Please
Note: Comment Period is Over
Department
of Environmental Conservation Removed Two Important
Adirondack Areas from Draft Open Space Plan
Long-term Planning for the Park in Jeopardy
Your
Letters are Needed to Get them Back in the Final Plan
The Department
of Environmental Conservation (DEC) recently released its 2005
Draft Open Space Conservation Plan that outlines the state’s
priorities for land protection throughout the state. By law,
the plan must be updated every three years and the DEC is seeking
public comments on the Draft Plan until January 18, 2006.
This Draft Plan
contains some planning strategies that are beneficial to the
Adirondack Park, but it also has some flaws, the most serious
being the removal of two of the Park’s most sensitive
areas from the Plan. We need your help to make sure the final
Plan not only protects key parcels and sensitive ecosystems,
but also includes long-term conservation strategies for the Adirondacks.
The future of the Adirondack Park depends on it.
The Removal
of the Bob Marshall/Oswegatchie Area and the Boreal Forest
Two very critical
and sensitive areas of the Adirondack Park, the proposed Bob
Marshall Great Wilderness/Oswegatchie area and the Low Elevation
Boreal Forest, have been deleted from the 2005 Draft Plan. Both
areas are remote and have sensitive and rare
Beaver Flow in the Bob Marshall |
forests that contain habitat for several rare,
threatened, endangered, and extirpated species such as the moose,
Canada lynx and the spruce grouse. This removaljeopardizes the
long-term planning for the overall open space protection in the
Park. These areas and their conservation strategies were included
in the 2002 Open Space Plan and all previous plans since 1992.
Past plans have stated that the Boreal Forest and the Bob Marshall/Oswegatchie
areas should be protected because of their unique ecosystems
and natural resources. |
Areas Recognized
by the State and the Council as Needing Protection
New York State
and the Adirondack Council have recognized that the Boreal Forest
and the Bob Marshall/Oswegatchie area need to be protected. The
Adirondack Council has documented the special qualities of these
areas in Volumes I and II of our 2020 VISION Series - Biological
Diversity: Saving All the Pieces and Completing the Wilderness
System and in our publication The Gift of Wildness –
The Bob Marshall Great Wilderness. (For more information
on the proposed Bob Marshall Great Wilderness and the Boreal
Forest, our library. Both areas are described
in detail in the 2020
VISION Series.)
It is extremely
important that the state continues its commitment to plan for
the conservation of these two unique areas to protect the overall
ecology of the Adirondack Park. The Bob Marshall/Oswegatchie
and the Boreal Forest areas and their protection strategies must
be included in the final 2006 Plan.
Addition
of Key Adirondack Parcels to Priority Project List
Several key Adirondack
parcels have been added to the priority project list in the Draft
Plan This list outlines the land projects that
| should be protected by the state, by either fee
purchase or conservation easement, because of their special qualities.
These parcels or project areas include the Prospect Mountain
Tract on Lake George, the Lake George Watershed, Lake George
Waterway Access, the Lake Champlain Watershed, and the lands
awaiting fee purchase from the recent deals with the International
Paper and Domtar/Lyme Timber Companies. By preserving these lands,
the state will protect water quality, add land to the Wilderness |
Spruce Grouse in the Boreal Forest |
Areas and
provide new recreational opportunities for the public.
Provide
Adequate Funding for Land Protection
The Draft Plan
indicates that over $1 billion is needed to fund all of the projects
currently listed in the document at today’s prices. As land
values continue to increase, this number will only rise further.
In addition, the Plan estimates an annual funding need for fee
purchase and easements at $70 million. Much of that money would
need to come from the state, with a small portion paid for through
federal programs.
However, at most,
the state budget has only included $40 million a year for land
acquisition. The Adirondack Council and other organizations are
calling on the Legislature and Governor to increase overall funding
in the Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) to $300 million so
that land acquisition money can at least reach the necessary
$70 million a year level.
The
Future of the Adirondack Park Depends on You
Please Send Your Letter to DEC Today
You have an
opportunity to help plan for the Adirondack Park’s future.
It is extremely important that DEC hear from you about the Draft
Plan. Please write a letter and in your own words tell DEC:
- The Bob Marshall/Oswegatchie
and Boreal Forest Areas must be added to the final 2006 Open
Space Plan. These are unique areas of the Adirondack Park that
include rare plant and animal species needing large intact natural
forests. They must be part of the long-term planning process
for open space in the Adirondacks.
- You are pleased
with the Adirondack parcels that have been added to the priority
list. All of these parcels should remain in the final Plan.
- The EPF should
be increased to $300 million annually so that the amount allocated
to land acquisition can reflect the needs of the state with at
least $70 million a year.
Please
Send Your Letter to:
Francis
Sheehan
NYS DEC
625 Broadway, 5th Floor
Albany, NY 12233-4250
fax: (518) 402-9028
email:
osp2005@gw.dec.state.ny.us
Comments
Will Be Accepted Until January 18, 2006
Copies of the
Draft Plan are available at DEC regional offices or on-line at
www.dec.state.ny.us/website/dlf/opensp/
Please send your
comments to DEC and if possible, to us as well. Please send your
comments to DEC and if possible, to us as well at activists@adirondackcouncil.org
or P.O.
Box D-2 Elizabethtown, NY 12932. The Adirondack Park is counting
on you. Thanks for your help.
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