ADIRONDACK PARK AGENCY,
DEPT. OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION
SINGLED OUT FOR CRITICISM IN
ADIRONDACK COUNCIL'S 21st ANNUAL STATE OF THE PARK REPORT
Agencies Sanctioning Illegal Buildings & Motorized Traffic
in Forest Preserve;
While Local Government Continues Positive Trend;
Attorney General Spitzer Collects Perfect Score
For more information:
John F. Sheehan
518-432-1770 (ofc)
518-441-1340 (cell)
518-456-4512 (home)
Released: Wednesday, October 4, 2006
ALBANY, NY - The Adirondack Park
Agency and NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation are allowing
too many buildings and too much motorized traffic on "Forever
Wild" Forest Preserve in the Adirondack Park, according
to a comprehensive report released today by the Park's largest
environmental advocacy organization.
"APA and DEC officials have spent the past 12 months
ignoring legal restrictions on motorized traffic and non-conforming
buildings on public lands. These lands are supposed to be protected
by both the State Constitution and by a state law known as the
Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan," said Adirondack
Council Executive Director Brian L. Houseal. "Rather than
comply with these legal mandates, both agencies are re-writing
the rules as they go along.
"DEC is proposing new snowmobile trail mileage, although
state law says that motorized uses of the Forest Preserve will
not be encouraged. There are already too many miles of snowmobile
trails on the Preserve," Houseal said. "Making matters
worse, DEC has proposed using SUV-sized, tractor trail groomers.
To facilitate this, DEC wants to allow the removal of anything
larger than six inches in height from the public trails.
"In addition, DEC wants to avoid another legal mandate that
requires the removal of fire towers from areas that are slated
to become Wilderness. When DEC has presented these plans to
the Adirondack Park Agency, rather than reject them as inconsistent
with existing state law, the APA Board of Commissioners has simply
approved them. . Both agencies seem to be in a mad rush to finish
the plans before January 1st, rather than take the time to do
them correctly."
The Adirondack Council's 2006 State of the Park Report tracks
the actions of local, state and federal officials who helped
or hurt the ecological integrity or wild character of the Adirondack
Park over the past 12 months. State of the Park is published
each fall to provide non-partisan political information to Adirondack
Council members in all 50 United States and to voters in general.
The Adirondack Council does not endorse candidates for office,
nor does the Council accept public or taxpayer-supported funding
of any kind. The illustrated, 24-page, color magazine-style
report is available for free from the Council by calling 1-877-873-2240.
"For the third year in a row, local governments in
the Park won far more praise than scorn," Houseal said.
"This is an encouraging trend, since the Park's 92 towns
and 13 village governments are the first line of defense against
inappropriate development and environmentally harmful land-uses.
Their actions this year are further proof that most year-round
Adirondack residents care deeply about the Park's environment.
More and more, that is reflected in the people they choose for
public office and the actions those officials take. There is
a night-and-day improvement in the way most local officials treat
the environment, compared to 20 years ago, or even 10 years ago.
We hope this is a trend that continues."
"As he did in 2005, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer earned
yet another perfect rating, focused primarily on his efforts
to curb smog, reduce greenhouse gases, improve automobile mileage,
prevent mercury contamination and protect the funding for vital
acid rain research," Houseal explained.
Individual members of Congress won praise in the report, with
special mention for the retiring Utica Congressman Sherwood
Boehlert, a leading conservationist in the House. US
Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, and Reps. John Sweeney,
R-Clifton Park, and John McHugh, R-Pierrepont Manor, also
received a "Thumbs Up" in the report for their work
on environmentally benign community development and on funding
for invasive species controls. US Sen. Thomas Carper,
D-DE, and California Democratic Congressman Henry Waxman
were singled out for their work to prevent global overheating.
Meanwhile, the US Environmental Protection Agency received
two strong rebukes for its weak mercury-control regulations and
for attempts to weaken the Clean Air Act.
"Another unique aspect of our report is that we go out of
our way to recognize the work of other environmental organizations,
corporations and individuals in the Park who made a special contribution
to preserving and enhancing the Park's overall health,"
Houseal said. "Most environmental organizations are afraid
to acknowledge the good works done by other organizations that
might compete for funding or membership. We don't want to pretend
that we are the only ones doing anything worthwhile for the Park's
environment. This year's '"Tip of the Hat"' section
includes praise for the Adirondack Journal of Environmental
Studies, Friends of New York's Environment, Lyme
Timber Company, International Paper Company, Paul
Smith's College, the Wildlife Conservation Society
and the Natural History Museum of the Adirondacks."
Other highlights of the
report include:
- Governor Pataki received some favorable marks for land
acquisition and environmental funding, while earning a "Thumbs
Down" for inviting motorized traffic into the Park's most
sensitive wildlife habitat.
- Both Houses of the NYS Legislature
worked well together on six items that helped the Park's environment
(adding funding, rerouting power lines, assisting Forest Rangers,
replacing emergency Northway phones and mercury control), while
earning only two "Thumbs Down" marks for attempting
to remove vital protections from the rules that govern seasonal
campgrounds and for endangering acid rain research funding.
All of the criticism for Senate actions fell on Sen. Elizabeth
Little, R-Queensbury, for legislation that threatened to
weaken all environmental protections for the Park. Assembly
leaders and members Robert Sweeney, D-Lindenhurst, Thomas
DiNapoli, D-Great Neck, and Alexander Grannis, D-Manhattan
each won praise for individual actions, while Darrel Aubertine,
R-Cape Vincent, was singled out for attempting to weaken the
"Forever Wild" clause of the NYS Constitution.
- State and federal courts received high marks in general (preventing
motorized abuses of public lands; ordering illegal structures
to be torn down; and, curbing power plant pollution), while one
state court was criticized for a decision to allow the construction
of a fake-tree cell tower (Frankenpine).
- NYS Comptroller Alan Hevesi, the Olympic Regional Development
Authority, NYS Canal Corporation, NYS Public Service
Commission and the NY Power Authority were all praised
in the "Other Agencies" section, while the Department
of Transportation took heat for its neglect of invasive species
in its plan for managing highway roadsides.
The Adirondack Council is an
18,000-member, privately funded, not-for-profit organization
dedicated to ensuring the ecological integrity and wild character
of New York's six-million-acre Adirondack Park. Founded in 1975,
the Council carries out its mission through research, education,
advocacy and legal action.
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