The Adirondack Park Agency (APA) is accepting public comments on Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan conformance for proposed amendments to the Hinckley Day Use Area Unit Management Plan (UMP). [Read more…] about Comments Sought On Expanding Hinckley Day Use Area
APA
Tent Platforms: A History of Personal Forest Preserve Leases
Many years ago I paddled past what appeared to be many rather unnatural clearings on Long Pond in the St. Regis Canoe Area. Here and there, partially underwater, I saw a piece of water pipe or an old rusty dock support. They are the remains of tent platform sites.
These camps on “forever wild” New York State Adirondack Forest Preserve lands were built with leases to private individuals. [Read more…] about Tent Platforms: A History of Personal Forest Preserve Leases
Adirondack Council: Plan For Poorly Sited Cell Towers Should Be Revised
The Adirondack Council today urged the Adirondack Park Agency to substantially modify or reject two permit requests for poorly-sited cell towers near the Hamilton County communities of Indian Lake and Inlet.
The Adirondack Park Agency (APA) has never denied a request for a cell tower permit. [Read more…] about Adirondack Council: Plan For Poorly Sited Cell Towers Should Be Revised
Comments Sought On Removal of Historic Adirondack Camp
The Adirondack Park Agency (APA) and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) have announced a 60-day joint public comment period on the Draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) for the Debar Mountain Complex (DMC) Draft Unit Management Plan and a proposal to reclassify approximately 41 acres of the Wild Forest as Intensive Use.
The plan would also demolish and remove a rustic 1940s Adirondack camp at the north end of Debar Pond that is listed on the State and National Registers of Historic Places. [Read more…] about Comments Sought On Removal of Historic Adirondack Camp
State Proposes Removal of Historic DeBar Lodge Great Camp For Day Use Area
The NYS Adirondack Park Agency (APA) and Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) are holding a joint public comment period on plans to tear down a rustic 1940s Adirondack camp at the north end of Debar Pond that is listed on the State and National Registers of Historic Places.
The camp commands a view of DeBar Pond and the adjacent mountains which frame the water. The main lodge is a rambling two-story rustic building by architect Saranac Lake architect William Distin. The site also includes a guide/caretaker house, and several barns and outbuildings. [Read more…] about State Proposes Removal of Historic DeBar Lodge Great Camp For Day Use Area
2020 State of the Adirondack Park Report Issued
The Adirondack Council released its 2020-21 State of the Park report subtitled “Landscape of Hope,” noting that the park has become a place of refuge during the COVID-19 crisis, which has only increased the park’s popularity.
The report also notes that the state is beginning to make progress on addressing the overused trails and campsites of the High Peaks Wilderness Area, detailing what has been accomplished and what remains to be done. A third major focus of the report – taking up its entire center spread – is the pending sale of the 36,000-acre Whitney Estate in Long Lake, Hamilton County. [Read more…] about 2020 State of the Adirondack Park Report Issued
Hinckley Reservoir, Fish Creek Campground on APA Agenda
The Adirondack Park Agency will hold its monthly meeting at its headquarters in Ray Brook on Thursday, September 10th and Friday, September 11th, 2020. Thursday’s meeting will begin at 1 pm and Friday’s session will commence at 9:30 am.
In accordance with New York State’s ongoing efforts to mitigate the Coronavirus, the public should use the live Webcast event to watch the meeting. To watch the meeting, visit the APA website and click the September meeting agenda found under News and Activities. [Read more…] about Hinckley Reservoir, Fish Creek Campground on APA Agenda
Adirondack Park Developer Rejects Conservation Design
Even during the summer’s pandemic, development submittals to the Adirondack Park Agency (APA), which oversees land use in the Adirondack Park, have not slowed very much.
Case in point: the proposed developer of Woodward Lake in Fulton County has submitted additional information to the APA this month of July. The Agency has issued multiple requests for additional information since the applicant, New York Land and Lakes LLC of Oneonta, first submitted an application in 2018. Their plan is to subdivide an undeveloped 1,100-acre lake and forest near Northville in the Adirondack Park into 37 second home lots, driveways and onsite septic. There is no public water or sewer here and the applicant proposes none. [Read more…] about Adirondack Park Developer Rejects Conservation Design
The Mt. Van Hoevenberg Olympic Facility and Forever Wild
This is the second article in a 5-part series that looks at amendments to Article 14, Section 1, the famed forever wild provision, of the State Constitution. This article looks the Mt. Van Hoevenberg Olympic Winter Sports Complex in the Adirondack Park, managed by the Olympic Regional Development Authority. The first piece looked at the recent history of Article 14 amendments.
Protect the Adirondacks has long believed that an amendment to Article 14, Section 1 is needed for the Mt. Van Hoevenberg Winter Olympic Sports Complex currently managed by the Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA). At Mt. Van Hoevenberg, ORDA currently manages 1,220 acres +/- of Forest Preserve classified as Intensive Use by the Adirondack Park Agency (APA). Abutting these lands is 319 acres of lands owned by the Town of North Elba, Essex County. This complex houses the Olympic bobsled and luge track, cross-country skiing and biathlon trails, and associated facilities. [Read more…] about The Mt. Van Hoevenberg Olympic Facility and Forever Wild
Newly Appointed Adirondack Park Leadership Remains Lopsided
The protection and planning for the Adirondack Park’s six million acres, one-fifth of the state, rests in large measure on the motivation and independence of the Adirondack Park Agency’s staff and board members in Ray Brook (APA).
Seven members were just nominated by Governor Andrew Cuomo and subsequently confirmed to sit at the APA’s table by the NY State Senate.
How should we think about them? How should we think about them in light of Governor Cuomo’s challenge to re-imagine and improve public policies and practices – to “build back better?” [Read more…] about Newly Appointed Adirondack Park Leadership Remains Lopsided