February 28, 2005
Association Coordinates Response of Adirondack Environmental Community to Ill-Conceived Proposal for Wilderness Campground
The Final Draft of the Siamese Ponds Wilderness Area Unit Management Plan (SPWAUMPFD) was recently released, and it proposes that the Indian Lake Islands Campground should continue managing sixteen campground sites within the Siamese Ponds Wilderness. Outraged by such mismanagement and abuse of Wilderness, the Association's Wilderness Stewardship Advocate, Kevin Prickett, teamed up with his colleagues to present a united stance against this proposal.
Prickett spearheaded an effort that resulted in a joint letter of concern that was sent from eight groups to APA Chairman Ross Whaley., including the Residents' Committee to Protect the Adirondacks, Adirondack Mountain Club, New York Environmental Advocates, Sierra Club, and Adirondack Council. Together with the Association, this coalition represents the voices of more than 80,000 constituents.
Issues covered in the letter include:
- The Adirondack Park Agency's Unit Management Plan Review Policy Was Not Followed. - That policy requires the APA's State Land Team to provide a report "available for review at least 30 days prior to a meeting at which the Agency will first consider the unit plan's compliance with the master plan." This was not done.
- DEC Failed to Provide a Draft UMP Necessary for Informed Public Comment - The APA announced a public hearing period on the Siamese Wilderness Plan, which ends on March 1, 2005. While this hearing is meant to gather comments from interested persons, the public has not been given an opportunity to read the proposed plan. The only copies made available to the public were those distributed to the Forest Preserve Advisory Committee by the Department of Environmental Conservation, or were part of the 50 copies supplied to the APA by the DEC. For unknown reasons, the SPWDFUMP is not available on either the DEC or APA website.
- The Wilderness Classification of the South Basin of Indian Lake in 1979 was Ignored - The eastern shore of Indian Lake, originally classified as Intensive Use, was reclassified as Wilderness in 1979. This did not happen haphazardly. The DEC, local government officials, legislators, private individuals, national and regional environmental groups, snowmobile clubs, and other stakeholders were involved, and many supported the reclassification. While some at the DEC have openly referred to this reclassification as a "mistake", we believe careful examination of the record will show that it was the right decision then, and continues to be the right decision today. The issue before the APA now is to ensure that this area is managed as a Wilderness Area and not as an Intensive Use Area.
- DEC's Proposal for an "Indian Lake Islands Special Administrative Area" Violates the State Land Master Plan - The Siamese Wilderness Plan proposes dividing this Wilderness into "a smaller subdivision called a special area compartment-Indian Lake Islands Special Administrative Camping Area." The State land Master Plan (SLMP) does not permit this sort of subdivision of Wilderness. The proposal would represent a new classification, which is strictly illegal without undertaking the reclassification procedures set forth in the SLMP.
- Wilderness must not be managed as an Intensive Use Area - The Siamese Wilderness Plan states that over 4,700 camper days (a camper day is defined as one person camping for one night) were enjoyed in 2004 from Memorial Day through Labor Day on the 20 campsites currently in the Siamese Ponds Wilderness. With an average of nearly 48 people per day at those sites, permitting this to occur is a violation of the SLMP. The definition of an Intensive Use area states "these areas provide overnight accommodations for a significant number of visitors"). This Wilderness is clearly being managed as an Intensive Use Area and such management must cease.
- The Siamese Ponds Wilderness Unit Management Plan fails to provide management alternatives for the Indian Lake shoreline and islands - The UMP provides no alternative management ideas for the existing, illegal campsites, despite examples of appropriate alternatives used in places like the Boundary Waters and Voyageur Canoe Areas in Minnesota or the Allagash Wilderness Water Way in Maine that have similar management challenges. The High Peaks Unit Management Plan also provides an alternative to similar conditions, but this plan did not consider any such options.
- Transfer of campsites to the Jessup River Wild Forest is unacceptable - There are currently 20 campsites along the Wilderness shoreline on Indian Lake. The DEC proposes to transfer four sites to the Jessup River Wild Forest area; two of these to an island, and two to the Indian Lake shoreline. This is being recommended because the current campsites fail to meet the necessary separation distances. We agree that the number of sites should be reduced, but given that most of the sites on the Indian Lake islands in the Jessup River Wild Forest area fail to meet separation distance requirements, it makes little sense to develop new sites in that area. Further, no such action should be done without performing the necessary planning and gaining the required approval of a UMP for the Jessup River Wild Forest.
The day of reckoning for this UMP proposal is March 11, 2005, when the Adirondack Park Agency will vote on its compliance with the State Land Master Plan. A vote in favor of this plan would be disastrous. With a green light from the APA, the proposal would then be one signature away from final approval by the DEC Commissioner, and a terrible precedent would then be set.
The Siamese Ponds Wilderness Area needs your help. Despite a public comment deadline of March 1, 2005, we urge you to write to the APA and express your concerns about this proposal and the sloppy, secretive way in which it was developed. All comments should be sent to:
Richard Weber, Supervisor of Regional Planning
Adirondack Park Agency
P.O. Box 99
Ray Brook, NY 12977