ADK Council urging New Yorkers to approve Proposal One

ELIZABETHTOWN | The Adirondack Council is urging New York voters to approve Proposal One on the Nov. 4 ballot, authorizing construction of Olympic winter sports facilities on 323 acres of state lands in the Adirondack Park. Voter approval would also require state officials to purchase and add 2,500 acres of new Forest Preserve to the Adirondack Park's constitutionally protected public lands, in compensation for voters granting their permission to use the winter sports facilities. "This proposal is good for the Forest Preserve and good for the local economy," said Raul J. Aguirre, Executive Director of the Adirondack Council, an environmental organization. "It would allow the Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA) to continue to operate the Nordic ski and biathlon facilities at Mt. Van Hoevenberg. "Approval would bring ORDA into compliance with Constitutional protections for the Forest Preserve," he explained. "And it would expressly forbid some forms of development that are inappropriate for public lands, such as zip lines, rental cabins or commercial structures in sensitive high-elevation forests." The Adirondack Forest Preserve was created in 1885. It is unique in the United States because it has been protected as "forever wild" under the state constitution, since 1894. The Forest Preserve comprises about 2.8 million acres of the six-million-acre Adirondack Park. New York's elected officials are authorized to add lands to the Forest Preserve, but not to remove them or alter the rules for their protection. Changes like those require a Constitutional Amendment. Amendments require preliminary approval by two separately elected state legislatures and then final approval by the state's voters. The process takes at least three years. So, although ORDA is authorized to manage about 350 acres of Forest Preserve at Mt. Van Hoevenberg, ORDA isn't allowed to develop those lands or remove the trees without voter permission. Over the years, there have been disagreements between ORDA and the public over whether ORDA was complying with those rules. The other venues that ORDA manages on the Adirondack Forest Preserve (Whiteface Mountain and Gore Mountain ski centers) were authorized by a Constitutional Amendment. Disagreements are easily resolved by consulting the language of the amendment. ORDA in 2021 recognized that a Constitutional Amendment would be the best way to ensure compliance with the law, while also gaining permission to manage and improve its facilities. As noted above, that permission comes with a specific set of rules for the future. The Adirondack Council has been defending the "forever wild" clause of the NY Constitution and the Forest Preserve since the organization was founded in 1975. The Council supports this Constitutional Amendment and will continue to promote it to voters around the state.

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ADK Council urging New Yorkers to approve Proposal One

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