State of the Park 2003

THE ADIRONDACK COUNCIL The The Adirondack Park is the largest park in the contigu- The Adirondacks include the headwaters of five major ous United States. It contains six million acres, covers drainage basins. Lake Champlain and the Hudson, Black, one-fifth of State and is equal in size to neigh- St. Lawrence and Mohawk Rivers all draw water from the boring Vermont. The Adirondack Park is nearly three times Adirondack Park. Within the Park are more than 2,800 the size of Yellowstone National Park. lakes and ponds, and more than 1,500 miles of rivers, fed More than half of the Adirondack Park is private land, by an estimated 30,000 miles of brooks and streams. devoted principally to hamlets, forestry, agriculture and Through continuing public education and advocacy for open-space recreation. The Park is home for 130,000 the protection of the Park’s natural character, the Adiron- permanent and 110,000 seasonal residents, and hosts ten dack Council works to advise public and private policy million visitors yearly. makers on ways to safeguard this last remaining great The remaining 45 percent of the Park is publicly expanse of open space. owned Forest Preserve, protected as “Forever Wild” by the NYS Constitution since 1894. One million acres of these public lands are protected as Wilderness, where non-mechanized recreation may be enjoyed. The majority of the public land (more than 1.3 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 Adiron- dacks are gentle landscapes of hills, lakes, , ponds and streams. In the northeast are the High Peaks. Forty-three of them rise above 4,000 feet and 11 have alpine summits that rise above the timberline.

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New York City

Cover Art Saranac River. Photo by Jaime Ethier Photo Credits: all photos by Adirondack Council staff unless otherwise noted. State of the Park 2003

Dear Adirondack Council Members and Friends,

We can all be proud of the progress that the Council has made in addressing the critical threats to the Park over this past year. By working in collaboration with public agencies, local communities, private land owners, the forest products industries and other environmental organizations, we have actively guided support for the Park’s protection, and also thwarted many attempts to degrade its rich natural heritage. This 2003 State of the Park report details those accomplishments. Despite good progress, there are still many threats that continue to damage the ecological integrity and wild character of the Park. Acid rain from Midwestern smokestacks is still slowly killing the Park’s aquatic ecosystems and high-altitude forests, and recent scientific studies demonstrate that global climate change will also fundamentally change the natural systems and the local economies that depend on them. Shoreline development, and sewage pollution are threatening fragile wetlands and in some cases, endangering human health and the quality of life in local communities. Upland development of seasonal homes is diminishing the beautiful views of our mountains. A proposed expansion of the Whiteface ski slope into fragile alpine forests is threatening the nesting habitat of the Bicknell’s Thrush, a species of the highest international conservation concern. And the increasing use of ATVs, jet-skis and snowmobiles is disturbing the tranquility and wild character of the Park’s remote forests and waters. As the most intact remaining patch of temperate deciduous forest in the entire northern hemisphere, the natural fabric of our beloved Adirondack Park is slowly fraying and unraveling. We must act now if we are to pass the Adirondack’s natural legacy to the next generations in better shape than we found it. Unfortu- nately, a very difficult economic climate continues to place pressures on the state government to reduce funding for important land acquisitions and for the operations of the state agencies that manage this impor- tant natural legacy — as the recent Conference on its 30th Anniversary informed us so well. This makes our challenge even greater. The Council will use a science-based advocacy approach to address threats to the Park’s ecological integrity and wild character. We will continue to educate and reach out to local communities, business leaders, state agencies and elected officials to seek the best possible balance of a healthy environment and compatible economic uses of its resources. We can’t be the strongest and most vigilant advocates for the Park without the support and assistance of you, our loyal members, who share our love for this incredible place. Thank you very much.

Sincerely,

Brian L. Houseal Executive Director The Governor

Retired Adirondack Force on the Forest Industry from 1988 to Council trustee 1990 and served on the Interstate Task Clarence Petty ac- Force on Northern Forest Lands. The cepts a lifetime Governor made another good choice in achievement award reappointing Warren County Republican for environmental Deanne Rehm to the board. There is one leadership from vacancy on the 11-member APA board. Gov. George E. Pataki during an October conference McRorie Saved from on the future of the Adirondack Park McMansions Agency’s land-use In December 2002, New York State laws, held at the purchased a conservation easement over Lake Placid Hilton, 5,000-acre Camp Cedarlands from a and hosted by the NYS Bar Associa- Boyscout council that was having finan- tion and Albany cial trouble and was considering selling Law School’s Government Law Center. At right, new Park Agency Chairman Ross Whaley looks the lands to a second-home developer. The on. Petty, 98, called Governor Pataki, “about the best friend the Adirondack Park ever had.” easement will allow public access to the camp and 400-acre McRorie Lake for the first time in 100 years. Scouts will use the with a wide variety of ferns and wood Pataki Protects Lakes, Town of Long Lake camp in July and sorrel. It is home to the rare and unusual August and allow public access the rock vole and the long-tailed shrew. Habitat in High Peaks remaining 10 months of the year. Trails, Gov. George E. Pataki agreed this summer boat access and parking are expected to to permanently protect nearly 10,000 acres 3+1=10 open later this year or early next. of forests, lakes and rivers in the High The Governor has made three Peaks region of the Adirondack Park, excellent choices in appointing new Curbing Hot Air in 10 securing two major conservation objec- leadership at the Adirondack Park Agency, tives first proposed by the Adirondack following the retirement of Chairman States Council’s 2020 VISION research project. Richard Lefebvre of Caroga Lake. The In July 2003, Governor Pataki led the The purchase will protect lakes and Governor’s immediate choice last fall was entire Northeastern United States toward a forest that the Council identified in 2020 Franklin County Democrat James regional program that will control and VISION, Volume II (Completing the Frenette, who served for five months and reduce carbon dioxide and other green- Adirondack Wilderness System; 1990) as then retired from the APA board in May. house gas emissions. The Governor excellent additions to the High Peaks Originally appointed by Gov. Mario proposed a 10-state task force that would Wilderness Area. They include the Cuomo, Frenette had served 10 years as a establish criteria for measuring emissions, headwaters of the at the commissioner. Replacing Frenette as tracking reductions and ensuring that the outlet of Henderson Lake, Upper and acting-chairman was Rochester Republi- rules are applied consistently across the Lower Preston Ponds, Indian Pass Brook, can James Townsend. In August, the region. With Congress unable to come to Calamity Brook, Santanoni Brook, Lake Governor announced he had appointed an agreement on controlling the emissions Jimmy, Lake Sally, Harkness Lake, former SUNY College of Environmental that contribute to global climate change, Cheney Pond, Sanford Lake and the Science and Forestry President Ross Pataki’s proposal was greeted with Opalescent River. Whaley to hold the top spot. Also a enthusiasm throughout the region as the The lands contain rare wildlife habitat Franklin County Democrat, Whaley was first multi-state, government-sponsored identified by the Council in 2020 VISION confirmed unanimously by the Senate on program to address global warming. Volume 1 (Biological Diversity: Saving Sept. 16. Whaley, who has a degree in All the Pieces; 1988), known as the forestry and holds a doctorate in natural Tahawus Talus. The 160-acre, sloping, resource economics from the University of acidic forest is growing from a pile of Michigan, served as president of SUNY giant rock debris (average 10 feet across) ESF in Syracuse from 1984 to 2000. He at the base of a cliff. A thick blanket of also chaired Governor Cuomo’s Task several grows in this forest, along Pataki Pounces on Not a Capital Idea Poor Policy In an effort to balance the state budget, In September 2003, the Governor spoke Governor Pataki added $33 million in out against any changes to the federal day-to-day state expenses, such as Clean Air Act’s New Source Review salaries, to the costs that must be paid (NSR) program. NSR requires the by the proceeds of the Environmental owners of old, exempted power plants to Protection Fund. The fund generates install state-of-the-art pollution control $125 million per year for capital devices if they expand their emissions or environmental projects, such as land replace substantial portions of the plant. acquisition, landfill closure, recycling Like the Adirondack Council, Pataki and watershed protection. The Legisla- criticized the Bush Administration for ture removed the $33 million in new proposing any changes in the program expenses when it passed the state without first getting acid rain and smog budget in April, placing them into the under control with new federal legislation General Fund’s obligations, where they capping all power plant pollution. belonged.

Rough-Cut Lumber Clean Water Bond Magnolias & Live Reauthorized Bails Out Towns North of ? An excerpt from New England Regional The NYS Department of State responded Grant programs created by the 1996 Clean Assessment Group. 2001. Preparing for a in December 2002 to appeals from the Water/Clean Air Bond Act are paying off Changing Climate: The Potential Consequences Adirondack Council, local governments, for four Essex County communities this of Climate Variability and Change. New sawmill owners, timber companies, trade year. Lake Placid and Moriah each England Regional Overview, U.S. Global Change Research Program, 96pp., University of associations and others who worried that received $6 million in grants and loans for New Hampshire. the new statewide building code would improvements to local facilities, while ban the use of rough-cut lumber in the another town downstream of Lake Placid “Our understanding of the factors, Adirondacks and elsewhere. The Depart- is hoping to reap cleaner water from Lake both natural and human-induced, that ment of State’s Codes Council adopted a Placid’s soon-to-be-completed sewage influence climate has improved uniform international building code treatment plant. The plant is expected to dramatically over the past several earlier in 2002 that would have required clean up the village’s treated wastewater, . There is now strong scien- the use of grade-stamped, kiln-dried which is released into the Chubb River – a tific evidence that much of the global dimension lumber in all buildings. Most tributary of the Ausable River. For the warming experienced in the last half of the more than 100 small, family-owned past two years, the Town of Wilmington, of the 20th century is attributable to sawmill operations in the Adirondacks 16 miles downstream from Lake Placid, human factors including the build-up said they couldn’t afford to pay govern- has had to close its beach due to sewage- of greenhouse gases in the atmo- ment-sanctioned inspectors to certify the related bacteria in the river. Wilmington sphere. This result is consistent with grade of their lumber. They noted that is pointing at Lake Placid as the source of the idea that continued build-up of most of their business would disappear if the bacteria. Studies are underway to greenhouse gases will lead to addi- rough-cut lumber were outlawed. Many determine the bacteria source. Both tional climate change in the future.” Adirondacks homes, camps and outbuild- communities hope the new plant will ings are constructed of rough-cut timbers. solve the bacteria problem while it is “Although a 6-10°F increase may not Owners would have been unable to find solving Lake Placid’s capacity shortfall. seem to be very significant, a compari- matching materials when it came time to In Moriah, the town is receiving $6 son of present-day temperatures is repair or expand those buildings. In the million in grants and loans to rebuild its instructive. If 6°F are added to early 1990s, the Adirondack Council drinking water treatment facility, which Boston’s 30-year average annual commissioned a study by Yellow Wood draws water from Bartlett Pond. Resi- temperature (an average of 51.3°F Associates of Vermont, who reported that dents complained that a high level of between 1961 and 1990), the resulting assisting small sawmill operations was organic materials in the water caused it to temperature is the approximate 30- one of the most efficient ways to expand smell like rotting fish. And, in Minerva, year annual average for Richmond, VA ecologically friendly local employment in the Governor notified town officials in (57.7°F). If 10°F are added to the Park. August that he would provide a $238,000 Boston’s 30-year average, the 30-year small cities grant for drinking water average for Atlanta, GA (61.3°F) is the system upgrades. In all four towns, local result! An annual average increase of taxpayers would have struggled to pay for 6-10°F would have a profound impact the improvements on their own. on the climate of the region.” State Legislature

Both Houses addition, the Department of Environmen- Invaders Face New tal Conservation or a court could require Task State Force Penalties Rise for the offender to repair the damage and to pay restitution to the landowner reflecting The chairmen of each house’s Environ- Illegally Felled Trees the damage to the forest. Gov. George E. mental Conservation Sen. Elizabeth Little, R-Queensbury, and Pataki signed the bill on October 1. It will Committee, Sen. Carl Assemblyman William Parment, D- go into effect in March 2004. R. Marcellino, R- Ashville, reached an agreement in June Freshman north country Assembly- Syosset, and Assem- that produced one of the few environmen- man Darrel J. Aubertine, D-Cape Vincent, blyman Thomas tal accomplishments of the 2003 Legisla- was a co-sponsor of the legislation. DiNapoli, D-Great tive Session. They persuaded their Neck, created a colleagues to pass a bill that would Lawmakers Repel special task force to increase the penalty for stealing trees from tackle the invasion of the Adirondack and Catskill Forest Environmental Fund Raid exotic plant and Preserves from a paltry $10 — a fine set in Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, R- animal species statewide. A press Assemblyman 1909 — to a minimum $250 per tree. The Troy, and Assembly Speaker Sheldon DiNapoli new penalties more closely resemble the Silver, D-, agreed in April to release issued by current market value of the trees and will remove $33 million in staff salaries and Governor Pataki discourage theft on the Forest Preserves, other daily expenses from the Environ- noted he would sign the bill and that the especially of the rare, high-value hard- mental Protection Fund’s obligations in Task Force would help discourage local woods and old-growth trees found in both Gov. George E. Pataki’s 2003-04 budget quick-fixes such as indiscriminate the Adirondacks and Catskills. proposal. The EPF is a capital projects chemical pesticides, instead favoring The bill increases the penalty for the fund, designed to pay for large, one-time landscape-wide, non-toxic approaches. theft of trees from public and private land environmental expenses, such as land from $10 per tree to $250 per tree, or acquisition, landfill closure and recycling Super New Fund treble damages (three times the market equipment. The Adirondack Council Senator Marcellino and Assemblyman value), or both. At the same time, the played a vital role in persuading the DiNapoli were the legislation makes the act of illegally Legislature to the EPF in 1993. It sponsors of a success- cutting timber a Class A Misdemeanor generates $125 million per year for ful reauthorization of under state law — a criminal offense. In environmental priorities. the state’s contami- nated site clean-up program known as Superfund, and the creation of programs to deal with polluted ground water and abandoned industrial Senator facilities that can be Carl Marcellino redeveloped (brownfields). The new law will authorize the state to spend $120 million per year to clean up New York’s more than 700 Superfund sites and provides incentives to local governments to help in the redevel- opment of empty factories and abandoned gas stations where clean-up and liability concerns have hampered reuse. Many Adirondack communities contain brownfields. Gov. George E. Pataki signs into law a bill that vastly increases the penalties for stealing trees from public and private lands. Directly behind Pataki is Senate sponsor Elizabeth Little, R-Queensbury. To her left is Adirondack Council Deputy Director Bernard C. Melewski, who lobbied for the bill for nearly a decade. Salt a Shaky De-icer State Laxity May Flush Island Pine Barren and the Albany Pine Bush Preserve. The bill would have Senator Marcellino, Assemblyman allowed officials to impound the ATVs of DiNapoli and Assem- Waterfront Grants offenders. blyman Chris Ortloff, Neither house took action on a plan R-Plattsburgh, proposed by Senator Marcellino and introduced identical Assemblyman DiNapoli that would have Fighting Fire Costs legislation intended to reformed the state’s laws on septic Senator Little gained passage of legisla- curb the use of road systems, requiring inspection of existing tion in the senate this year that would salt and encourage less systems. Current law requires septic prevent local governments in the Adiron- harmful ice-removal inspections only at the time the systems dacks from having to pay part of the on roadways. Dozens are constructed. Leaking septic systems state’s costs for fighting forest fires on of locations around the are a leading cause of water pollution and state lands. excessive nutrient content in Adirondack Adirondacks are Assemblyman feeling the effects of Ortloff lakes and rivers. Worse, the state’s lack of excessive salt use, a septic inspection program is endangering Exposed Landowners especially in forests and lakes directly federal Coastal Management Program Liable to Say No adjacent to highways. Salt kills vegetation funding to the state in excess of $3 million per year. Sen. Stephen Saland, R-Poughkeepsie, and contaminates water supplies, includ- introduced legislation ing drilled wells. that would exempt State Burden Remains private landowners Plugging Nickels for on Local Shoulders from liability when they allow public Environmental Fund Neither house took action on legislation recreational access. Sen. Kenneth LaValle, R-Port Jefferson, proposed by Senator Little and Assembly- The bill would have and Assemblyman man Jacob Gunther, D-Forestburgh, (now helped keep snow- DiNapoli introduced deceased) that would require the state to mobiles and all- identical legislation reimburse local governments and school terrain vehicles off extending the state’s districts for revenues lost when the state sensitive Forest Senator Saland bottle deposit law to grants property tax abatements to timber Preserve lands by non-carbonated companies and other large landowners. giving riders alterna- beverages. The bill The total cost of the legislation would be tives to public trails and by indemnifying was designed to roughly $3.3 million annually. the landowners who provide access. reduce litter caused by discarded non-deposit No Advancement on containers and to Senate Getting Clubby Senator Setbacks provide additional LaValle with Fees annual revenue to the Neither house took action to increase Sen. Raymond Meier, R-Utica, persuaded state’s Environmental shoreline setbacks and his colleagues to Protection Fund. The EPF is the main provide additional pass a bill increasing source of land and water conservation water quality protec- state registration funding in the Adirondack Park. tions in the Adiron- fees for snowmo- dack Park again this biles, which year. Senator contained an oddly ATV Ban Bill Idles Marcellino and Neither house took action on legislation inappropriate twist. Assemblyman Any member of a sponsored by Assemblyman Steven Richard Brodsky, D- Englebright, D-Setauket, and Senator club sanctioned by Scarsdale, each the NYS Snowmo- LaValle, which would have banned all- introduced bills Assemblyman bile Association was Senator terrain vehicles (ATVs) from the four most containing tighter Brodsky sensitive forests in the state. Off-limits eligible for a Meier land-use controls. discounted registra- would have been the Catskill and Adiron- Neither bill moved out of committee. dack Forest Preserves, the tion fee. Further, it increased the percent- Pine Barren and the Albany Pine Bush age of the fees that can be used for Preserve. The bill would have allowed Senate grooming trails on state lands from 30 officials to impound the ATVs of offenders percent to 75 percent, at a time when the and require an additional $100 surcharge, state has announced its intentions to move on top of impoundment fees, to get it Idling ATV Damage as many Adirondack trails as possible on back. The $100 surcharges would help pay Senator LaValle introduced legislation that to private lands. for enforcement of the ban. would ban ATVs from the Catskill and Adirondack Forest Preserves, the Long Senate continued... Pollution Bright Spot Assembly Slips on For the second year in a row, Assembly- Slopes No Sign of Senate man Alexander “Pete” Grannis, D-Manhat- As it did in 2002, the Assembly again Support tan, gained passage in ignored a bill proposed by Senator Marcellino that would restrict develop- The Senate failed to pass a bill that would his house for a bill ment on steep slopes statewide. Such a have required new signs at all state boat designed to limit light bill would protect water quality across the launches, instructing boaters how to avoid pollution. The Senate state by curbing construction-related spreading invasive, non-native species passed an identical runoff and minimizing the amount of soil- (Eurasian milfoil, zebra mussels, etc.) bill in 2001, only to laden, nutrient rich rainwater that rushes from lake to lake and river to river. see it vetoed by into lakes and rivers. Senator Marcellino and Assemblyman Governor Pataki in January 2002. The DiNapoli proposed identical legislation Assemblyman that would have worked well. The Senate took no action Grannis Down in Flames Assembly passed the bill. The Senate on light pollution this The Assembly failed to take action on a failed to act. year. (See item under Senate.) bill proposed by Assemblywoman Teresa Sayward, R-Willsboro, that would have Light Pollution Bill prevented local governments in the Park Another ATV Bill Stalls from having to pay for a portion of the Fades For the second state’s fire fighting costs for fires on state Despite passing similar legislation in consecutive year, a bill land within Adirondack counties. 2001, the Senate balked at a bill that setting new penalties would curb light pollution and wasted for all-terrain vehicle energy by requiring government facilities (ATV) trespass failed to replace worn-out fixtures and equip- to pass the Assembly. ment with new designs that illuminate Sponsored by Joseph objects on the ground and minimize the Morrelle, D-Rochester, amount of light directed upward. Astrono- the bill would also mers often seek places such as the ensure that none of the Adirondacks to find areas without registration fees for Assemblyman artificial lighting that prevent telescopes ATVs could be used to Morrelle from reaching their maximum sight create new trails on the distances. Adirondack Forest Preserve.

Assembly Invasive Plant Species Can Alter Habitat Adirondack Park Invasive Plant Idling ATV Damage II Program-Aquatic Invasive Plant Project http://www.adkinvasives.com/Aquatic/Ecology/Ecology.html Assemblyman Englebright introduced legislation that would ban ATVs from the Ecology of Aquatic Invasive Plants Catskill and Adiron- dack Forest Preserves, “Invasive plant species are those that for light, nutrients, and space. In some the Long Island Pine establish numerical dominance outside cases, dense “monocultures” of an Barren and the their natural range, disrupting ecosys- invasive species results, with corollary Albany Pine Bush tem processes and native patterns of impacts that include reduced oxygen- Preserve. The bill biodiversity. Rarely are these changes ation, local temperature variations, would have allowed beneficial. In many cases, the impacts increased nutrient loading, and altered officials to impound of invasive aquatic plants are also invertebrate and fish populations. the ATVs of offend- Assemblyman detrimental to human use of aquatic Invasive plants with a canopy-forming ers. Englebright resources. The majority of introduced morphology, such as Eurasian non-native plants do not become watermilfoil, often modify the environ- dominant within their new environ- ment in this manner. Some native ment. However, in the absence of plants can also reach nuisance levels, natural predators, diseases, and/or although their impacts are typically parasites, non-native plants can localized.” flourish and out-compete native plants Local Governments

Jet Skis Jettisoned were identified as a possible reason for the open space conservation. Edinburgh This spring, the Village of failure of the sewage system. doesn’t have an APA-approved land-use overcame organized opposition to enact a This year, a week before the Ironman, plan. village-wide ban on the use of personal Wilmington commissioned its own tests of watercraft (a.k.a. jet skis). The ban is set to the river and turned up an already unac- Strader Turns Up Heat go into effect in 2006, giving local ceptably high bacteria level. Supervisor marinas and other rental operations time to Ashworth closed the beach and alerted the on Mercury phase out that part of their businesses. The news media of the problem. She has asked Tupper Lake Mayor Sandra Strader spoke ban will apply to the entire south basin of Lake Placid to sterilize the outflow before out forcefully for the need to stop acid rain the lake, which is already congested with returning water to the river. in June, after testing by the State Health large tour boats, parasailing and power Lake Placid, which is conducting an Department uncovered hazardous mercury boat traffic. Jet skis account for only 15 $11-million reconstruction of its sewage contamination in the entire walleye percent of the boats on Lake George, but treatment plant, has denied culpability for population in Tupper Lake. Aside from the more than 50 percent of the accidents. the contamination. The village would not health implications for local subsistence In the Town of Webb, where officials agree to a sterilization system until after anglers, Strader lamented the impact that lacked support for a full ban, they took the the new plant is constructed and tested. the announcement would have on tourism. next best step by enacting regulations on State officials are studying the river to Mercury-contaminated food can damage the time of operation and the age of the confirm the source of the contamination. internal organs, harm reproductive operator. The age limit is currently the The West Branch of the Ausable is systems and destroy nerve and brain subject of litigation. Jet skis can operate in one of the world’s most famous trout tissue. As much as 15 percent of the very shallow water and go where other streams. The Adirondack Council is Adirondack Park’s loon population, like power boats cannot. Irresponsible use had encouraging state and local health and its counterparts in New England states, led to the degradation of shoreline habitat, environmental officials to pinpoint the appears to have been contaminated by including loon nesting sites. bacteria problem and eliminate it. mercury related to acid rain. Raising a Stink on 6 Months of Work in Sidewalks are for Bacteria Day Walking Officials in the Town of Day said in Village of Speculator officials acted in the August they would impose a six-month fall of 2002 to stop snowmobile clubs moratorium upon all development and from using village sidewalks as a thor- subdivision permits. They wanted time to oughfare. Citing the safety of local enact land-use restrictions to better protect pedestrians and state laws requiring the water quality in Great sidewalks to be cleared, the village board and the streams that flow into it. A rash of ordered crews to clear the sidewalks along recent home sales, subdivisions and new State Route 30. According to local media construction has alarmed the permanent accounts, several board members were and seasonal residents of this rural, rewarded for their actions by being voted northern Saratoga County town. Day was out of office by snowmobilers who the Park’s first town to adopt an Adiron- organized against them. A State Supreme dack Park Agency-approved local land-use Court justice later agreed that the officials Wilmington Town Supervisor Jeanne plan. But that plan, like the APA Act had acted properly. Speculator is expected Ashworth took action in July to bring an itself, is time-worn and in need of modifi- to clear its sidewalks of snow this winter. end to the contamination of the town’s cation. Day is sparsely populated. It public beach on the West Branch of the contains no villages or hamlets. The Ausable River. Wilmington’s beach is 16 former hamlet of West Day was inundated miles downstream from the Lake Placid by the waters of the in sewage system’s outflow pipe on the 1930, when the lake was created to Chubb River, a tributary of the Ausable. prevent flooding downstream, primarily in Fecal bacteria in the river coinciding with the cities of the . the 2002 Ironman competition closed the The neighboring Town of Edinburgh Wilmington beach for weeks. Huge this summer announced it was creating a crowds of spectators drawn by the event new master plan for development and Planning Defeats part of the 25,000 acres of forest in his Not-Quite-Forever Wild town that were offered for sale by the Chaos The Town of Long Lake wasted seven Hancock Timber Resources Group. A Village of Port Henry officials rejected a years wringing its hands over its drinking study conducted by the Adirondack petition drive this summer aimed at water problems, rather than working Council found that a conservation ease- eliminating the Village Planning Board toward a solution that would have pro- ment on those lands would, at a minimum, and the local Development Review Law. vided clean water long ago, without an triple the tax revenues the town was Officials voted to keep the system intact, expensive legal battle. The town instead receiving from them. Colton could realize while agreeing to monitor complaints waited until health officials declared an an instant, annual windfall of up to about lengthy review periods and delayed “emergency” and pushed state environ- $135,695 with no obligations for oversight decisions. mental officials to allow the town to drill or new services. It would also have new wells on areas of the Adirondack opened the lands to all state residents for Forest Preserve, near the hamlet of the first time in 120 years. Currently, only Sonar Off Radar Raquette Lake. The town is exposing itself those who lease hunting cabins on the Screen to a lengthy court battle and even longer property can hunt, fish and hike there. delays. The drilling, tree-cutting and new Rather than seeking a permit to use a Ford said he feared state control of construction required to relocate the the lands, and feared loss of revenue from chemical herbicide to kill unwanted Raquette Lake water supply on to the aquatic plants at the town beach, Village taxes and timber harvesting. Both are Forest Preserve are a clear violation of the unfounded. Conservation easements are of Port Henry officials hired a local State Constitution’s “forever wild” clause. consultant to survey existing plant life. agreements in which the state pays a Other towns with little municipal land are landowner to never develop the property, He was then instructed to employ the watching this case and may file similar Adirondack Park Agency’s general permit but the state doesn’t take possession. In requests.Any state resident is eligible to many cases, the state also purchases for hand-harvesting and other non-toxic file a lawsuit halting the drilling project, controls. The total cost was not expected recreational rights for the public. The because the forever wild clause allows more rights it buys, the more the state to exceed $1,000. In contrast, the Lake citizen suits. George Park Commission spent tens of pays. But the property remains in private thousands of dollars in 2002 seeking a hands and in productive forestry. permit to use a controversial chemical A $135,000 Windfall? Meanwhile, the property was pur- herbicide (fluridone, brand name: Sonar) So What? chased by Boston-based GMO Properties. on unwanted aquatic plants near Bolton Like Hancock, the company manages Landing. The permit request was rejected Town of Colton Supervisor Hank Ford forests as part of an investment portfolio. by the APA. dismissed the idea of inviting the state to The company has said it would continue purchase a conservation easement on all or leasing hunting campsGreat onSacandaga the property Lake for now.

entitled to free use of the Adirondack ATV use in Horicon only by those with Disabling Public Access Forest Preserve, under the guidelines set handicapped access permits. The DEC Town of Horicon officials abused a forth by the Department of Environmental has sued Horicon in an attempt to re-close large section of the Adirondack Forest Conservation. Motorized access is not an the abandoned roads to ATV traffic. Preserve last summer by succumbing to automatic right. The DEC authorized pressure from all- terrain vehicle riders. By opening aban- doned town roads that are now part of the Forest Preserve to ATV traffic, the town is destroying the wild forest character of the preserve. Horicon is also discouraging other state residents from using that section of the preserve. ATVs there are causing erosion, air pollution and excessive noise. Every resident of New York State is Follensby the dog surveys trail damage caused by ATVs in Horicon. Attorney General

Spitzer’s Full-Court Nifty NAFTA Nudge This, he said, would violate Congress’s In May, Attorney General Spitzer filed a intent when it adopted the Clean Air Act in Pressure petition with the Commission on Environ- 1970. New Source Review was designed Attorney General mental Cooperation, an agency set up by to require older, exempted power plants to Eliot Spitzer worked the US, Canada and Mexico under the meet modern pollution standards if their well with the US North American Free Trade Agreement. emissions increased or if they were Environmental The petition cited violations of the US/ modified beyond “routine maintenance.” Protection Agency to Canadian trans-border pollution treaty at win a settlement and three coal-fired power plants in Ontario. an outright victory Those plants’ emissions are upwind of the Other Agencies against out-of-state Adirondacks and Catskills. The CEC said power plants that in September it would investigate the cause acid rain in complaint. New York. He also Attorney General Rare Bird Again in negotiated a settle- Eliot Spitzer ORDA’s Crosshairs ment with a lower Hudson Valley power Resisting a Ruinous The Olympic Regional Development company that will result in deep cuts in Rule Revision Authority seems intent upon spoiling one the pollutants that cause acid rain. In In December, Attorney General Spitzer of Gov. George E. Pataki’s finest legacies April, Spitzer and the EPA agreed to a sued the EPA for changes made to the by proposing to cut down trees and settlement of the cases they brought Clean Air Act’s New Source Review develop one of the Governor’s recently against Dominion Virginia Power Co., provisions. The changes altered the designated Bird Conservation Areas. which they accused of expanding its formula for calculating whether emissions ORDA is seeking permission to build a emissions without modernizing its increases had occurred that would require summit lodge for the Whiteface Ski Center pollution control equipment, as required tighter emissions controls. The rules apply on the top of Little Whiteface. It also by the Clean Air Act’s New Source to factories, foundries and other smoke- wants to cut down 55,000 trees that are Review provision. In June, Spitzer stack industries. In August, he threatened home to a rare neotropical songbird announced he had agreed to settlement another suit when EPA announced its known as Bicknell’s Thrush. Much of this with Mirant New York that would cut its intention to change the rules again, would occur within the Bird Conservation nitrogen oxide emissions by 75 percent redefining “routine maintenance” as the Area. Last winter, the Adirondack and its sulfur dioxide emissions by 40 replacement of equipment worth up to 20 Council’s concerns became the focus of percent at the company’s Lovett plant in percent of the plant’s value. Such a national media attention and ORDA Stony Point, Rockland County. definition, he argued, would allow postponed the plan. ORDA this spring In August, Spitzer and EPA won a companies to replace an entire plant in 5 commissioned a study by a Vermont landmark decision in their case against years without adding pollution controls. consultant in an effort to revive its plan. Ohio Edison for failing to reduce pollu- tion at its Sammis plant despite what appeared to be 11 separate “major Bicknell’s Thrush Among World’s Rarest Birds modifications” to the plant in a 20-year Rimmer, McFarland, and Lambert. 2001. Bicknell’s Thrush (Catharus bicknelli)- Conserva- period. The judge chastised EPA’s tion Assessment. Vermont Institute of Natural Science, Woodstock, VT. enforcement division for not bringing “Believed to number fewer than 100,000 individuals across its restricted actions against the power company northeastern U.S. and maritime Canadian breeding range, Bicknell’s Thrush sooner, saying that a 33-year delay in (Catharus bicknelli) is one of eastern North Americas’ most at-risk migratory enforcing NSR was “abysmal,” since rules songbirds.” P. 2 made clear and unambiguous distinctions “The species is an extreme habitat between major modifications and “routine specialist, nesting in the U.S. only in fir- maintenance,” which doesn’t trigger the dominated montane forests above 900m (2952 requirements for new controls. Another feet) in elevation. These forests face numer- hearing is slated in March of 2004 to ous threats that include global climate change, determine what remedies and penalties atmospheric deposition of acidic ions and will be assessed against Ohio Edison. mercury, recreational ski area development, telecommunications tower construction, and wind turbine development.” Bicknell’s Thrush. Photo by Dan Busby. Adirondack Park Agency

Sonar Unsound immediate orders to those who violate and former DEC commissioner. In January, the Adirondack Park Agency laws. This is an improvement APA staff noted in the agency’s (APA) accepted the Adirondack Council’s over enforcement matters that are gov- monthly meeting agenda that the project advice and denied a permit to the Lake erned by the APA Act, which requires the would be approved. The note appeared George Park Commission, which wanted staff to begin by negotiating settlements before the public comment period had to apply a chemical herbicide to the with violators, who can delay enforcement ended. APA staff explained that they had potable waters of Lake George. The Park for years simply by ignoring the APA’s allowed an expedited review of the project Commission wanted to poison Eurasian offers. because it was in an Empire Zone desig- Watermilfoil (a non-native plant), despite nated by the Governor, where developers clear evidence that the plant was declining Fort Flak can get tax breaks and quick approval for naturally in some places. In addition, the development plans. The Empire Zone for The APA’s October 2002 review of the chemical would kill rare, threatened and Ft. William Henry Hotel, however, was controversial new Fort William Henry endangered plants that are native to the not formally designated until a month after Hotel project in Lake George was both lake. The APA cited 16 specific reasons the APA issued its permit. The Council cursory and sloppy, allowing the project to for denying the permit request. The board worked closely with the Lake George be approved without consideration to its of commissioners voted 8-1 to deny, with Waterkeeper and the Fund for Lake visual impact on the lake, village and Frank Mezzano, Town Supervisor of Lake George to seek a more thorough review. surrounding vistas. The APA also failed to Pleasant, casting the sole “yes” vote. In an almost comical after-thought, the assess its color scheme, the lack of an APA required the owners to plant four, six- outdoor lighting plan, demands on local foot-tall, pine trees in front of the 68-foot- Conservation fire protection for such a tall structure, the tall hotel (built on a knoll) to minimize its lack of any storm-water collection plan, visual impact on the surrounding region. Cooperation and new demands on the village’s water The red-roofed hotel is, by far, the tallest In March, the APA updated its 1985 system. While the Council would have and most visible structure on Lake agreement with the Department of objected to the “expedited review” George. Environmental Conservation that spells regardless of the identity of the applicant, out how the two agencies will cooperate the APA’s actions appeared even more in the management of the Forest Preserve inappropriate because the applicant was and how they will handle complaints from Robert Flacke, a former APA chairman the public. All complaints made to the APA or the DEC must now be treated similarly to enforcement cases and tracked carefully by both agencies until the issue is resolved. Once the agencies agree on how to bring the infraction into compli- ance with the State Land Master Plan, the agreement is published in the statewide Environmental Notice Bulletin. The new policy is the result of complaints from environmental organizations over DEC permits that allowed excessive tree- cutting, bulldozing of foot trails, unautho- rized motor vehicle traffic and other illegal acts. New Wetland Order In January, the APA corrected an oversight that had prevented the agency from exercising its full authority under the Freshwater Wetlands Protection Act. The agency may now, for example, issue Cabin Fervor Adirondack Water Quality Conference The APA failed to enforce its laws this at Paul Smith’s College spring when it approved the subdivision of a parcel of land owned by International Paper Co. without first clearing up the land-use violations that occurred prior to Paul Smith’s College hosted what we hope will be the first the subdivision. IP later sold a portion of annual Adirondack Water the land to the Adirondack Nature Conser- Quality Conference, spon- vancy. The property contained dozens of sored by the Adirondack hunting and fishing cabins, which are Council, Adirondack Park allowed on leased timberlands without a Agency, Aquatic Ecosystem permit, if they meet certain criteria. For Restoration Foundation and example, they must be 500 square feet or Department of Environmental smaller, with no permanent features such Conservation. The college’s as plumbing or electric power lines. Many new Joan Weill Library was the site of the conference. Lo- of the cabins appeared to be violating cal governments, lake asso- these guidelines. However, APA staff ciations, advocacy organiza- declared they would wait until the next tions, universities and federal round of regulatory reforms was com- agencies all participated in pleted, in which hunting and fishing cabin the conference and encouraged the Council and its co-sponsors to hold one every summer. rules are expected to change, before deciding whether the cabins and accessory structures violated the rules. Those rules Adirondack Council trustee Robert Hall, left, are due to be discussed in 2004. APA staff talks with water conference luncheon speaker did not explain why they didn’t apply the Michael Whatley, a staff member for Sen. existing rules to the violations. George Voinovich, R-Ohio., Chairman of the US Senate Committee on Clean Air, Climate Change and Nuclear Safety. Whatley ex- Bad & Breakfast plained all of the clean air bills under con- Last year, APA announced it was dropping sideration by the committee and told confer- its requirement that homeowners obtain a ence participants that late 2003 presented the best chance to gain approval for new acid permit to convert an existing house to a rain laws. Rick Heuber of the US Environ- B&B. The Council did not object to mental Protection Agency, center, also par- loosening the rules for B&B conversions ticipated in the conference. in the Park’s villages, hamlets, farms and other already-developed areas. But in the Park’s most remote area (protected river corridors and areas zoned Resource Management), the Council objected to the change, noting that the APA was required by law to carefully review the impact of B&B conversions in those areas. The Council filed a lawsuit last fall to block the APA from adopting the looser rules. The APA agreed to settle the case by announcing that it would reinstate the permit requirement for protected river corridors and Resource Management.

Congressman John McHugh talks with mem- bers of the Adirondack press corps at the water conference in August at Paul Smith’s College. McHugh is a sponsor of federal leg- islation that would solve the Adirondack Park’s acid rain problems. Department of Environmental Conservation

Clean Air Leadership Boisterous Bog There is no known treatment for CWD and Despite pressure from the electric power it is always fatal. Currently there is no industry, DEC Commissioner Erin Crotty Becalmed evidence that CWD poses a risk for and the State Environmental Review By gaining approval from the Adirondack humans or domestic animals. Concentrat- Board granted final approval in March to Park Agency for the Bog River Complex ing animals near a feeding station could new regulations that will make New Unit Management Plan, the DEC has increase the chances for spreading CWD. York’s power plants the cleanest in the substantially reduced the amount of nation. Power plants will have to reduce motorized use of the water’s surface. The their sulfur dioxide emissions by 50 new plan shuts down all public power boat percent, and nitrogen oxides by 70 use and will phase out use by seaplanes percent, beyond current federal standards. over the next five years. The 36,100-acre If every state east of the River complex includes Horseshoe Lake Wild imposed similar regulations, the nation’s Forest, Lows Lake Primitive Area, acid rain and smog problems would be Hitchins Pond Primitive Area and the solved. Conifer Easement lands in Franklin, Hamilton and St. Lawrence counties. It’s the Little Things … In May, the DEC announced that it was Restraint: When beginning an assessment of which Helping Hurts smokestacks were contributing to harmful In an effort to stem the spread of Chronic levels of fine soot particles (2.5 microns or Wasting Disease among the state’s smaller). Federal studies show that fine whitetail deer population, the DEC has particles of sulfur from the smokestacks of enacted and enforced a controversial ban power plants and factories can accumulate against deer feeding by New York in the lungs of people living downwind of residents. CWD is similar to “mad cow them, causing and worsening lung disease” but occurs naturally only in mule diseases. deer, white-tailed deer and Rocky Moun- tain Elk.The mode of transmission of CWD has not yet been fully identified. The DEC has been discouraging Park resi- Researchers are exploring the possibilities dents and visitors from feeding wild animals, for transmission of CWD to other species. which can lead to a variety of dangers for However, evidence has shown that the humans and wildlife alike. This cartoon disease can pass from deer to deer by appeared in the “Adirondack Express” in contact through saliva, urine and or feces. September. Cartoon by Doug Green. Halting Horicon’s Trail Travesty DEC Commissioner Crotty filed suit against the Town of Horicon last fall, after the town board opened a series of abandoned town roads on the Adiron- dack Forest Preserve to public all- terrain vehicle traffic. Under state law, only one road in Horicon is legally available to ATV riders and it is designated for use only by those with handicapped-access permits. Riders in The DEC’s signs prohibiting those areas have already caused ATVs and other vehicles are extensive trail damage. The case is still clearly visible on Horicon’s pending. trails. Indecision is Eroding Public Tolerance The DEC’s lack of a consistent policy for all-terrain vehicle (ATV) use in the Adirondack Park’s two DEC regions is leading to confusion regarding the rules and damage to the Forest Preserve. The absence of such a policy has led to inconsistent rules in the Park’s two DEC regions and abuse of the Forest Preserve by unsupervised riders. That spurred DEC Drills the the Adirondack Council and others Constitution to seek legislation Trever Without notifying the public, DEC banning ATVs from officials gave the green light in July to an the Forest Preserve. unconstitutional plan by the Town of Long Cartoon by John Lake to cut trees, drill wells and build a state health standards. worked with now-retired Sen. Ronald water tank on the Forest Preserve. The While the Adirondack Council is Stafford (who had already introduced a town intends to use the wells as a water sympathetic toward the hamlet’s desire for Constitutional Amendment that would supply for the hamlet of Raquette Lake, clean drinking water, officials have known allow Raquette Lake’s well drilling) the whose year-round population is barely 100. about their water problems for a decade. hamlet’s residents could be drinking clean Raquette Lake already has a drinking Since then, they have failed to take the water from their taps today. As principal water reservoir that is located on the Forest legally permissible steps to correct them. defenders of the “Forever Wild Clause,” Preserve. It was allowed as a result of a The Council has been working with the the Council will oppose any DEC permit 1913 Constitutional Amendment that town since 1995 to find a solution. In that would allow the town to continue allows up to 3 percent of the Forest 1995 and 2000, the Council provided the violating the Constitution. The Council Preserve to be used as drinking water town a free legal assessment of the town’s stands ready to assist the town in obtaining reservoirs. Raquette Lake’s application to options under the Constitutional protec- a Constitutional Amendment to permit its construct a reservoir won easy approval in tions granted to the Forest Preserve. If the wells, or assist in seeking state funding for 1931. In 1993, testing showed that water town had heeded that advice, or if it had a filtration system. from the hamlet’s reservoir no longer met

Sugar : Acid Rain’s U.S. and sugar trees in central and increasing the acidity); decreasing acid- western Pennsylvania. Symptoms of tree neutralizing capacity (ANC); and increas- Next Big Victim decline include poor tree crown condition, ing aluminum concentrations. High An exerpt from Driscoll, C.T., G.B. Lawrence, A.J. reduced tree growth, and unusually high concentrations of aluminum and increased Bulger, T.J. Butler, C.S. Cronan, C. Eagar, k.F. levels of tree mortality. Red spruce and acidity have reduced the species diversity Lamber, G.E. Likens, J.L. Stoddard, K.C. Weathers. sugar maple are the species that have been and abundance of aquatic life in many 2001. Acid Rain Revisited: advances in scientific understanding since the passage of the 1970 and the most intensively studied, and research lakes and streams in the Northeast. Fish 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments. Hubbard Brook has shown that: have received the most attention to date, Research Foundation. Science Links Publication. Acid deposition leaches essential but entire food webs are often negatively Vol.1, no. 1. calcium from needles (i.e., foliage) of red affected. Recent water quality data show “Many people believe that the spruce, making them more susceptible to that: problem of acid rain was solved with the freezing injury. Increased freezing injury 41% of lakes in the Adirondack Moun- passage of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amend- has lead to the mortality of more than half tain region of New York and 15 percent of ments (CAAA). Research from the of large canopy red spruce trees in some lakes in New England exhibit signs of Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest forests in the Northeast.” chronic and/or episodic acidification. (HBEF) in New Hampshire and from other “Mortality among sugar maples in Only modest improvements in ANC, an study sites in the northeastern United Pennsylvania appears to result from important measure of water quality, have States (hereafter the Northeast) demon- deficiencies of [alkalinity in soil and trees] occurred in New England. No significant strates that acid rain (hereafter acid combined with other stresses such as improvement in ANC has been measured deposition, a more accurate term) is still a insect defoliation or drought.” in the Adirondack or problem.” “Acid deposition has impaired the of New York. “Recent research shows that acid water quality of lakes and streams in three Elevated concentrations of aluminum deposition has contributed to the decline of important ways: lowering pH levels (i.e., have been measured in surface waters red spruce trees throughout the eastern throughout the Northeast.” Federal Government

Chairmen Advance President Bush Pushing to be a national priority during his State of the Union Address in late January. In Acid Rain Bills Legislation September, the President invited Adiron- Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, and Rep. Following up on his Earth Day 2002 dack Council board and staff members to Joseph Barton, R-Texas, the chairmen of pledge at Whiteface Mountain, President the White House’s East Garden to help key House and Senate subcommittees that Bush proposed legislation in January that him call on Congressional leaders also in oversee the creation of new federal clean is strong enough to solve the nation’s acid attendance to pass acid rain legislation this air laws, each held hearings this summer rain problems. He then declared acid rain year. on legislation to stop acid rain. The Senate promised to conclude its hearings and begin moving legislation through its committees in October. The House was Boehlert Hot Over expected to hold more hearings around the Mercury same time. All of the bills under consider- House Science Committee Chairman ation in both houses are strong enough to Sherwood Boehlert, R-Utica, spearheaded a stop the damage acid rain is causing in the letter-writing campaign to the Bush Adminis- Adirondacks. The Council is encouraging tration over the summer, urging it to adopt the New York Congressional delegation strong mercury controls for power plants. He not to come home empty-handed. explained that the number of states with warnings against eating fish due to mercury Our One Acid Rain contamination rose from 27 in 1993 to 43 in 2003. The nation’s first rules for mercury are Endorsement due to be set by the EPA some time in 2004. Adirondack All of the acid rain bills under consideration House Science Commit- Congressmen John by Congress contain mercury control provi- tee Chairman Sherwood McHugh, R- sions that would require cuts of 69 percent or Boehlert. Watertown, and more. John Sweeney, R- Clifton Park, improved the Acid Rain Control Act they sponsored last Congressional session, adding a ugh mercury control US Representative provision, deepen- Sweeney ing the cuts in sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, and shortening the deadlines for meeting new standards. It contains the same cap-and- trade pollution reduction approach as all other clean air legislation. It was the strongest bill introduced this year that dealt only with acid rain. The Adirondack Council has endorsed this legislation and encouraged Congress to pass it as soon as possible. It is the only clean air bill the Council has formally endorsed.

Congressman John McHugh (right) with Adirondack Council Executive Director Brian Houseal at the Adirondack Water Quality Conference. EPA Lets Our Guard sions. NSR requires that no plant ex- affect the prosecution of the cases brought empted from clean-up due to its age and against 17 Midwest companies by NY Down pending obsolescence may undergo Atty. Gen. Eliot Spitzer, it could prevent After 33 years of refusing to enforce the “major modifications” without meeting similar cases from being brought in the New Source Review (NSR) rules in the the same pollution standards as a brand- future. Since NSR can be altered through Clean Air Act, EPA in August proposed new plant. EPA has shrugged off com- simple administrative changes at EPA, the altering the rules in a way that could make plaints about its lack of enforcement, Adirondack Council is pushing Congress them meaningless in the future. If the claiming the rules were too vague. But to pass a new law containing specific changes can withstand a court challenge just as a federal judge in Ohio tried to emissions caps that cannot be altered by from New York’s attorney general and clarify those rules, EPA proposed a change bureaucrats. All of the bills under consid- others, they will remove the only safety that would allow an entire plant to be eration by Congress contain a cap-and- net in the Clean Air Act that prevents rebuilt in five years, without adding new trade program that requires all power older, exempted power plants from pollution controls. companies to comply, regardless of the increasing their size and pollution emis- While EPA’s proposal would not age of their plants.

A Vote Away from the End to Acid Rain

Thanks to the hard work and dedica- sions that cause acid rain. That is the why the Council has called tion of the Adirondack Council and our The only clean air legislation formally for Congressional action this year -- so members, all of the clean air legislation endorsed by the Adirondack Council is that our lakes and ponds can begin to under consideration by Congress would HR 203, by Adirondack Congressmen recover. end acid rain forever. The chart below John Sweeney and John McHugh. The message to Congress is clear: shows a comparison of the acid rain However, recent EPA computer Don’t Come Home Empty-Handed. Stop provisions in the clean air proposals. All modeling shows that if any of these bills Acid Rain! of the bills would provide a similar were to pass, Adirondack lakes would no dramatic decrease in the levels of emis- longer be chronically acidic by 2030. Courts

Nowhere to Hide in adjacent, official public trails. He voided way, and could gain access to local the local law and closed all roads to ATV businesses without using the sidewalks. Ohio and snowmobile use. In his August decision In August, after the town passed a declaring that an Ohio new local law re-opening the roads to Feds Halt State Acid power company had ATV and snowmobile traffic, the Browns Rain Law violated the Clean Air filed another suit and Demarest ruled that In August, the US Court of Appeals in Act, US District Court more than half of the roads listed had Manhattan struck down New York’s acid Judge Edmund Sargus again been opened illegally. He re-closed rain “restrictive covenant” law, which of Ohio lambasted the 14 of the 24 roads opened by the statute to discouraged in-state power companies EPA’s enforcement ATV traffic, and re-closed all roads to from selling their leftover federal pollution division. He scolded snowmobile use. allowances to power plants in 14 Mid- EPA for not requiring western and Southern states. Companies older power plants, US District could avoid penalties by selling their which were exempted Court Judge Sidewalks Are for Edmund Sargus allowances only under contracts that from the clean-up Walking prohibited their use in those states. requirements of the Clean Air Act due to In January, State Supreme Court Justice Emissions from those states’ smokestacks their pending obsolescence, to install Richard Aulisi lifted a temporary restrain- fall back on New York in the form of acid modern pollution control equipment when ing order obtained by snowmobilers that rain and smog. the plants underwent “major modifica- was preventing the Village of Speculator The state had adopted the law after tions.” He blamed EPA for ignoring its from clearing the snow from its sidewalks the Adirondack Council revealed that New mandate under the past six Presidential because they were being used as a York power companies were selling Administrations, saying EPA had been snowmobile trail. Residents had com- hundreds of thousands of tons worth of hiding behind the notion that the rules, plained that they were in constant danger pollution rights to power plants upwind of known as New Source Review, were too when walking to and from businesses the Adirondacks. The court ruled that the complex and ambiguous. Ohio power along Route 30, the village’s main street. law violated the Interstate Commerce companies’ sulfur dioxide and nitrogen Village Attorney Michael Poulin noted Clause by restricting trade between states, oxide emissions cause acid rain in the that state law required ignoring NY Attorney General Eliot Adirondacks. the sidewalks along Spitzer’s argument that the burden of state highways to be avoiding the penalties fell entirely on New Pitcairn ATV Law Hits cleared for pedestrian York-based plants, not out-of-state buyers. use. Not clearing The court also ruled that the New York Pitfall them could cause the law violated a section of the Clean Air Act In March, at the request of residents village to lose its by interfering with the federal allowance- Randy and Patricia Brown, State Supreme liability insurance, he trading program. The decision upheld a Court Justice David Demarest struck down explained. Justice similar ruling by the US District Court in a 1996 local law that had allowed Town of Aulisi noted that the Supreme Court Albany. Gov. George E. Pataki and plaintiffs already had a Justice Attorney General Spitzer said they Pitcairn officials to open 24 of the town’s Richard Aulisi 26 roads to all-terrain vehicle (ATV) and remedy, since snow- disagreed with the decision, but an appeal snowmobile use. Pitcairn is located in St. mobiles are allowed to is unlikely. The law had been designed to Lawrence County, just north of the Aldrich travel up to 1,500 feet on a public high- protect the Adirondacks from increases in Pond Wild Forest, where the NYS acid rain until Congress took action to Department of Environmental Conserva- reduce the number of allowances available tion had to close all roads on the Forest nationwide. Preserve to ATV use, due to widespread Within weeks of the law being abuses. The Adirondack Council and overturned, utility companies in New others had documented serious trail England -- who obviously had been erosion and the circumvention of barriers watching the case closely -- began selling and gates meant to prevent intrusions into tens of thousands of tons worth of sensitive wildlife habitat. Judge Demarest pollution allowances to brokers and power ruled that town roads could only be used companies upwind of the Northeast. for short distances, and only when there was no alternative public access to 2003 Award Winners A Tip of the Hat...

Commissioner Crotty While the preceding pages of the Adirondack Council’s State of the Park 2003 portray the actions of elected and Named Conservationist of the Year appointed governmental officials over the past year, this section of the report is reserved to identify individuals and non-governmental institutions that have made a significant contribution to the health and welfare of the Adirondack Park. This year’s acknowledgements go to:

New York Rivers United and Newton Falls Holding, LLC, came to an agreement during recent negotiations over hydro-power licenses that resulted in the protection of a rare wetland. The Chaumont Swamp was first identified in 1988 in the Adirondack Council’s 2020 NYS Environmental Conservation Commissioner Erin M. Crotty VISION: Volume I (Biological Diversity: Saving All the enthusiastically accepted the Adirondack Council’s “Conserva- Pieces; 1988). tionist of the Year” Award in July at a dinner held in her honor at See our summer newsletter online for details the Lake Placid Resort. (www.adirondackcouncil.org). Commissioner Crotty is the first woman to win the award, which has been presented annually by the Adirondack Council’s The Wildlife Conservation Society conducted and Board of Directors since 1984. Crotty, like previous winners, published a very useful study on the lack of use by local received a specially commissioned, hand-carved loon to com- wildlife of animal-migration tunnels under the Adiron- memorate the milestone. dack Northway (I-87). The study showed quite clearly Among Crotty’s accomplishments cited by outgoing Council that animals avoided the tunnels, while all-terrain vehicle Chairman David Skovron in his introduction were her work in riders illegally trespassed through them regularly. adding land to key Wilderness Areas, creating new campgrounds, improving old campgrounds, fighting acid rain and climate Lake George Waterkeeper Chris Navitsky has been an change, taming out-of-control jet skis, all-terrain vehicles and outspoken advocate for water quality and the need for snowmobiles, and taking a reasonable approach to the control of shoreline development restrictions in his first full year on exotic species. the job. This project of the Fund for Lake George and the Hudson River Waterkeeper allows Navitsky to patrol the Wilderness Advocate Hailed lake daily. Former Wild Earth Magazine editor and long-time Adirondack Council member John Davis, below, received a Distinguished Paul Smith’s College did a splendid job of hosting the Achievement in first Adirondack Water Quality Conference at its campus Conservation in southern Franklin County in August. The Council and Award from the the college hope to hold a similar conference annually. Council during an August 21 The Open Space Institute, Ossining, completed two gathering in significant open space protection projects, securing a Westport. Davis section of the southern High Peaks region from owner NL was recognized Industries, while also preserving a piece of Lake for his tireless Champlain shoreline near Fort Ticonderoga that is efforts with The important migratory bird habitat and an important historic Wild Lands vista. Project, which seeks to reconnect The Lake Colby Association and the Upper Saranac isolated open Lake Association both exhibited their commitment to spaces and protecting water quality by adopting Eurasian wildlife habitat Watermilfoil control programs that employed proven, that has been non-toxic methods for controlling invasive, non-native fragmented by plants. Neither has sought permission to use chemical development and herbicides. highways. The Adirondack Council Founded in 1975, the Adirondack Council is a privately funded, not-for-profit organization dedicated to ensur- ing the ecological integrity and wild character of the Adirondack Park. The Council achieves these goals through research, education, advocacy and legal action. The Council does not solicit, nor does it accept, contributions from local, state or federal governments. The Council receives moral and financial support from its 18,000 members and from private foundations. The Council’s national and regional member organizations include the Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks, Audubon New York, Citizens Campaign for the Environment, National Parks & Conservation Association, and The Wilder- ness Society. Adirondack Council memberships begin at $25. Membership benefits include regular newsletters, annual bulletins such as this one, special reports on important topics of the day, action alerts and the opportunity to play an active role in protecting the Park’s precious natural resources and scenic beauty.

Staff Board of Directors EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, Brian Houseal CHAIR, Patricia D. Winterer Lilia Anson John F. Sheehan VICE CHAIRS, Richard L. Reinhold Julie M. Ball Linda S. Whalen Brian Ruder Elaine Burke David E. Bronston & David Skovron, Chair Emeritus Jaime A. Ethier Curtis R. Welling Interns Thomas D. Thacher, II Diane W. Fish TREASURER, J. Edward Fowler Meredith Chadwick Tony Zazula Lisa M. Genier David Gahl SECRETARY, Etienne Boillot Bonnie Hadjersi Liza Cowan Nellie Halloran Advisory Board Susan Hughes Edward L. Hoffman III Evan A. Davis Timothy Barnett Kathy Kelley Erika Sellar Joanne Waldron Dwyer Richard Booth Scott M. Lorey Morgan Weinberg Betty Eldridge Bernard C. Melewski John Ernst Arthur Crocker Robert L. Hall, Ph.D. Joseph F. Cullman 3rd Where to Find Us Theodore L. Hullar James C. Dawson Douglas S. Luke Kim Elliman Main Office Albany Office Cecilia A. Mathews Barbara Glaser P.O. Box D-2 342 Hamilton Street Karen Meltzer William Hord 103 Hand Ave. First Floor Scott L. Paterson Clarence A. Petty Elizabethtown, NY 12932 Albany, NY 12210 James S. Phillips David Sive (518) 873-2240 (518) 432-1770 (877) 873-2240 toll free (800) 842-PARK Concept and writing by John F. Sheehan email: [email protected] Design by Sheri Amsel www.adirondackcouncil.org printed on recycled paper

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