Public tells APA 'don't harm wilderness'

ALBANY | The Adirondack Council is saying that its members had generated significant public input and critical feedback to the Adirondack Park Agency regarding the APA's proposed changes to the primary management plan for the "forever wild" Adirondack and Catskill Forest Preserves. The organization cited an increased level of participation and engagement by its members who wrote expressed concerns about changes to the Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan that could weaken wilderness protection and limit the APA's own authority within the Park. In response to an electronic action alert, hundreds of comments were submitted to the APA before the comment period ended on Monday, Dec. 2. "The basic purpose of the Master Plan is to protect the natural resources of Adirondack Forest Preserve. When that is called into question, the Council and its membership will take the action needed to help safeguard the Park's public lands," said Raul J. Aguirre, Executive Director of the Adirondack Council. "For over 50 years, the Master Plan has – for the better – guided state land management and recreation, which has helped define the Adirondacks as an iconic landscape; for both its globally significant ecological wildlands and world-class recreational opportunities." "As climate pressures continue to impact wild spaces, we must find ways to protect and support them. Attempts to weaken protections in rare, wilderness-like settings must be avoided," said Aguirre. "Our members recognize this and want the state agencies to prioritize the protection of the Park's irreplaceable natural resources, as the law demands." With only four major revisions having been made to the Master Plan since its adoption over 50 years ago, it is important that proposed amendments be reviewed closely and carefully to assess their consistency with the science and law, Aguirre said. Proposed changes that may appear benign now – and in these contexts – could look very different in 10 years, when technology, climate change and other conditions have shifted, he noted. "So, changes to the Master Plan need to be relevant to the conditions today as well as to the complexities and challenges of the Forest Preserve of tomorrow," Aguirre said. "Changes should not weaken the health of the Forest Preserve. They should uphold the Master Plan's guiding: natural resource protection must remain paramount." Aguirre said the organization's written comments on the APA's proposed amendments to the master plan for management of the Forest Preserve included: Natural Resources Paramount: The existing master plan sets as the highest priority "protection and preservation of the natural resources of the State lands within the Park," and that should not change. The incorporation of the Six Best Management Practices for Wildlands by Chad Dawson and John C. Hendee would strengthen the master plan and not bend this mandate towards over-prioritizing human enjoyment. Protection of natural resources and the ecological integrity and wild character of the Adirondack Park is paramount. Maintaining Agency Oversight: The APA serves as a critical counterbalance to the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) by upholding the integrity of the master plan. The Agency should seek to hold the DEC accountable in complying with the master plan, including limiting motorized access to Wilderness to emergency and other limited circumstances, rather than taking away or weakening those accountability measures. Scientific Support: Science should support any amendment as enhancing the current and future protection of the natural resources of the state lands and waters. Any proposed wildlife management structures, such as loon nesting rafts, should be made based on science that reasonably confirms that the net results will enhance, or not significantly degrade or impair, any natural resources. No Net Expansion of Motorized Access: Proposed changes must secure improved public land management that prevents the degradation of natural resources from intensive human uses. This includes limits on motorized vehicle operation, by the DEC or by the public, as well as other uses that require extensive tree removal, terrain alteration or construction. There should be no net expansion of snowmobile or motorized recreation in the Forest Preserve. Improved Transparency for Accessibility: Powered wheelchairs and other devices designed specifically for both indoor and outdoor use by persons with disabilities are allowed anywhere on the Forest Preserve that a hiking boot may go. However, a new class of "Other Power-Driven Mobility Devices" is creating a challenge. These are motor-driven vehicles designed only for outdoor use on uneven terrain by both disabled and non-disabled individuals. Some of these may be appropriate for use in the 55% of the Forest Preserve where motorized access is already legal, but should not be allowed in motor-free areas of the Forest Preserve such as Wilderness, Primitive or Canoe Areas. The APA has proposed classifying these devices as non-motorized to avoid conflict with bans on motors in those areas. It should allow the DEC to develop a statewide policy for access to all public lands. Federal law doesn't require states to allow outdoor-only motor-vehicles on public lands where motorized vehicles are banned. Guidance on Climate: To comply with the NY Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, the APA should develop of guidance documents describing how landowners can achieve maximum nature-based greenhouse gas sequestration and storage, and climate resiliency. Emissions on state lands must be assessed, cutting of trees, movement of forest pests and pathogens across the landscape, and other climate-exacerbated threats should be considered and mitigated.

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Public tells APA 'don't harm wilderness'

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