ADIRONDACK COUNCIL
CALLS ON STATE TO AMEND PLAN FOR MANAGEMENT OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN
PALLISADES
Beavers Win, Rattlesnakes and Cyclists Lose in
State's Latest Revision
For more information:
John F. Sheehan, Communications Director
518-432-1770 (w)
518-441-1340 (cell)
Released, Thursday, April 6,
2005
ESSEX, NY - The Adirondack Council
today called on the Adirondack Park Agency to amend or reject
a proposed new management plan for the Split Rock Wild Forest
because it may imperil mountain bikers and the rare timber rattlesnakes
that make their homes here.
The Department of Environmental Conservation will present its
draft Unit Management Plan for the Split Rock Wild Forest for
approval by the Adirondack Park Agency at the APA's monthly meeting
in Ray Brook, on Thursday (April 7).
The APA can amend or reject DEC management plans that don't meet
the criteria of the Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan, which
requires the protection of wildlife habitat against dangers imposed
by human recreational pursuits.
"We are very concerned about the DEC's plan to allow mountain
biking on trails running through prime habitat for the Eastern
Timber Rattlesnake," said Adirondack Council Executive Director
Brian L. Houseal. "Rattlesnakes are quite common in this
location. Our Conservation Director Jaime Ethier nearly stepped
on one the last time he made a site visit, to collect notes for
our review of the state's new management plan. He nearly collected
a leg full of venom instead.
"Timber rattlers like to bask in the sun in open areas,
such as on trails through dense forest," Houseal said. "This
is the north end of its range and just about as cold as they
can stand. They tend to be sluggish and defensive when they are
cold, and may find it more difficult to get away from on-rushing
bicycles. Hikers usually avoid stepping on them if they tread
carefully, but cyclists will be going much faster. While we are
concerned for the safety of cyclists, we are even more concerned
for the safety of the snakes. You can kill one or injure it badly
by running over it with a bike."
Eastern Timber Rattlesnakes are listed by state wildlife officials
as a "threatened species" in New York State. Wildlife
inventories indicate there are only between 21 and 100 individual
timber rattlers left in the wilds of Upstate New York. Most of
New York's protected rattlesnake habitat is in the Adirondack
and Catskill parks.
"There are more than 1,000 miles of mountain biking trails
and primitive roads available to mountain bikers in the Adirondacks,"
Houseal said. "But the timber rattlesnake loses more of
its range every year. The reason it is on the 'threatened species
list' is that state officials expect it to become 'endangered'
or to disappear entirely in the near future. We ought to be removing
recreational conflicts from its known range, not creating new
ones."
On the other hand, Houseal said another part of the newly drafted
management plan for Split Rock Wild Forest was a major improvement
over the first draft.
"The plan for Webb Royce Swamp is much improved," Houseal
said. Webb Royce Swamp lies west of the Lake Shore Road, while
the timber rattlesnake habitat is on the east side, between the
road and the lake. Both are part of the property formerly known
as the Heurich Estate, which was acquired by DEC in 1993, with
assistance from the Open Space Institute and Adirondack Nature
Conservancy.
Split Rock WF contains the last remaining three-mile stretch
of undeveloped shoreline anywhere on Lake Champlain.
Houseal noted that Webb Royce was both a rare Silver Maple-Green
Ash swamp and shallow emergent marsh - perhaps the finest, least
disturbed examples of each in the Adirondacks.
"The DEC's decision to amend its first draft and eliminate
a water-level-control dam at Webb Royce Swamp will help to protect
and enhance the habitat of the beaver population that has colonized
the swamp in recent years," he said. "They will do
a better, more natural job of maintaining proper water levels
and the overall character of the swamp.
"Beaver colonies and their
dams, coming and going for thousands of years, are what produced
the swamp and marsh we see here today," Houseal said. "In
this instance, DEC has wisely chosen to allow nature to remain
in control."
Houseal said the Council would also ask the APA to seek clarification
from DEC officials as to whether a Constitutional conflict exists
over section of the Split Rock Wild Forest that appears to be
in use as working farm land.
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
|
