ADIRONDACK COUNCIL
CALLS ON NYS & FEDERAL INSPECTORS GENERAL TO INVESTIGATE
APPARENT MISUSE OF STATE & FEDERAL GRANT FOR SNOWMOBILE/ATV
BRIDGE ACROSS RAQUETTE RIVER
Meanwhile, Council Urges Public to Write/Email State Officials
to Halt
Approval for ‘Bridge to Nowhere’ and Trails Leading
to Bridge
For more information:
John F. Sheehan
518-432-1770 (ofc)
518-441-1340 (cell)
518-456-4512 (home)
Released: Thursday, October 19, 2006
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Adirondack Council today sent a letter
to the Inspector General of the US Department of Transportation
and the NYS Inspector General asking them to conduct a formal
investigation into the apparent misuse of a federal highway grant
to build a snowmobile and all-terrain vehicle (ATV) bridge into
one of the rarest and most sensitive unprotected forests in the
Northeast.
“The public
should be outraged by this blatant misrepresentation of the purpose
for building this ‘Bridge to Nowhere’ and by the misappropriation
of nearly $1 million in state and federal tax dollars,”
said Adirondack Council Executive Director Brian L. Houseal.
“A snowmobile club is using an $800,000 NYS Department
of Transportation grant to build a snowmobile and all-terrain
vehicle bridge into one of the state’s rarest and most sensitive
forests. Yet they justify their eligibility for the grant by
calling it a pedestrian and bicycle bridge. They got another
$100,000 from State Senator Raymond Meier, R-Utica. All along
the line, they have duped state and federal officials, with the
help of a few well-placed friends.
“We had to file
a Freedom of Information Law request and wait months for a chance
to see the grant application from the St. Lawrence County Snowmobile
Association, but we were shocked by what we uncovered,”
Houseal said. Some of the most troubling details include:
- The snowmobile club’s representative
in the grant application, association vice president Neil Cheney,
also happens to be the local District Conservationist for the
US Department of Agriculture, who despite having a conflict of
interest, performed required soil tests for the grant application
and used his federal office address and phone number in Canton
as the contacts for state officials who were reviewing the grant
application.
- DEC Region 6 Director Sandy
LeBarron signed a letter in July 2001 endorsing the bridge project
– a full four years before DEC had classified the lands
near the bridge and five years before DEC had begun to solicit
the required public comment on management of the forest it would
bisect. One of her subordinates warned her in writing not to
sign the endorsement letter, worrying that it would be used later
on by opponents of the bridge, but she signed it anyway (with
a small notation at the bottom stating DEC would not make a commitment
until after the UMP was finished).
- A consultant hired by the Town
of Colton (Sear Brown), where the bridge would be built, told
his clients they needed trails wider than eight feet, but warned
them not to the use the word “snowmobile” when talking
publicly about the bridge project.
- In the minutes of a 2001 meeting
with DEC and Adirondack Park Agency officials, the club expressed
a desire to gain approval for the bridge construction without
seeking public comment or agency permits.
“This a shameful
swindle of public funds. Congress didn’t approve these
funds for snowmobile and ATV bridges,” Houseal said. “They
don’t qualify. So they lied on the application by calling
it a pedestrian and bicycle bridge when they knew otherwise.
They claim it will enhance cyclists experience on the Route
56 bikeway, when it will do just the opposite.
“Worse yet,
this Bridge to Nowhere would cause real environmental damage
to the Raquette River and Jordan River basins, which contain
some of the state’s most fragile, unique and least protected
forests and wildlife,” Houseal said. “If this bridge
is built, it will destroy the best habitat in the Northeastern
United States for the endangered spruce grouse. This is a rare,
low-elevation boreal forest, resembling the northern areas of
Siberia and Canada.” In his letter to USDOT Inspector General
Todd J. Zinser, Houseal noted:
“The area that
will be impacted by the construction of the proposed Carry Falls
Bridge has been identified by the New York Natural Heritage Program
as containing unique, rare and endangered species and ecosystems
known for lowland boreal forests usually found in more remote
regions of Canada and Siberia. It is considered the best potential
area in New York State for the conservation and restoration of
endangered spruce grouse populations.”
Houseal noted that
the grant can’t be used if New York State officials reject
the plan currently under review by the NYS Department of Environmental
Conservation (DEC). He urged those who care about endangered
species and rare wildlife habitat to contact DEC official Keith
Rivers, who is collecting public comments only until Friday,
October 20. (His email address for comments is: r6ump@gw.dec.state.ny.us). Click
to see Council Action Alert on this issue.
“We have been
urging DEC officials for years to reject the plan for this bridge,
but DEC keeps including it the state’s formal management
scheme for the area surrounding the Carry Falls Reservoir, on
the Raquette River, northwest of Tupper Lake,” Houseal said.
The Adirondack Council’s
mission is to ensure the ecological integrity and wild character
of the Adirondack Park. Founded in 1975, the Council is a privately
funded not-for-profit organization with 18,000 members in all
50 United States. The Council carries out its mission through
research, education, advocacy and legal action.
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