ADIRONDACK COUNCIL
CALLS ON ADIRONDACK PARK AGENCY TO HALT SNOWMOBILE 'BRIDGE TO
NOWHERE' & TAKE FIRST STEPS TOWARD CREATION OF BOREAL WILDERNESS
State's Massive Effort to Determine the Best Protection for
Newly Acquired Forest Preserve Lands Will Determine Fate of Rare
Wildlife and Plant Habitat
For more information:
John F. Sheehan, Communications Director
518-432-1770 (w)
518-441-1340 (cell)
Released, Wednesday, May 11,
2005
RAY BROOK, NY - The Adirondack
Council today called on the Adirondack Park Agency to declare
12,500 acres east of Carry Falls Reservoir in St. Lawrence County
to be state-protected wilderness where motorized traffic would
eventually be banned.
"The northern slopes of the Adirondack Park, along north-flowing
rivers, contain a rare, low-elevation evergreen forest that is
otherwise found only in the sub-arctic spruce and fir forests
of the Canadian and Siberian taiga," said Adirondack Council
Executive Director Brian L. Houseal. "It is home to a host
of rare plant and animal species that have no other homes in
New York State and whose survival will depend on how we manage
these lands. Many of them are already carved up by logging roads
and unofficial snowmobile trails. Unless this entire area is
classified as a Wilderness or a Primitive Area, the damage to
this habitat will only get worse."
The Adirondack Park Agency will hold public hearings later this
month to gather public input on how the lands should be managed.
The hearings will include dozens of new state land classifications,
most of which the Adirondack Council supports.
"Our greatest concern in this round of reclassifications
is that local government officials in St. Lawrence County have
expressed a desire to build a snowmobile bridge across the Carry
Falls Reservoir into the heart of the proposed Boreal Wilderness
Area," Houseal said. "While it appears that the county
is relying on a federal grant to complete this bridge project
- a grant which cannot be lawfully spent on a brand-new road
- the Park Agency ought not encourage that effort by making motorized
access possible across the southern portion of the Carry Falls
Reservoir."
Houseal said the Council had written a letter to the Park Agency,
reminding the agency that page 14 of the Adirondack Park State
Land Master Plan requires the commissioners to give special protection
to sensitive boreal forests:
"Biological considerations
also play an important role in the structuring of the classification
system. Many of these are associated with the physical limitations
just described; for instance many plants of the boreal, subalpine
and alpine zones are less able to withstand trampling than species
associated with lower elevation life zones. Wetland ecosystems
frequently are finely balanced and incapable of absorbing material
changes resulting from construction or intensive human use."
Some of the animals living in the proposed Boreal Wilderness
include moose, snowshoe hares, Canada lynx, spruce grouse, fishers,
pine martens, hawk-owls, boreal chickadees, white-throated sparrows
and a combination of coyotes and red wolves. Unusual plant species
include carnivorous insect-eaters such as sundews and pitcher
plants, as well as brilliant flowering plants such as painted
trillium, Clintonia, Canada mayflowers and starflowers. The forest
is a dense mix of spruce and fir, with a blanket of moss covering
the ground. It contains dozens of tiny ponds and wetlands.
State Forest Preserve lands are managed according to classification,
and are classified in one of seven categories, with most lands
falling into: Wild Forest, Primitive or Wilderness. Wild Forest
areas generally contain public roads and allow public motorized
access in designated areas. Wilderness Areas are off limits to
motorized traffic of any kind.
Primitive Areas are wilderness-in-waiting and often contain some
private lands not yet acquired by the state or other non-Wilderness
uses. Public motorized access is eliminated, but owners of private
lands are allowed to keep and use their current roads and driveways.
In 1988, the Adirondack Council first proposed creating a 73,000-acre
Boreal Wilderness just north of Tupper Lake and east of Carry
Falls Reservoir. When complete, the Boreal Wilderness would be
bounded by the West Branch of the St. Regis River, the southern
half of Carry Falls Reservoir, the Raquette River and Wolf Pond.
It would encompass Jordan River and its entire watershed. It
is the core of a 185,000-acre, low-elevation boreal forest that
covers an area from Cranberry Lake in St. Lawrence County to
Meacham Lake in Franklin County.
In 1993, state officials incorporated the Boreal Wilderness proposal
into the NYS Open Space Conservation Plan. Since that time, several
areas of new Forest Preserve have been purchased by the state.
There are three areas totaling 12,500 acres under review by the
Adirondack Park Agency, which will determine their status. Of
those, 11,000 acres are existing Wild Forest units, surrounded
by 1,533 acres of newly acquired state lands. All 12,533 acres
are in the Towns of Colton and Hopkinton.
"By classifying all of these lands as Wilderness or Primitive,
the Park Agency can take the state's first administrative step
toward creation of the Boreal Wilderness," Houseal said.
"The Park's growing moose population and a wide range of
other rare animals and plants need a place in the Adirondacks
where they can be free from the damage inflicted by motorized
traffic."
Finally, Houseal noted that the Council had called on the Park
Agency to declare that the reclassifications will have a significant
impact on the Park's environment, and order a formal environmental
impact assessment, rather than considering the classifications
to have little or no impact on the Forest Preserve by filing
a "Negative Declaration" during the State Environmental
Quality Review process.
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. The Council carries out its missions through
research, education, advocacy and legal action.
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