West Adirondack Forest Roads Closed to All-Terrain Vehicles

ALBANY, New York, May 28, 2004 (ENS) - New York State is moving to close 54 roads in the Western Adirondack Park to unlimited all-terrain vehicle access. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Erin Crotty Wednesday announced a series of proposed amendments to Unit Management Plans (UMPs) and associated administrative actions that will address public all-terrain vehicle (ATV) use.

Crotty said, "The amendments are necessary to ensure that ATV access in these areas is consistent with state law and policy. As the stewards of nearly three million acres of land in the Adirondacks, we are committed to preserving the region's unrivaled resources so that they may be enjoyed by generations of New Yorkers."

Conservation groups were satisfied with the state's action. “DEC has been patient with the ATV riders in the Western Adirondacks, but we are happy to see that the agency’s patience has run out,” said Adirondack Council Executive Director Brian Houseal. "The Aldrich Pond, Black River, Independence River and Watson’s East Wild Forest areas have suffered long enough.”

“The ruts, the ruined roads, the illegal trail construction and vandalism have been outrageous. It’s a big step for DEC to virtually eliminate a motorized user group from areas of the Forest Preserve, but this group has proven over and over again that it can’t peacefully coexist with wildlife and other users of the Adirondack Forest Preserve,” Houseal said.

On April 17, another environmental group, The Residents' Committee to Protect the Adirondacks, filed a lawsuit accusing the state of opening as many as 63 roads in the Adirondacks to all-terrain vehicles without the required environmental studies or approvals. The roads are near the Black River, Independence River, Aldrich Pond and Watson's East Triangle wild forest, the same area covered by the UMPs announced this week.

The lawsuit in state Supreme Court in Albany accused the DEC and the Adirondack Park Agency of violating four state laws, and it claims the state agencies failed to do required environmental analysis and approvals before opening 52 to 63 forest preserve roads for use by ATVs.

“There are thousands of acres of conservation easement lands and other private properties in the Adirondacks that are better suited to ATV travel,” Houseal said. “We aren’t trying to banish ATVs from the Adirondacks entirely. We just want them moved on to areas where they won’t do so much harm.”

“This doesn’t eliminate the need for the Park-wide ban, but it takes a great deal of pressure off four of the most abused areas of the Adirondack Park,” said Houseal. “We and other Adirondack organizations have been documenting the damage to these areas for a couple of years now.

The DEC announced that five roads will be opened under temporary revocable permit - the Jackworks and Maple Hill Roads in the Aldrich Pond Wild Forest, and the Herkimer Landing, South Shore and Wolf Lake Landing Roads in the Black River Wild Forest.

These roads will be opened for permitted use only from September 1 to December 15, to allow hunters access to primitive camping sites. These roads are slated to be rehabilitated for automobile and truck access by 2006, and at that time public ATV access will be eliminated.

DEC officials said that state vehicle and traffic law prohibits the use of ATVs on roads that are opened to motor vehicle use, unless the purpose of such an opening is to provide ATVs with access to adjacent trails and areas which they could not otherwise access.

The Adirondack Council and several other organizations have been pressing the New York States Legislature to ban ATVs from all Forest Preserve areas in the Adirondacks, and a bill to do that is still pending in both houses. Governor George Pataki made a similar proposal as part of his 2004-05 budget.