Roadside Camping in the Adirondack Park
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Adirondack Park Forest Preserve Carrying Capacity of Water Bodies Study: Phase 1 – Selecting Indicators for Monitoring Recreational Impacts April McEwen, Chad Dawson, and Lisa Gerstenberger SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry 320 Bray Hall One Forestry Drive Syracuse, NY 13210 August 31, 2011 i Table of Contents INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 1 RESEARCH METHODS ............................................................................................................... 4 (1) Water Body Inventory:.......................................................................................................... 4 (2) Descriptive Profile of Recreational Users Groups Using Water Bodies:.............................. 5 (3) Descriptive Summary of Potential Ecological and Social Impacts:...................................... 5 (4) Research Protocol to Assess Ecological & Social Impacts of Recreational Use:................. 6 RESULTS ....................................................................................................................................... 7 Water Body Inventory................................................................................................................. 7 Descriptive Profile of Recreational Users Groups Using Water Bodies: ................................. 10 Descriptive Summary of Potential Ecological and Social Impacts .......................................... 13 Ecological Impacts................................................................................................................ 14 Social Impacts....................................................................................................................... 26 Recreation Facilities and Visitor Use ................................................................................... 32 Research Protocol to Assess Ecological and Social Impacts of Recreational Use................... 34 Data Collection ..................................................................................................................... 37 Ecological indicators............................................................................................................. 45 Social Indicators.................................................................................................................... 56 Recreation Use Estimation.................................................................................................... 61 Recreation Use and Development Indicators........................................................................ 63 RECOMMENDATIONS AND DISCUSSION............................................................................ 67 Sampling Considerations for Ecological Measurements ...................................................... 68 Sampling Considerations for Social Measurements ............................................................. 70 Recommended Next Phases of Monitoring Recreational Impacts ....................................... 70 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 74 Acknowledgements............................................................................................................... 74 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................. 75 i List of Tables Table 1. The number of Forest Preserve public access water bodies by size and percent public shoreline ownership. ....................................................................................................................... 8 Table 2. Nine pilot study water bodies selected by size and land management classification....... 8 Table 4. Summary of recreation related ecological impacts to water bodies. .............................. 25 Table 5. Summary of recreation related social impacts to visitor experiences............................. 31 Table 6. Summary of recreation activity use information needed for understanding the context of visitor experiences. ....................................................................................................................... 32 Table 7. Summary of recreation related facilities and public access information needed for measurement of the recreation setting. ......................................................................................... 33 Table 8. Aquatic ecosystem condition indicators measured in pilot study of nine Adirondack water bodies. ................................................................................................................................. 36 Table 9. Recreation impact indicators measured in pilot study of nine Adirondack water bodies. ....................................................................................................................................................... 37 Table 10. Recreational use and development impact scores......................................................... 64 Table 11. Pilot study area recreation use and development impact scores................................... 64 Table 12. The proportion of physical area impacted by recreation development in the critical coastal management zone. ............................................................................................................ 66 Table 13. Recommended ecological impact indicators for use in Adirondack water bodies....... 67 Table 14. Recommended social impact indicators for use in Adirondack water bodies. ............. 68 Table 15. Recommended recreation use estimation indicators for use in Adirondack water bodies. ........................................................................................................................................... 68 Table 16. Recommended recreation development and use indicators for use in Adirondack water bodies. ........................................................................................................................................... 68 ii List of Figures Figure 1. Ponds and lakes surrounded by Forest Preserve land within the Adirondack Park (APA 2010). ...................................................................................................................................... 3 Figure 2. Pilot site geographic distribution within the Adirondack Park. .................................... 10 Figure 3. Little Jabe Pond in Lake George Wild Forest. ............................................................. 39 Figure 4. Chapel Pond in Dix Mountain Wilderness.................................................................... 39 Figure 5. Deep Lake in the West Canada Lake Wilderness. ........................................................ 40 Figure 6. Stewart Lake in Shaker Mountain Wild Forest. ............................................................ 40 Figure 7. Lake Colden in the High Peaks Wilderness. ................................................................. 41 Figure 8. Fish Creek/Square Pond and Campground Area in the Saranac Lake Wild Forest. ..... 42 Figure 9. Putnam/North Pond and Campground Area and a portion of the Pharaoh Lake Wilderness............................................................................................................................. 43 Figure 10. Meacham Lake and Campground Area in the Debar Mountain Wild Forest.............. 44 Figure 11. Lake Lila in the William Whitney Wilderness............................................................ 45 iii INTRODUCTION The Forest Preserve lands within the Adirondack Park are protected by Article 14 of the New York State Constitution. The Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan (APSLMP) provides the vision of how natural resource protection and human use should be balanced: “If there is a unifying theme to the master plan, it is that the protection and preservation of the natural resources of the state lands within the Park must be paramount. Human use and enjoyment of those lands should be permitted and encouraged, so long as the resources in their physical and biological context as well as their social or psychological aspects are not degraded” (Adirondack Park Agency and NYSDEC 2001, p.1). Concerns have been raised about the current and future ecological integrity of Adirondack Park water bodies (Adirondack Park Agency and NYSDEC 2001; Adirondack Council 2010). Changes to freshwater ecosystems originate from many anthropogenic and natural causes. Some anthropogenic changes include: (1) terrestrial vegetation alteration and degradation in the riparian zone (e.g., soil loss, sedimentation, eutrophication); (2) aquatic vegetation alteration and degradation (e.g., aquatic species habitat loss, changes in biodiversity); (3) introduction of nuisance non-native plant and animal species (e.g., Eurasian watermilfoil, asian carp); (4) introduction of pollutants (e.g., pathogens, organic and inorganic compounds); and (5) other on site and external threats (e.g., acid rain, global climate change). The threats addressed in this report, including several of those mentioned above, are possible direct or indirect impacts due to recreational use, recreational facilities, and shoreline development for recreation and tourism uses. In view of these threats to state and regional freshwater resources, the APSLMP proposed a research study to collect information about the quality of Adirondack Park water