The Adirondack Council

News Release

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John F. Sheehan
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Released, Monday, November 3, 2003

ALBANY, NY - Gov. George E. Pataki and Attorney General Eliot Spitzer earned the best reviews from the Adirondack Council this year in the Council's 18th Annual State of the Park report.

For the second year in a row, Attorney General Spitzer earned a perfect score, with three "thumbs up" ratings and zero "thumbs down" marks from the Council. Governor Pataki rated seven thumbs up in the report, with only one thumb down rating.

Meanwhile, the Adirondack Park Agency earned its lowest marks since 1993, while the NYS Assembly equaled its 1999 low point. The APA rated an even 3 up and 3 down (a major skid from last year's 7-4 rating), while the Assembly earned only two thumbs up and three thumbs down, a significant step backward from last year's rating of 6 up and one down.

For the fourth consecutive year, local governments in the Park received far more praise than criticism, with overall marks of 7 up and 3 down (an improvement over last year's 9 up and 5 down).

"The attitudes of local governments in the Adirondacks are steadily changing toward a conservationist point of view," said Adirondack Council Executive Director Brian L. Houseal. "It has been a long time coming. Our early State of the Park reports were pretty harsh on local officials, and with good reason. Today, it is getting harder to find examples of irrational or irresponsible behavior toward the Park's health and natural resources. That's great news from our perspective and we are happy to share that news with the public.

"I think there is a much greater realization these days of the inherent connections between the health of the Park and the health of its local economy," he explained. "I think that was evident at the Adirondack Water Quality Conference which we co-hosted with Paul Smith's College this summer, and in our other interactions with local officials. It's a gratifying trend and one we expect will continue."

The Adirondack Council is the Park's largest and most influential environmental organization, with 18,000 members and offices in Essex County and Albany. It has been issuing a State of the Park Report since 1986. The report rates the efforts of elected and appointed officials at all levels of government, from town supervisor to President of the United States, and explains their impact on the Park over the past 12 months.

The Council does not accept government grants or funding so it can remain an independent watchdog of government action in the Park.

For a full copy of the report and the previous year's State of the Park reports, click here.

Below is a summary of the report's major findings, in order of appearance:

Governor George Pataki (7 thumbs up; one thumb down): Thumbs up for, protecting nearly 10,000 acres of the Adirondack High Peaks including important wilderness lakes and the Tahawus Talus, which provides unique wildlife habitat; three excellent appointments to the Adirondack Park Agency board of commissioners; assisting in the permanent protection of McRorie Lake and the 5,000-acre Cedarlands Boy Scout Camp in Long Lake; proposing a 10-state cooperative effort to reduce emissions that contribute to global climate change; opposing proposed changes to the federal Clean Air Act's New Source Review program; assisting in the effort to preserve the viability of local sawmills that deal in rough-cut lumber; and, appropriating millions of dollars for local water and sewage treatment projects. Thumbs down for attempting to add $33 million in salaries and other day-to-day expenses to the obligations of the Environmental Protection Fund.

State Legislature (Both Houses: 7 thumbs up; three thumbs down. Senate: 3 thumbs up; three thumbs down. Assembly: 2 thumbs up; three thumbs down). Both Houses, thumbs up for: increasing the penalties for stealing trees from the Forest Preserve and private lands for the first time since 1909; preventing Governor Pataki from adding $33 million in inappropriate expenses to the Environmental Protection Fund; reinvigorating the state's Superfund waste cleanup program and another program aimed at clean-up and reuse of contaminated commercial property (brownfields); introducing identical legislation in each house to reduce the amount of road salt used on the state's highways; proposing to extend the state's five-cent beverage container law to non-carbonated beverages and add the extra revenue to the Environmental Protection Fund. Thumbs down for: not passing a bill aimed at banning all-terrain vehicles from the Forest Preserve; taking no action to protect $3million in annual federal grants that are contingent upon the state developing a periodic septic tank inspection program; not passing a bill aimed at reimbursing local governments for revenues lost when the state grants a property tax abatement to timber companies and other owners of large forest tracts; not passing a bill that would protect water quality by requiring deeper shoreline setbacks for new development around lakes and rivers. Senate, thumbs up for: introducing legislation to ban ATVs on the Forest Preserve; passing a bill designed to prevent local governments from having to pay part of the state's costs for fighting forest fires in the Adirondacks; proposing legislation to exempt private landowners from liability when they allow public recreation on their property. Senate, thumbs down for: a bill that would have given certain snowmobile club members a discount on state registration fees; not passing a law to require signs at boat launches instructing boaters on how to avoid spreading exotic species; not passing an Assembly bill to combat light pollution. Assembly, thumbs up for: proposing legislation to ban ATVs on the Forest Preserve; proposing legislation to combat light pollution. Assembly, thumbs down for: failing for the second year to pass legislation setting new penalties for ATV trespass; ignoring for the second year a bill to regulate development on steep slopes; failing to pass a bill that would prevent local governments from assuming part of the state's costs for fighting forest fires in the Adirondacks.

Local Governments (7 thumbs up; 3 thumbs down): Thumbs up for: Lake George and Town of Webb (Old Forge area) officials who took action to control the use of personal watercraft; Town of Wilmington officials (Lake Placid area) for pressing the state to solve a sewage-related bacteria problem in the Ausable River; Town of Day officials for declaring a six-month moratorium on development while putting in place an improved land-use plan; Tupper Lake officials who pressed for Congressional action on acid rain after learning of mercury contamination in the lake; Village of Speculator officials for stopping snowmobilers from using village sidewalks as a trail; Village of Port Henry officials for resisting efforts to eliminate local land-use laws; Village of Port Henry officials for using only non-toxic methods to remove unwanted aquatic plants from the town beach. Thumbs down for: Town of Long Lake officials who wasted years denying they needed a Constitutional Amendment to drilling drinking water wells on Forest Preserve until state officials declared an emergency and authorized illegal exploratory drilling; Town of Colton officials who ignored the potential financial benefits of an annual $135,000 windfall from the state and argued against a state conservation easement on lands owned by the Hancock Timber Resources Group; Town of Horicon (Brant Lake area) officials, who unlawfully opened town roads to ATV traffic.

Attorney General (3 thumbs up; 0 thumbs down): Thumbs up for: Using the courts to press Midwestern and Southern power companies to clean up their smokestack emissions that contribute to acid rain; pressing the Canadian government to clean up emissions at several coal-fired plants in Ontario; suing the Bush Administration over proposed changes to the regulations governing enforcement of the Clean Air Act's New Source Review program.

Other Agencies (1 thumb down): Thumbs down for: The Olympic Regional Development Authority for reviving a plan to cut 55,000 trees on Little Whiteface Mountain, which is both Forest Preserve and habitat for an extremely rare neotropical songbird.

Adirondack Park Agency (3 thumbs up; 3 thumbs down): Thumbs up for: denying a permit to dump a chemical herbicide into Lake George to control unwanted plants; signing a new agreement with the Department of Environmental Conservation on how the agencies will cooperate in overseeing and protecting the public Forest Preserve; for assuming its full jurisdiction over wetlands, including the authority to issue immediate orders to those who violate wetland protection laws. Thumbs down for: it sloppy and cursory review of the Fort William Henry Hotel project on the south shore of Lake George; for delaying enforcement of its rules on hunting cabins against leaseholders on lands owned by International Paper Co.; for giving up its jurisdiction over the conversion of homes into bed & breakfast inns in the Park's most remote and sensitive areas.

Department of Environmental Conservation (5 thumbs up; 2 thumbs down): Thumbs up for: approving new air pollution rules for the state that will result in deep cuts in New York's emissions that cause acid rain; for approving an assessment of emissions of fine particulate matter from power plant smokestacks; approving a plan to remove seaplanes and motorboats from the Bog River/Lows Lake wilderness complex (St. Lawrence/Hamilton County border); ordering state residents not to feed wild deer, in an effort to prevent the spread of Chronic Wasting Disease; suing the Town of Horicon for allowing ATV riders to use former towns roads on the Forest Preserve. Thumbs down for: allowing Town of Long Lake officials to drill for water on the Forest Preserve without a Constitutional Amendment; neglecting the need to impose a park-wide ATV policy in order to limit damage.

Federal Government (4 thumbs up; 1 thumb down): Thumbs up for: Senate and House of Representatives environmental committee chairmen for advancing clean air legislation that would solve the acid rain problem in the Adirondacks; Congressmen John McHugh, R-Watertown, and John Sweeney, R-Clifton Park, for introducing an excellent acid rain bill; President George W. Bush for pushing Congress to pass acid rain legislation; and to Congressman Sherwood Boehlert, R-Utica, for pressing the Bush Administration to set a tough standard for national mercury emissions.

Courts (3 thumbs up; 1 thumb down): Thumbs up for: US District Court Judge Edmund Sargus of Ohio for his decision in a Clean Air case and for pushing the US Environmental Protection Agency to enforce the New Source Review section of the Clean Air Act; NYS Supreme Court Justice David Demarest for striking down a town law that opened 26 roads in Pitcairn (St. Lawrence County) to ATV use; NYS Supreme Court Justice Richard Aulisi for banning the use of snowmobiles on the sidewalks of the Village of Speculator. Thumbs down for the US Court of Appeals in Manhattan for striking down a state law that had protected the public from irresponsible local utility company decisions to sell pollution allowances to Midwestern power plants that cause acid rain in the Adirondacks.

Tip of the Hat: This is our section for noting the accomplishments of our colleagues in the environmental conservation movement and other non-governmental entities.

New York Rivers United and Newton Falls Holding, LLC, came to an agreement during recent negotiations over hydro-power licenses that resulted in the protection of a rare wetland. The Chaumont Swamp was first identified in 1988 in the Adirondack Council's 2020 VISION: Volume I (Biological Diversity: Saving All the Pieces; 1988).
See our Summer 2003 newsletter .
The Wildlife Conservation Society conducted and published a very useful study on the lack of use by local wildlife of animal-migration tunnels under the Adirondack Northway (I-87). The study showed quite clearly that animals avoided the tunnels, while all-terrain vehicle riders illegally trespassed through them regularly.
Lake George Waterkeeper Chris Navitsky has been an outspoken advocate for water quality and the need for shoreline development restrictions in his first full year on the job. This project of the Fund for Lake George and the Hudson River Waterkeeper allows Navitsky to patrol the lake daily.
Paul Smith's College did a splendid job of hosting the first Adirondack Water Quality Conference at its campus in southern Franklin County in August. The Council and the college hope to hold a similar conference annually.
The Open Space Institute, Ossining, completed two significant open space protection projects, securing a section of the southern High Peaks region from owner NL Industries, while also preserving a piece of Lake Champlain shoreline near Fort Ticonderoga that is important migratory bird habitat and an important historic vista.
The Lake Colby Association and the Upper Saranac Lake Association both exhibited their commitment to protecting water quality when they adopted Eurasian Watermilfoil control programs that employed proven, non-toxic methods for controlling invasive, non-native plants. Neither has sought permission to use chemical herbicides.