The Adirondack Council

News Release

Released, Wednesday, October 9, 2002

WILMINGTON, NY -- Adirondack conservationists today called on the Olympic Regional Development Authority to withdraw a controversial proposal to build a two-story ski lodge/restaurant on the 3,655-foot summit of Little Whiteface Mountain, in an area recently designated by Governor George E. Pataki as vital nesting bird habitat.

The Adirondack Park Agency’s Board of Commissioners will be touring the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid on Thursday (October 10). The Agency could begin its review of the ORDA expansion plan as early as its November meeting.

"Any private developer who proposed this project would be sent packing. We hope the Park Agency will begin its review of the Whiteface expansion plan by eliminating the mountaintop restaurant," said Adirondack Council Executive Director Brian L. Houseal.

"The proposed lodge and new ski trails would require the cutting of nearly 55,000 trees on the Forest Preserve and would imperil nesting sites for at least three species of neo-tropical migratory songbirds whose habitat is rapidly disappearing in the Western Hemisphere," said Houseal. Houseal helped to protect national parks in several Caribbean nations before joining the Adirondack Council’s staff in July. "These birds have very little chance of survival in places where their habitat has no protection. Why would we want to destroy any of it in our great Forest Preserve?

"Bicknell’s Thrush, the Blackpoll Warbler and Swainson’s Thrush breed in the High Peaks of the Adirondacks and very few other places," Houseal said. "Destroying this fragile mountain habitat would be a bad example to our neighbors in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, who are struggling to protect the wintering areas for Bicknell’s Thrush in their fledgling national parks."  "ORDA doesn ’t seem to have been paying attention last November when Governor Pataki declared the summits of all of the High Peaks over 2,800 feet, including Little Whiteface, to be a ‘Bird Conservation Area’ worthy of special protection," said Houseal. "Even the Department of Environmental Conservation has determined that more research is needed on whether there is a significant impact to bird populations from the current level of hiking, skiing and other recreational use of Little Whiteface and the rest of highest mountains in the Park." Houseal said the Council was open to environmentally compatible improvements to the downhill skiing operation that would allow the state-run center to host international competitions. He recognized Governor Pataki’s efforts in providing millions of dollars to replace and improve the skiing-related equipment at Whiteface ski center. However, he added that, aside from damage to the alpine forest and bird habitat, the proposed summit lodge and new ski slopes would be highly visible and could result in irreversible environmental harm. "It seems to contradict logic that anyone would propose this development in a known landslide area. We’d also like to know what they intend to do with the sewage. There is almost no soil on the mountain and the current septic system seems overtaxed at times," Houseal said. "We are concerned about the health of the Ausable River, a world-class trout stream, which runs through Wilmington Notch at the base of the ski center. The Ausable would be vulnerable to septic and soil runoff and would be the source of water for new snowmaking."

"The patchy distribution of Bicknell's thrush predisposes the species to risk of local or widespread extinction ... Bicknell's long-term future is threatened by the documented decline of red spruce due to acid rain and cloudwater pollution. Mounting pressures from four-season ski resort development ... hiking and mountain biking also pose potential threats to the long-term viability of these forests and the species associated with them." (From Environment Canada's website) There are only 57 known Bicknell's nests in the entire United States. All are on mountain tops, generally at 3,000 feet or above.

Quotes from the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation’s Unit Management Plan for Whiteface Mountain Ski Center:

"Topography...may be described as steep and rugged ... Slopes in excess of 50 percent (45 degrees) are not unusual ... Landslides in this area have occurred in the past..." (P II-1, Topography)

"There is very little glacial till and the unconsolidated deposits are very thin ... In the valley bottom sandy and gravelly outwash deposits are fairly common ... A past history of landslides on the mountain necessitates careful site selection for any future development." (P II-1 Geology and Soils)

"The high altitude of this area tends to retard those biochemical processes which form soil. Consequently, the soils and associated ecosystems which predominate in this area are particularly vulnerable to damage by trail construction and other human activity." (P II-2 Geology and Soils)

"Another goal of this UMP is to identify and formalize the commitment that ORDA and Whiteface have made to creating an atmosphere of environmentally sensitive business practices. (P III-1 Management Philosophy)

"All intensive use facilities should be located, designed and managed as to blend with the Adirondack environment and to have the minimum adverse impact possible on surrounding state lands and nearby private holdings ... Construction and development activities in Intensive Use Areas will: avoid material alteration of wetlands; minimize extensive topographic alterations; limit vegetative clearing; and, preserve the scenic, natural and open space resources of the intensive use area." (P III-6 State Land Master Plan Intensive Use Area Description)

The Adirondack Council is an 18,000-member, privately funded, not-for-profit organization dedicated to protecting and enhancing the natural character and human communities of the Adirondack Park through research, education, advocacy and legal action.