For Immediate Release
Contact: David Gibson, 518-377-1452
Dan Plumley, 518-576-4430

Association calls for State to act swiftly and boldly to protect 130,000-acre arc of wildness in the heart of the Adirondacks

Keene and Niskayuna, NY -- The Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks today called on Governor Eliot Spitzer and Environmental Conservation Commissioner Pete Grannis to acquire as much as 130,000 acres of the former Finch, Pruyn lands for the publicly owned Forest Preserve.

According to the Association, the 161,000 acres of Finch, Pruyn lands owned by The Nature Conservancy since June 2007, constitute the conservation deal of the century. Governor Spitzer needs to act boldly and quickly to fashion a comprehensive conservation package with The Nature Conservancy and other stakeholders,” says Association Executive Director David Gibson.

The Association’s analysis identified at least 130,000 acres of the former Finch, Pruyn lands as being critically important additions to the Adirondack Park’s Wilderness and Wild Forest system. These lands provide a wealth of ecological, economic, social, scenic, and other benefits by rounding out existing Forest Preserve tracts, connecting large blocks of undeveloped wildlands, providing unparalleled recreational opportunities, protecting increasingly important water resources, and by serving as corridors for wildlife movements during an era of rapid climate change.

At the same time, the Association recognizes that there are a host of legitimate local and regional interests that need to be accommodated in this land protection deal, including provisions for sustainable forestry and accommodations for the interests of leaseholders who have been on the land for generations, as well as the desire of the affected towns to provide opportunities for growth and affordable housing adjacent to hamlets and in developed areas.

Many of these interests can be accommodated through the use of conservation easements that allow ongoing forestry and recreation, including traditional uses by leaseholders. “We also recognize the desire of local towns to develop an interconnected snowmobile corridor system adjacent to existing highways. Some of the Finch lands may be able to help here,” said the Association’s Director of Park Protection, Dan Plumley.

 The Association is encouraging New York State to take a long-term perspective and to accommodate local interests to the extent feasible. “The Forest Preserve part of the deal may not be finalized immediately, and it may take several years for all the phases to play out,” Plumley said. For example, the state could purchase rights of first refusal and allow leaseholders to enjoy reserved rights for a period of time. “Governor Spitzer has the talent and the tools available. Now, he has an historic opportunity. With adequate funding and commitment, he can work with The Nature Conservancy and other interests to protect this landscape for all time, and thereby help to sustain the well being of the Park’s natural and human communities,” added Gibson.

The wildlands which the Association says deserve to have full protection as Forest Preserve form a broad arc that runs from Indian Lake, along the southern flanks of the High Peaks Wilderness to North Hudson. They includes the 37,332 acre - Essex Chain – Hudson River and Hudson Gorge Tracts - which could create a magnificent Essex Chain lakes as a new wilderness canoe area for the park and also preserve the majestic proposed Wild Rivers Wilderness Area along the Upper Hudson Gorge and its tributaries. They would also include the 14,918 - acre Little High Peaks Tract within the Town of Indian Lake including Panther, Squaw, Burgess, Buell and Brown Pond Mountains as well as much of the west flank of Snowy Mountain and the east flank of Sugarloaf Mountain. Some of these mountains contain the largest unprotected patch of Bicknell's thrush habitat in New York State. Bicknell’s thrush is a rare neotropical songbird with a very limited range at both ends of its flight path. In addition, there are large blocks of land in the southern Adirondacks adjoining the Silver Lake Wilderness Area which also deserve Forest Preserve protection, according to the Association.

The Adirondack Nature Conservancy’s inventory of all these lands show 80 mountain summits below which 70 lakes and ponds contain some 3,000 acres of open water; an ecological and recreational treasure trove with an estimated 16,000 acres of wetlands feeding 144 miles of rivers, including the headwaters of the Hudson, Cedar, Opalescent, Indian, Boreas, and Branch; an unusual diversity and richness of plant and animal life where exist 95 species of special significance, 37 of which are rare in New York State.

The addition of up to 130,000 acres of former Finch lands to the Adirondack Forest Preserve, as the Association proposes, would be a sharp departure from the pattern established under Gov. George Pataki, wherein about 90 percent of Adirondack land protection was accomplished through conservation easements during his 12 years in office.

According to Dan Plumley, “There is a vast potential for these lands to become a mecca for wilderness recreation, thereby bolstering the regional economy in a major way. The lands also provide a host of free ‘ecosystem services’ such as water storage, abundant wildlife, flood protection, and sequestration of excess carbon dioxide that could otherwise contribute to global warming. These uses have significant direct and indirect economic benefits, as many studies have shown in the Northeast and around the country.

The State must seize this unparalleled opportunity to protect these priceless Adirondack lands.  They are of local, regional, and even global significance, due to their biological richness, recreational potential, and their geographic location in the heart of the Adirondacks,” Plumley concluded.

The Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks is a non-profit, membership organization founded in 1901 to employ public education, citizen action, public and private partnerships and strong advocacy to protect, enhance, and sustain the wild character, ecological integrity, and mutual well-being of the natural and human communities of the Adirondack Park region.

The Association operates the Center for the Forest Preserve and the Adirondack Research Library which are dedicated to fostering knowledge about the Adirondacks. For further information about the Association, visit www.protectadks.org.