Loved to death? Voters want wilderness protected

ELIZABETHTOWN | Data to inform any policy designed to right-size hiking use in the Adirondack High Peaks region is coming in off a hot and busy summer. There are many non-profit groups gathering input alongside land management staff at the state Department of Environmental Conservation. The Adirondack Mountain Club, Adirondack Mountain Reserve, Adirondack Wild, and the Adirondack Council are some of those gathering information, as well as local towns, including the Town of Keene. Many have diligently monitored trails, counted tires and footsteps; they've climbed and asked hikers about parking and traffic on the summits this summer. Even with the Canadian border closed due to ongoing pandemic conditions, trails have reportedly been crowded. One hiking party was ticketed recently for driving two miles into Marcy Dam on a trail clearly marked "no motor vehicles allowed." Campfire pits and tent sites have been found in no-camping areas on sensitive summits along with hiker trash and detritus. The state is working with multiple resources to come up with a plan to curtail overuse in the Adirondacks. STRATEGIC PLANNING Convened last November, the High Peaks Strategic Planning Advisory Group published an initial report in June, recommending DEC strengthen education and outreach, particularly with Leave No Trace program initiatives. The interim report is online: dec.ny.gov The advisory group pools public, private, and non-profit resources, green groups, tourism, and town officials, all working to inform what could become a phased-in hiking permit or parking reservation system to control, assess and inform visitors who seek to use heavily worn trails in the Adirondacks. To help gather data, the Adirondack Council commissioned a Siena College Research Institute Poll of New York voters to obtain a sense of priorities taxpayers place on the protection of the Adirondack Park. Council spokesman John Sheehan released data from the poll this week. By a margin of 3:1, 68 percent to 22 percent, New York voters said they want state officials to protect overused public lands in the Adirondacks from further abuse "by enforcing resource capacity limits, rather than building bigger and bigger parking lots to accommodate the surging crowds." Conducted by Siena between Aug. 30 and Sept. 3, the poll reached 795 New York registered voters with a margin of error plus or minus 3.7 percent. PRIORITY: PROTECT The priority to protect wilderness and limit use was indicated by two-thirds or higher of people polled in all regions of the state, Council spokesman John Sheehan said. New York City residents came in at 65 percent in support of bolstered protection, suburban residents and upstate residents came in at 69 percent support for protection. "Support was strong among all ethnic groups (65 to 77 percent)," Sheehan said. "Youth showed the strongest concern at 75 percent (18 to 34 years old), with ages 55-plus coming second at 67 percent. Levels of support didn't vary at all among religious faiths or income brackets." As presented, the question asked: "Some say that the state should prioritize accommodating the high demand for hiking in (the High Peaks Wilderness) by building bigger parking lots and wider trails and not limiting use. "Others say the state should prioritize the preservation of the area and limit the total number of hikers allowed on any particular day. "Which option do you support for the Adirondack Wilderness area?" The Adirondack Council said the state should follow suit. "As we conclude the busiest time of the year on the trails and summits of the Adirondack Park, it is time for the state to follow the science and take heed of the public's desire to protect the state's most sensitive landscape from being loved to death," Adirondack Council Executive Director William C. Janeway said in announcing poll results. "Like the hikers we surveyed in 2018, registered voters told Siena pollsters that they wanted park managers to 'prioritize the preservation of the area and limit the total number of hikers allowed on any particular day.' "Limits on use must be coupled with expanded education, more forest rangers and other staff (stewards, trailhead guides), and other infrastructure improvements, and can take many forms, including parking reservations, temporary trail closures, shuttle systems, trail passes and others." PARKING RESERVATIONS The Adirondack Council is a proponent of using a web-based Adirondack parking reservation system for busy trailheads, particularly those that feed hikers onto the High Peaks. Reservations, combined with enforcement of parking limits, are not unlike measures used to manage access to busy National Park trails. "The Adirondack Council is proposing a simpler parking reservation system - combined with enforcement of parking rules at trailheads," Sheehan told the Sun. "You would make the reservation online, preferably via smartphone. We'd like the fee to be as low as possible to prevent it from being a barrier to low-income residents," he said. A parking-reservation system for heavy use trails would likely not require a state Constitutional Amendment requiring review by legislature and approval by New York voters. It could be an expansion of systems already in place at Day Use or camping areas in the Park. "It (permit system) was authorized -but never executed -in the 1999 version of the High Peaks Wilderness Unit Management Plan," Sheehan said. "The state already collects fees and requires permits for the use of Forest Preserve campsites on the islands of Lake George and charges fees for several day-use areas." "It is not right to just ask people to stay away from the High Peaks. We need all of the tools in the toolbox to fix this problem," Janeway said. "Setting limits on use at some locations at some times, while expanding access in other locations, is one of the most important strategies because it can allow growth in total use while better preserving the access to Wilderness for everyone." DEC: ON WILDERNESS WATCH Commissioner Basil Seggos said in June that DEC has enacted initial recommendations put forth by the Advisory Group. Education, Leave No Trace outreach and trail monitoring have been in place all summer, along with enforcement of parking lot limits. In addition, he said in response to the Advisory Group report, DEC is evaluating critical trails to "provide data to support a wildlands monitoring program with an emphasis on trail assessment using updated technologies." A follow-up report is due from the Advisory Group this fall. DEC is collecting input from all users, and people can share their views by email: Info.R5@dec.ny.gov In addition to state, local and Adirondack resources, the national center for Leave No Trace published its report on overuse in Adirondack Park. One of the recommendations suggests the use of hiking permits both as a way to ease use and to educate hikers.

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Loved to death? Voters want wilderness protected

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