Mountains were their home, to obtain permits and insurance for events not a park. Now, most towns just outside that draw 250 people or more 90 days of the Park’s border are brimming with prior to the event. It stumbled in April when Adirondack-themed gift shops, restaurants, it balked at enforcement. Local tavern sporting goods outfitters, and clothing owners had organized a poker run to five stores, and even a few churches with Tug Hill establishments and two others in Adirondack in their titles. This spring, View of Piseco Lake from Panther Mountain the Adirondack Park near Brantingham four Saratoga County towns located Lake, without a permit. The event drew inside the Park (Hadley, Corinth, Edinburg, between 300-400 participants, and and Day) are joining forces to promote Three Projects appeared to violate both the new permit themselves to potential new residents Hit the Trails law and COVID-19 restrictions. Most UTVs using the Park, and the city next to it, as In June, the Adirondack Community exceed the 1,000-pound limit for off-road the sales tools. The slogan: “Saratoga’s Recreation Alliance awarded three grants for vehicles that may be registered for use Adirondacks: On the Edge of Everything.” recreational improvements in Keene, Tupper on public trails or roads in New York. At Lake, and Piseco Lake. The Alliance is a group press time, the county was contemplating Six Times the of community leaders, outdoor enthusiasts, a reduction in the permit threshold to Trouble, Rejected and local entrepreneurs dedicated to events drawing 50 people or more. recreation, stewardship, and Adirondack The Town of Lake Luzerne sought a map communities. The Northern Forest Center, amendment from the Adirondack Park Straight Poop from which facilitates and participates in the Agency (APA) that would weaken zoning Alliance, raised funds for this round of grants. the Town Supe restrictions on about 100 acres near Lake The Alliance awarded approximately $9,000 In May, Queensbury Town Supervisor John Vanare. The Town’s request to shift from a to locate a pump track for cyclists in Keene, Strough wrote a guest column for the Times protective “rural use” zone to “moderate assess mountain biking trail options in Union newspaper of Albany calling for New intensity” would have allowed a six-fold Tupper Lake, and improve trails on Panther York to “fulfill its statutory responsibility increase in principal structures per square Mountain near Tupper Lake. A third grant and implement a mandatory, uniform mile. Fortunately, in April, the town’s request was awarded to the Piseco Lake Association septic system inspection and maintenance was denied by the APA’s Park Policy and for improvements to the Panther Mountain program in every lakeside community.” Planning committee. The APA staff cited a Trail to address erosion and overuse, in Strough correctly lamented the recent loss of limited open space in the already- partnership with the state and the Hamilton algal blooms in Lake George – a drinking congested neighborhood along Route 9N. The County Soil and Water Conservation District. water source – and counted his community’s plan gave too little consideration to increased blessings that it hadn’t turned toxic. water pollution from new development. The land in question contains wetlands and a Saranac Lake Reaches Development Paused stream that flows into the lake. About 80% Medals Podium for More Planning of public comments opposed the proposal. After two years of work and political action by the village’s Climate Smart Community The Santa Clara Town Board cautiously Task Force and local high school students, halted all commercial development in the Saranac Lake received its bronze-level community for six months, starting in Climate Smart Community certification in January, to give officials time to prepare September 2020. The task force began work to review plans for a marina expansion in May 2018 and has met enough green at already-busy Fish Creek Ponds. Town goals to earn the new designation. Local officials pointed to nearby town of Long high school students played a large part Lake’s comprehensive planning efforts in reaching the goals, partnering with The and expressed a desire for the same type Wild Center in Tupper Lake and attending its of professional and engineering advice. annual Adirondack Youth Climate Summit. The town also gave itself permission to The Climate Smart program encourages extend the moratorium beyond July 1. communities statewide to inventory and curb their greenhouse gas emissions and Fish Creek Pond Campground work toward a zero-emissions future.
STATE OF THE PARK 2021–2022 17 DEPT. OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION
Fair Access High Peaks State Overuse such as those used in national parks. The Begins Here Group Recommendations framework is a system for determining which areas of the Park need new trails, parking, In May, Basil Seggos prioritized safety and Members of the DEC’s High Peaks sanitary facilities, planners, land managers, wilderness protection over unfettered hiker Wilderness Overuse Advisory Group Forest Rangers, educational programs, access and the Department of Environmental agreed upon recommendations that and limits on use for the most heavily Conservation (DEC) recognize the unacceptable physical and damaged locations to give them a rest. implemented parking social impacts of overuse on wilderness, reservations and other visitors, and communities in the limits for the Adirondack Adirondack High Peaks area. Some are Forest Preserve’s most short-term recommendations that can be popular destinations. implemented immediately, or are already Seggos worked with underway, such as addressing parking the private Adirondack and pedestrian safety along Route 73; Mountain Reserve (AMR), creating a pilot shuttle service; adding new home of the Ausable Club. SEGGOS portable toilets; increasing support for AMR allows but has the steward programs; and education efforts right to restrict public access to and across including “Leave No Trace” principles. its lands. AMR allows hikers to reserve a Others are long-ranging plans and general parking spot at its recently expanded 70-car agreements that include supporting green PHOTO: NYSDEC parking lot up to two weeks in advance of a infrastructure; supporting social justice, trip. By reserving a parking space online, the equity, diversity, and inclusion efforts; using new system gives people in all areas of the science and best management practices to Essex County Hiker Shuttle state a fairer opportunity to visit the iconic influence decisions; using an established High Peaks, plus the information they need methodology to monitor and respond to Leave No Trace and to find another great adventure not far away. resource conditions; providing stakeholder engagement; committing to a transparent #loveyouradk process; and securing a commitment by the After the Leave No Trace Center for state for necessary funding to inventory, Outdoor Ethics hosted a Hot Spot in the maintain, and rebuild trails. Some of Eastern High Peaks in 2019, the DEC worked these recommendations have been made with local people and organizations across before, but had not yet been carried out. the Adirondacks to sustain the public conversation about outdoor ethics and Visitor Use wilderness. Together, they are providing a Management digital place where people can get proper information about Leave No Trace, the In May, the DEC converted some of the Adirondacks, and pledge to leave the Park recommendations from the High Peaks a little better: www.loveyouradk.org. This Wilderness Overuse Advisory Group into effort has culminated in TV commercials a draft 98-page wild lands monitoring running in all Stewart’s Shops around the plan. The agency recognized the need Adirondacks, as well as an audio message Hikers wait to register at a popular High Peaks for a third-party, independent, outside that gets played at Stewart’s gas pumps. Wilderness Area trailhead expert-assisted visitor management plan. The DEC’s partners include the Adirondack That plan can evolve into a state-of-the- Council, Adirondack Mountain Club, and the art Visitor Use Management Framework, Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism.
18 ADIRONDACK COUNCIL Teamwork Needed to Repel Invaders In December 2020, the DEC announced new, five-year, $3.5-million partnerships with the NY Invasive Species Research Institute and Cornell University to support research to limit the spread of invasive species. The Institute has conducted nearly 50 scientific investigations into species affecting New York waters, forests, and farms. Of special concern is the effort to conserve New York’s hemlock resources in the face of multiple threats, particularly hemlock woolly adelgid, an invasive insect. Other work includes a focus on identifying invasive species, education, outreach, and targeted control efforts. Part of the Institute’s work will be to deploy biological controls to combat hemlock woolly adelgid, including an infestation on Lake George. L-R: Council conservation staff members Ryan Nerp and Jackie Bowen work with Cathy Pedler from the Adirondack Mountain Club to survey for hemlock woolly adelgid near Lake George No Thanks, Ranger-only Academy DEC Not Asking We’d Rather Not… Slated for Wanakena for More Rangers In June, the DEC’s legislative affairs team In June, Commissioner Seggos announced The Department is still not asking the was slow to support the approval of the that he was scheduling a Forest Rangers- legislature for increased funding to double aquatic invasive species legislation passed only academy to train more Rangers at the number of Forest Rangers, nor is it calling unanimously by both houses of the NYS a time when visitor numbers are rising, on the civil service to help diversify the force. Legislature. The agency once again defended staffing is short, and a host of older A new academy should help maintain the the Governor’s lack of additional funding Rangers are retiring. For decades, Forest current staffing level as more senior staff for new personnel during budget hearings Ranger and Environmental Conservation retire, and the need for an expanded Ranger in March. Yet, staff told Legislators in June Officer recruits have had to share a force must be recognized and acted on. that the DEC lacked the personnel to carry training academy, and law enforcement out the boat inspection program mandated and policing were the training emphasis. by the bill. A network of boat inspection and However, Forest Rangers have different decontamination stations is already in place duties. Rangers help to properly manage around the Park. The bill had the support of public lands such as the Forest Preserve, environmental organizations, the Common fight fires and rescue injured or stranded Ground Alliance, and local governments. hikers, educate the public, and understand the terrain, so they can warn us when snow, ice, or rising streams make trails unsafe. Also, for the first time in decades, the academy will be held inside the Adirondack Park at the State University of NY College of Environmental Science and Forestry’s Ranger School in Wanakena. A typical academy trains 40 to 60 recruits.
PHOTO: NANCIE BATTAGLIA
PHOTO: AWI Forest Rangers are an integral part of managing public lands in the Adirondacks and across New York Boat washing and decontamination station at the Adirondack Welcome Center near exit 18 on Interstate 87 the Adirondack Northway
STATE OF THE PARK 2021–2022 19 DEC Finds PFAS Helping Agencies Debar Wild Forest Lingering in Local Water Budget Carbon Cuts Plan Lacking In October 2020, the DEC identified a In September 2020, Seggos announced the The DEC proposed reclassifying 41 acres of colorless, odorless threat to public health at finalization of guidance to reduce climate- the Debar Mountain Wild Forest to Intensive the Adirondack Regional airport, a town- altering greenhouse gas emissions and Use and removing the Debar Lodge and owned airfield near Saranac Lake, adding advance the ongoing implementation of other buildings, and replacing them with a it to its Superfund list as a hazardous the Climate Leadership and Community day-use picnic area (in the Forest Preserve). waste site. The DEC found PFAS chemicals Protection Act. This will help state agencies The plan is incomplete, lacks critical in the water supply near the airport and estimate the value of reducing carbon information, and ignores consideration of a the groundwater in a nearby mobile home and other greenhouse gas emissions in possible constitutional amendment to save park. This is bad, but the fact that the decision-making. When agencies undertake the Debar Lodge, as was done for Great DEC found and publicized this problem conservation measures, the DEC’s “value Camp Sagamore, and expand the Forest is good. Like other airports across the of carbon” metric establishes a monetary Preserve while opening new public access. country, Adirondack Regional for years value for the avoided emissions of carbon sprayed firefighting foam that contains dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. It is chemicals known as PFAS, which can a metric that will be applicable to all state cause cancer and other health problems. agencies and authorities to demonstrate the global societal value of actions to Hunter Shoots Moose, reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Sent to Calaboose Not Forever Wild In September 2020, Conservation officers scored a victory for protected wildlife Advocates when they won a conviction in a moose From 2009 through 2021, the DEC poaching case involving a Saranac Lake promoted large-scale destruction of trees resident. The shooter was sentenced in in the Constitutionally protected, “forever Debar Lodge is listed on the National Register of the Town of Franklin Criminal Court to 60 wild” Forest Preserve at the request of Historic Places in the Town of Duane, Franklin County days in county jail and a $5,000 fine. The snowmobiling promoters. This earned the DEC also revoked the perpetrator’s hunting DEC a rebuke from Park advocates and Clean Water for privileges for five years. The cow moose the state’s courts. The DEC then claimed was shot on private lands open to public without evidence that the court’s refusal Fetching Landscape recreation via a conservation easement. to allow the construction of much wider, This spring, the DEC closed the unofficial The Park’s moose population is not yet flatter trails would prevent it from doing any Lake George dog beach adjacent to Million large enough to sustain hunting pressures. trail maintenance, even on foot trails. State Dollar Beach in the Village of Lake George. law requires Forest Preserve snowmobile The state’s major bathing beach with the trails to have the character of a foot trail. pricey name had been closed several times It’s time for the DEC to follow that law. in recent years due to high fecal coliform levels. The DEC excavated the so-called Updated Regulations dog beach and installed a massive “bio- Please Some Anglers filter” to help slow and clean stormwater runoff before it enters the lake. Local and The DEC approved new generally improved state officials are working together to regulations that simplify rules and make improve the lake’s overall water quality. them easier for the public to understand. However, the new rules would also allow New, Improved Raquette trout fishing year-round, not just in the traditional season of April 1 to mid-October. Boreal Proposal While the expanded period is catch-and- The DEC revised a previously flawed release only, and artificial lures must be draft amendment to the Kildare tract used, which is good, this will add pressure and Five Mile Tract Conservation PHOTO: LARRY MASTER, MASTERIMAGES.ORG to trout populations and will require careful Easements Recreational Management monitoring for and adjustments to correct plan portions of the Raquette Boreal Researchers estimate that only 600-800 moose for any unintended negative impacts. Wild Forest Unit Management Plan. The reside in the Adirondacks - ticks, disease, revision better balances public access and climate change threaten native moose and protection of natural resources populations across the Northeast and managing for wild character.
20 ADIRONDACK COUNCIL OTHER AGENCIES
Comptroller: DEC Can’t Schroon Lake Powers Do More with Less Up for Electric Cars
In January, New York State Comptroller In December 2020, the NYS Power Authority Tom DiNapoli reported that the Dept. of unveiled what it called the first non-Tesla Environmental Conservation (DEC) is doing fast-charger for electric vehicles (EV) in the much more than it did Adirondack Park – providing a key link to decades ago, but the the North Country and better accessibility funding to carry out its to the Park region for drivers. The four mission hasn’t kept pace. 175 kilowatt Direct Current Fast Chargers His report said that after (DCFC) in Schroon Lake are only the fifth 50 years of growing and location in the state completed as part of a Electric vehicle charging station improving its mission, statewide charging network. The DCFCs are the DEC needs an influx being installed along key travel corridors of new state investments and in urban areas to make it convenient Halting Pollution so that it can protect the DINAPOLI for travelers to drive EVs. Schroon Lake’s Overloads state’s clean water and chargers, installed in the parking lot of a The NYS Energy Research and Development air, healthy forests, wildlife, and general Sunoco station on U.S. 9 in Essex County, Authority (NYSERDA) worked with public health. In the Adirondack Park, the are the first fast chargers offering non- Syracuse University’s Department of Civil DEC needs additional planners, engineers, proprietary charging in the Adirondack and Environmental Engineering, E&S trail builders, land managers, lake/boat- Park. They can power any all-electric Environmental Chemistry, and the U.S. launch stewards, summit stewards, Forest vehicle with fast charging capabilities. Rangers, and conservation officers. Overuse Geological Survey New York Water Science of wilderness, the spread of invasive Center, in Troy to develop a series of three species, and the need for new water Mining Sunshine studies illustrating how New York can set and sewage systems will require greater Instead of Iron air pollution standards that would protect Adirondack ecosystems from harm. The investments by the DEC in the years ahead. In April, Benson Mines in Star Lake, St. studies confirm that there are “critical Lawrence County, entered into a land-lease loads” beyond which damage from acid rain Improving Water Regs agreement with the New York State Energy begins to accumulate in the Park’s soils, Research and Development Authority in Lake George lakes, and rivers. This research will allow (NYSERDA) for a 20-megawatt solar project New York officials to establish a highly In February, the Lake George Park on approximately 130 acres. The project, accurate pollution standard for the Park and Commission adopted new rules that once completed, will provide enough power demand help from the U.S. Environmental will tighten protections for the lake’s for 4,500 homes and would operate for Protection Agency in curbing upwind water quality. The Commission adopted 20 years. The agreement is part of the pollution to meet that standard. Most of the first significant changes to its 1998 state’s new renewable energy siting law, the air pollution hitting the ground in the stormwater regulations by prohibiting the Accelerated Renewable Energy Growth Adirondacks is generated by coal-fired power fertilizer applications within 50 feet of and Community Benefit Act. The law is plants in upwind states. It is illegal to burn any water body, among other provisions. intended to streamline large renewable coal in New York to produce electricity. In addition, the new stream rules prohibit energy projects to help the state achieve development and tree cutting within 35 feet its goals under the Climate Leadership and of the 86 streams that flow into the lake. Community Protection Act to get 70% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030. NYSERDA identified the mine’s tailings pile as a “build-ready” project site and is seeking a solar developer for the site.
STATE OF THE PARK 2021–2022 21 ADIRONDACK PARK AGENCY
PHOTO © CARL HEILMAN II/WILD VISIONS INC.
Visitor Plan is Framing Up Nicely Richard Persico (1933-2021) In May, the Adirondack Park Gloversville native Richard Persico passed away in August at the age Agency (APA) worked with of 88. In 1973, Persico was Chief Counsel to Governor Rockefeller’s the Dept. of Environmental Office of State Planning, when he drafted the legislation that enacted Conservation to turn a set into law the Adirondack Park Private Land Use and Development Plan, of recommendations from the most sweeping state-level land use control program over private the High Peaks Wilderness lands in the nation. In June of that year, he was appointed the first Overuse Advisory Group into Executive Director of the Adirondack Park Agency. He also made a draft wildlands monitoring significant contributions to the creation of landmark legislation, such plan. The advisory group as the State Hazardous and Waste Super Fund, the Adirondack Park recognized the need for a Agency Act, and the State Wild, Scenic, and Recreational Rivers Act. third-party, independent, outside expert-assisted visitor management plan. That plan can evolve into a state-of-the-art Visitor Use Management Framework, such as those used in national parks. The framework is an iterative, science-based system for determining which areas of the Park need new trails, trail maintenance, parking, sanitary facilities, planners, land managers, Forest Rangers, educational programs, and limits on use for the most heavily damaged locations to give them a rest. The Council has provided the Agency with a set of suggestions for improving the draft framework.
Out of Sight, In Service In September 2020, the APA approved a well-screened cell tower in the Warren County Town of Horicon. The 95-foot cell tower on North Sherman Lake Road was disguised as a tree to conceal it from public roads. Visual analysis concluded that generally, the monopine’s size, composition and color blend in with the surrounding forested landscape and it is substantially invisible.
Coverage, Not Clutter The APA approved cell towers in Indian Lake and Inlet that did not meet the “substantially invisible” criteria of its long- standing policy for siting towers and other tall structures. For nearly two decades, the fair application of the policy has helped to ensure cell phone coverage without harming the wild beauty of the Park’s forests and mountains. Making towers more visible would bring only negligible improvements in coverage at a high cost to the Park’s natural character.
22 ADIRONDACK COUNCIL What are We Saving it For? In a stark reversal of a “thumb up” in State of the Park 2020-21, the APA approved a virtually unchanged application it had rejected as incomplete in March 2020. The 37-lot suburban-style development around Woodward Lake spans the towns of Northampton and Mayfield, Fulton County. The APA requested more information on biological surveys, wetlands, building height, maintenance plans, and construction methods. It didn’t get much. The largely unimproved subdivision adds layers of new development around a small, shallow lake. The decision highlights the failure of the APA’s own effort to improve the large-scale subdivision process, and the need for APA legislative reforms, including but not limited to proposed conservation development.
Ernst Speaks Up for Subdivision development map of the 1,169-acre tract surrounding the 129-acre Woodward Lake Wildlife and Water in the southern Adirondacks To his credit, in the discussion about the Woodward Lake subdivision, APA board Lake Bogged Down Plugging member John Ernst told his colleagues that by Septic Permit Into Solar the lake’s wildlife and The APA approved some well-sited solar water quality could only In June, the APA staff reversed a 34-year- projects in Ticonderoga over the past year. be protected by clustering old board decision and endangered a rare In September 2020, the APA approved development in a compact bog when it approved an amendment to a 5-megawatt array on 52 acres close to location and leaving most a shoreline development permit on Upper existing utility infrastructure and near of the shore undeveloped. Saranac Lake. The amendment eases the the community center. In March, the Another member restrictions that are normally required for APA approved a 5-megawatt, 50-acre rejected that argument, wetlands and allows a large private on-site installation on lands zoned for moderate wondering aloud why the residential septic system to be installed 100 feet from a stream that empties into intensity uses that had been previously APA should protect any ERNST authorized as a commerce park. lake from development the Upper Saranac Lake. This will degrade that wasn’t “alpine” or available for the lake’s water quality. A coalition of public access. “Because it is inside the conservationists, engineers, a wetland Adirondack Park,” Ernst replied. See ecologist, and neighbors objected to what “What are We Saving it For?” above. it said were violations of the Adirondack Park Agency Act, the Freshwater Wetlands Act, and the Wild, Scenic and Recreational What Carrying Rivers Act. Shoreline development is limited Capacity? on Upper Saranac Lake, where residents The APA board approved a wetland permit have had challenges maintaining balanced and shoreline variance in September 2020 water chemistry due to excessive nutrient- for an expansion at the Saranac Lake Marina loading from existing septic systems and on Lower Saranac Lake. The Agency did other sources. Residents have worked not do its own comprehensive assessment hard with state officials to reduce those Community solar installation near Saranac Lake of the carrying capacity of the lake before sources and improve water quality. approving an expansion of the number of watercraft that may dock there. The proposal expands the marina from 219 to 292 slips.
STATE OF THE PARK 2021–2022 23 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
PHOTO © CARL HEILMAN II/WILD VISIONS INC. Good First Day Federal Funding Proposals Preserve. In the Adirondacks, the Army will on the Job Could Help the Park only choose basecamp sites on private lands, will choose no more than two sites (instead On January 20, President Joe Biden issued a Annual budget and infrastructure of the six it proposed), and will not use any series of executive orders designed to undo funding proposals in Washington D.C. site twice in the same year. Some low-level the anti-environmental agenda of the Trump could greatly benefit the Adirondacks army helicopter training over designated administration. Many of with monies for climate action, scientific Wilderness still occurred and disappointed these changes benefited research, broadband, renewable energy, participants in the planning efforts. the Adirondack Park, clean water, and other infrastructure. Upstate New York, and the President Biden’s infrastructure BOOM! Northeast. These include: proposal for example includes funding re-establishing national for wildlife and rural communications. Chakka Lakka… emission standards for Northeast Air National Guard units stepped hazardous air pollutants Making America’s up their use of Adirondack Park airspace for from coal- and oil-fired Outdoors Great Again combat and bombing training during the past power plants (acid rain BIDEN year. This triggered some conflicts with Park and smog), reconsidering The federal departments of the Interior residents and visitors. Individual aircraft the Trump administration rules barring and Agriculture announced their proposed continued to disrupt the peace of Adirondack the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Fiscal Year 2022 allocations of $2.8 billion homes, businesses, and natural areas with (EPA) from considering significant side- in projects, grants, and programs authorized loud flight noise and occasional sonic booms. benefits when assessing whether the in the Great American Outdoors Act, which Complaints to unit commanders and efforts costs of new pollution regulations are will support local economies, outdoor to explain agreed-upon flight restrictions “reasonable,” and reinstating the nation’s recreation, and access to public lands. The largely went unaddressed. Sonic booms support for the Paris Climate Accord. Act established the National Parks and centered over Saranac Lake and Raquette Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund and Lake could be felt as far away as 60 miles of Building a authorized up to $1.9 billion per year from each. The Raquette Lake boom also caused Fiscal Year 2021 through Fiscal Year 2025 Green Team horses in a nearby state-run equestrian to reduce deferred maintenance on public campground to throw their mounts, President Biden appointed lands and at Native American schools. It fortunately resulting only in minor injuries. former EPA Administrator also provided permanent, full funding of Loud noises can disrupt breeding and (2013-17) Gina McCarthy to the Land and Water Conservation Fund parenting among sensitive wildlife, especially be the nation’s first White (LWCF) at $900 million annually. The LWCF in a landscape known for its serenity. House National Climate is used to secure public access and improve Advisor. He also appointed recreational opportunities on public lands, Michael Regan to be the McCARTHY protect watersheds and wildlife, and preserve new EPA Administrator. ecosystem benefits for local communities. Regan formerly led the North Carolina Department Army Improves of Environmental Quality. Park Training Rules He is the second African American tapped to Following a series of meetings with lead the EPA following conservation advocacy organizations, and PHOTO: WILLIAM LEWIS Lisa Jackson of the state and federal agencies, the U.S. Army Obama administration. scaled back its proposal for military training REGAN exercises in the Adirondack Park and agreed An F-35A Lightning II fighter jet assigned to the to keep them off the “Forever Wild” Forest 134th Fighter Squadron, Vermont Air National Guard
24 ADIRONDACK COUNCIL Tracking Impacts, Halting Damage THE IMPACTS OF ACID RAIN ON U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, ADIRONDACK ECOSYSTEMS used her position as chair of the House Appropriations Interior Subcommittee to add $5 million annually to federal grants available to Northeast states for acid rain and climate research. Sulfuric & nitric If approved in the 2022 acids are formed budget in October, it would H2SO4 be the first significant increase in that funding in HNO more than 20 years. More 3 CO2 is emitted into importantly, she included PINGREE language instructing the the atmosphere EPA to develop a “critical loads” approach by industrial to acid rain control. That would allow plants regulators to set upwind emissions levels based on the threshold for biological harm. Polluters would have to stop short of depositing the ecosystem’s critical load Water becomes for sulfur, nitrogen, and fine particles of acidic & kills soot. The Adirondack Council led a group aquatic life of two dozen scientists and advocates from five states who urged their Congressional Sulfur burns Sulfuric & nitric Acidic precipitation delegations to support this legislation. forming SO2 acids corrode metal penetrates soils, releases and stone buildings harmful aluminum & mercury, Fact-Based kills plants & animals Leadership Needed The Park’s sole member of Congress, U.S. Rep. Stefanik, maintained that Joe Justice to and certain connected devices. Participating Biden’s win in the 2020 Presidential the Rescue providers can receive a reimbursement for election shouldn’t have been certified such discounts. Broadband internet has by Congress, even after the January 6 In June, the Environmental Protection been a lifeline to those who needed to work insurrection. Violence that day at the U.S. Agency announced it will provide $50 million from home during the pandemic. Its lack is Capitol killed both police and protestors. for Environmental Justice initiatives through holding back communities across the state. The Adirondack Council has firsthand funds received under the American Rescue experience with charismatic leaders who Plan. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Tupper Taps Congress designated this funding for grants, use lies to foment hate and spur violence. Broadband Grant In the early 1990s, a handful of local contracts, and other agency activities criminals used hate speech and violence in that identify and address disproportionate In September 2020, the federal Northern an attempt to intimidate the organization environmental or public health harms Border Regional Commission provided into silence. They were emboldened by and risks in underserved communities. a $200,000 grant to Tupper Lake and the silence, or outright support, of some the Development Authority of the North public officials. Eventually, the thugs were Feds Help with Country for fiber optic internet expansion. apprehended and brought to justice. But Low-Cost Internet The grant will allow Tupper Lake to in the meantime, the organization’s staff expand fiber-optic broadband service and board members endured threats In December, Congress approved the to underserved or unserved businesses and attacks at their hands, as did other Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, and residents in the uptown area of environmental advocates and state officials. directing the Federal Communications the town. This grant will allow the town Commission to establish an Emergency to become a provider and offer faster, Broadband Benefit Program, under which cheaper, and more widely available high- eligible low-income households may receive speed internet to all residents. a discount off the cost of broadband service
STATE OF THE PARK 2021–2022 25 AWARDS
PHOTO: ADOBE STOCK Barbara L. Glaser – Conservationist of the Year The Adirondack Council presented its highest honor in July, naming Barbara Linell Glaser as Conservationist of the Year during a virtual Members’ Meeting and Forever Wild Day celebration. Glaser was honored for her efforts to establish a paid internship program at the Adirondack Council in honor of founding board member (and dear, late friend) Clarence Petty. Barbara served more than 25 years as a Council board member and chair and has remained a generous supporter of the organization’s mission and vision. The Clarence Petty Internship Program has assisted more than 70 students in establishing careers in public service, law, conservation, environmental justice, and human services. Barbara L. Glaser, second from left, with five of six 2019 Clarence Petty Interns
Nicky Hylton-Patterson - Adirondack Diversity Initiative The Adirondack Council’s “Forever Adirondacks” campaign recognized the excellent work of Nicky Hylton-Patterson, Executive Director of the Adirondack Diversity Initiative. Her organization’s mission is to make the Adirondack Park more diverse, more welcoming, and safer for all New Yorkers. During a presentation at the Council’s Board of Directors meeting in July, Campaign Director Aaron Mair thanked Nicky for seeking to make “forever wild” L-R: Aaron Mair and Nicky Hylton-Patterson an idea that inspires and is accessible to everyone.
NYSDEC Commissioner Basil Seggos In May, the Council presented NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Basil Seggos with a framed Adirondack photograph as a token of appreciation for the efforts by the DEC and the Commissioner to improve the management of visitors and sustain the success of the High Peaks Wilderness Area, and other popular destinations in the Adirondack Park. Seggos made progress on visitor management planning, including Leave No Trace outdoor ethics, with colleagues at the Adirondack Park Agency. This spring, he began a cooperative parking reservation program
with the Adirondack Mountain Reserve (AMR) in St. Hubert’s, whose private PHOTO: NYSDEC parking lot and trails provide access to public lands via a conservation easement. The AMR wants to establish a fairer system of access to some of the most popular routes into the central High Peaks Wilderness. Commissioner Seggos with a photo of the Adirondack Great Range
26 ADIRONDACK COUNCIL 2022 PRIORITIES
PHOTO: ADOBE STOCK
Federal and state elected and appointed government leaders will be making critical decisions in the year ahead that will affect the legacy of the Adirondacks for all time. Priorities for 2022 include:
Preserve Wilderness Defend the NYS Constitution Enhance Park Support protection for the Whitney Defend the integrity of the Forever Environmental Funding Estate and Follensby Pond, encourage Wild clause (Article XIV) and seek Pass the 2022 Clean Water Jobs rewilding by removing obstacles to voter approval of the “Environmental (Restore Mother Nature) Bond Act, wildlife movement, including obsolete Bill of Rights” Constitutional sustain and expand the Environmental power dams, fencing and roads; and Amendment in November 2021. Protection Fund, and spend it. re-establish military training boundaries. Science and Climate Change Support Communities Improve State Wildland Fund science and combat and adapt to Invest in building more vibrant communities, Protections climate change at the federal and state expanding broadband, communications, Continue progress implementing levels, including working forests and and “small-cell,” and support Adirondack recommendations of the state’s High farms, clean energy and conservation. Common Ground Alliance healthy Peaks Wilderness Overuse Advisory community, jobs, and housing initiatives. Group report addressing overuse/ The Adirondack Park overcrowding, with more Forest Rangers Agency (APA) Foster Diversity, Equity, and other jobs, education (Leave No Trace), Inclusion and Safety sustainable trails, permit tests, visitor use Reform and strengthen the APA with management, research, and new funding. visionary leadership, a full, diverse, Increase funding for the Adirondack and skilled board, legislative reforms, Diversity Initiative, fund more more staffing, and enforcement. Protect Clean Water opportunities for all communities to enjoy the Adirondacks. Move ahead with the approved road salt task force, implement the new invasive species law, keep funding new wastewater treatment/septic infrastructure, and strengthen state legislative protections for wetlands.
The Adirondack Council is committed to our mission, our values and these priorities. We will use the best available science and respect diverse views in order to achieve these results. We will employ our knowledge of the political process to be the leading environmental advocate for the Adirondacks. We work with partners, promote diversity, and find common ground when possible. We carry on the legacy of early conservation visionaries and ensure the Park is known and protected as a national treasure.
STATE OF THE PARK 2021–2022 27 NON PROFIT ORG. US POSTAGE PAID PERMIT NO. 994 103 Hand Ave. | PO Box D-2 @AdirondackCouncil SYRACUSE, NY Elizabethtown, NY 12932 @AdirondackCouncil 518.873.2240 @Adk_Council 342 Hamilton St. Albany, NY 12210 518.432.1770 AdirondackCouncil.org [email protected]
PLAN ON FOREVER Ensure the Adirondacks forever benefit from your generosity. PHOTO: NANCIE BATTAGLIA PHOTO:
When you make an estate gift to the Adirondack Council, TO LEARN MORE, CONTACT: your gift becomes part of the Forever Wild Fund creating Debbie Pastore, Development Director a lasting legacy and voice for Adirondack Park protection. 1.518.873.2240 Ext 106 [email protected]