LAKE CHAMPLAIN ISLANDS MANAGEMENT COMPLEX Including: Valcour Island Primitive Area Schuyler Island Primitive Area Champlain Islands Wild Forest Peru Dock Boat Launch Intensive Use Area Port Douglas Boat Launch Intensive Use Area Willsboro Bay Boat Launch Intensive Use Area Unit Management Plan NYS DEC, REGION 5, DIVISION OF LANDS AND FORESTS 1115 State Route 86, PO Box 296, Ray Brook, NY 12977 [email protected] www.dec.ny.gov April 2017 This page intentionally left blank M E M O R A N D U M TO: The Record FROM: Basil Seggos SUBJECT: Lake Champlain Islands Management Complex The Lake Champlain Islands Complex Unit Management Plan has been completed, and the Adirondack Park Agency has found the Plan to be in conformance with the Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan. The Plan is consistent with Environmental Conservation Law, and Department Rules, Regulations and Policies and is hereby approved and adopted. ______________________________________________ Basil Seggos Commissioner New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Date: __________________________ This page intentionally left blank wvoRK JEOF Adirondack PORTUNffY. Park Agency SHERMAN CRAIG TERRY MARTINO Chairman Executive Director RESOLUTION ADOPTED BY THE ADIRONDACK PARK AGENCY WITH RESPECT TO THE LAKE CHAMPLAIN ISLANDS MANAGEMENT COMPLEX UNIT MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR THE VALCOUR ISLAND PRIMITIVE AREA, SCHUYLER ISLAND PRIMITIVE AREA, CHAMPLAIN ISLANDS WILD FOREST AREA, PERU DOCK BOAT LAUNCH INTENSIVE USE AREA, PORT DOUGLAS BOAT LAUNCH INTENSIVE USE AREA AND WILLSBORO BAY BOAT LAUNCH INTENSIVE USE AREA February 10, 2017 WHEREAS, Section 816 of the Adirondack Park Agency Act directs the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC or Department) to develop, in consultation with the Adirondack Park Agency (APA or Agency), individual management plans for units of land classified in the Master Plan for Management of State Lands and requires such management plans to conform to the general guidelines and criteria of the Master Plan; and WHEREAS, in addition to such guidelines and criteria, the Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan (APSLMP) prescribes the contents of unit management plans and provides that the Adirondack Park Agency will determine whether a proposed individual unit management plan complies with such general guidelines and criteria; and WHEREAS, the Champlain Islands Management Complex (LCIMC) includes lands in the Towns of Peru and Plattsburg, Clinton County, The Towns of Chesterfield, Westport, Crown Point and Ticonderoga, in Essex County and includes six of the seven state-owned islands in Lake Champlain and three boat launch sites distributed along the shore of the main body of Lake; and ·WHEREAS, the Department filed a Negative Declaration that the proposed UMP will not have a significant effect on the environment and published notice in the Environmental Notice Bufletin on August 2, 2015; and WHEREAS, the Department is the lead agency, and the Adirondack Park Agency is an involved agency whose staff have been consulted in the preparation of the proposed LCIMC UMP; and P.O. Box 99 • 1133 NYS Route 86 •Ray Brook, NY 12977 •Tel: 518 891 -4050 • Fax: 518 891 -3938 • www.apa.ny.gov WHEREAS, the Department received public comment on the proposed LCIMC UMP and the Agency received public comment related to issues of the plan's conformance with the guidelines and criteria of the APSLMP until January 6, 2017; and WHEREAS, the Agency is requested to determine whether the Final Unit Management Plans for the Valcour Island Primitive Area, the Schuyler Island Primitive Area, the Champlain Islands Wild Forest Area, The Peru Dock Boat Launch Intensive Use Area, the Port Douglas Boat Launch Intensive Use Area and the Willsboro Bay Boat Launch Intensive Use Area, dated November, 2016, are consistent with the guidelines and criteria of the APSLMP; and WHEREAS, within the Valcour Island Primitive Area, the Department has proposed maintaining a fence around a memorial known as the Nomad Site. The Nomad site was established when Valcour Island was in private ownership; the fence itself was placed after the state acquired title for the purpose of protecting the site from vandalism; and WHEREAS, the Adirondack Park Agency has reviewed the proposed LCIMC UMP; and WHEREAS, the LCIMC UMP recognizes the need to protect the natural resources, improve public use and enjoyment of the area, avoid user conflicts and prevent overuse according to the guidelines and criteria of the APSLMP. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that pursuant to Section 816 of the Adirondack Park Agency Act, the Adirondack Park Agency finds the Lake Champlain Islands Management Complex Unit Management Plan for the Valcour Island Primitive Area, the Schuyler Island Primitive Area, the Champlain Islands Wild Forest Area, the Peru Dock Boat Launch Intensive Use Area, the Port Douglas Boat Launch Intensive Use Area and the Willsboro Bay Boat Launch Intensive Use Area dated November, 2016 , conform with the general guidelines and criteria of the Adirondack Park State Land MasterPlan; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the proposed actions and management proposals are consistent with the social, economic and other essential considerations required under ECL Article 8 and implementing regulations from among the reasonable alternatives available, and which avoid or minimize adverse environmental impacts to the maximum extent practicable; and BE IT FlNALLY RESOLVED, that the Adirondack Park Agency authorizes its Executive Director to advise the Commissioner of Environmental Conservation of the Agency's determination in this matter. 2 Resolution adopted on this date, February 10, 2017. AYES: Sherman Craig, Chairman, Chad Dawson, John Ernst, Karen Feldman, Barbara · Rice, William Thomas, Dan Wilt, Brad Austin, $andi Allen, Bob Stegemann NAYS: None ABSTENTIONS: None ABSENT: Arthur Lussi 3 This page intentionally left blank Preface The Lake Champlain Islands Management Complex Unit Management Plan has been developed pursuant to, and is consistent with, relevant provisions of the New York State Constitution, the Environmental Conservation Law (ECL), the Executive Law, the Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (“Department”) rules and regulations, Department policies and procedures and the State Environmental Quality and Review Act. Most of the State lands which are the subject of this Unit Management Plan (UMP) is Forest Preserve protected by Article XIV, Section 1 of the New York State Constitution. This Constitutional provision, which became effective on January 1, 1895 provides in relevant part: The lands of the state, now owned or hereafter acquired, constituting the Forest Preserve as now fixed by law, shall be forever kept as wild forest lands. They shall not be leased, sold or exchanged, or be taken by any corporation, public or private, or shall the timber thereon be sold, removed or destroyed. ECL §§3-0301(1)(d) and 9-0105(1) provides the Department with jurisdiction to manage Forest Preserve lands, including the islands in Lake Champlain. The Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan (Master Plan) was initially adopted in 1972 by the Adirondack Park Agency (APA), with advice from and in consultation with the Department, pursuant to Executive Law §807, now recodified as Executive Law §816. The Master Plan provides the overall general framework for the development and management of State lands in the Adirondack Park, including those State lands that are the subject of this Unit Management Plan (UMP). The Master Plan places State land within the Adirondack Park into the following classifications: Wilderness, Primitive, Canoe, Wild Forest, Intensive Use, Historic, State Administrative, Wild, Scenic and Recreational Rivers, and Travel Corridors, and sets forth management guidelines for the lands falling within each major classification. The Master Plan classifies the Forest Preserve lands that are the subject of this UMP as one of three classifications: Primitive, Wild Forest or Intensive Use. The Master Plan sets forth guidelines for such matters as: structures and improvements; ranger stations; the use of motor vehicles, motorized equipment and aircraft; roads, jeep trails and state truck trails; flora and fauna; recreation use and overuse; boundary structures and improvements and boundary markings. Executive Law §816 requires the Department to develop, in consultation with the APA, individual UMPs for each unit of land under the Department’s jurisdiction which is classified in one of the nine classifications set forth in the Master Plan. The UMPs must conform to the guidelines and criteria set forth in the Master Plan. Thus, UMPs Lake Champlain Islands Management Complex Unit Management Plan i Preface implement and apply the Master Plan’s general guidelines for particular areas of land within the Adirondack Park. Executive Law §816(1) provides in part that “until amended, the Master Plan for management of state lands and the individual management plans shall guide the development and management of state lands in the Adirondack Park.” Thus, the Master Plan and the UMPs have the force of law in guiding Department actions. Need for a Plan Without a UMP, the management of the public lands that comprise the Lake Champlain Islands Management Complex (LCIMC) Unit Management Plan (UMP) area can easily become a series of uncoordinated reactions to immediate problems. The UMP provides a proactive and unified strategy for protecting the natural resources of the LCIMC