Illegal tree-cutting on the Forest Preserve
receives vigorous and proper response, says Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks
Keene and Niskayuna, NY – The Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks today praised the state’s formal response to the cutting last summer of 5,000 trees on the publicly owned Forest Preserve along State Route 3 between Saranac Lake and Tupper Lake.
“We commend Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Tom Madison, Environmental Conservation (DEC) Regional Director Stu Buchanan, DEC Commissioner Denise Sheehan and Adirondack Park Agency (APA) Executive Director Dick Lefebvre for their strong, interagency response to such serious violations of Article 14 of the NYS Constitution and other state laws and policies,” says David Gibson, Association Executive Director.
The trees were cut over a two-week period last August by a team under contract with NYS DOT to cut so-called hazardous trees. The project quickly got out of hand and resulted in thousands of healthy, live trees on the Forest Preserve being cut, along with damage to a scenic road character. The Association filed a formal complaint with NYS DEC about the tree-cutting in September, 2005 and obtained documents through New York’s Freedom of Information Law. It pursued several meetings with state agencies that helped to shape the consent order.
“We pushed the state very hard to come up with a strong response. We insisted that the State penalize itself as if it were a private landowner who had violated the Constitution and state laws in the Park. While we did not get everything we asked for, the order does contain several very important and precedent-setting measures and penalties that we requested. Added to other measures imposed by DEC and APA, the entire package should help to assure the public that this violation will not be repeated elsewhere in the Park,” says David Gibson, Association Executive Director
The enforcement or consent order signed by the DOT, DEC and APA requires DOT to rewrite its guidelines for Adirondack highway maintenance in a way that conforms to the existing wild forest character of the Adirondack Park’s scenic highway corridors.
Furthermore, the order requires DOT to write a Travel Corridor Management Plan for Route 3 and for all other major Travel Corridors in the Park.
“These actions are important because they give the public a new voice for the stewardship of the Park’s roadway corridors and greenways which are essential components of the vibrancy, wild character and economy of the Adirondack Park. They are the ‘windows’ on the Park for millions of annual visitors and residents of the region. As such they provide environmental and economic benefits to Park communities,” says Dan Plumley, the Association’s North Country Director of Park Protection based in Keene.
Other important provisions of the consent order include an investment of $200,000 in half a dozen Environmental Benefit Projects which DOT must pay for, such as new pull-offs and interpretive signage which highlights the NYS Forest Preserve in area towns and villages and along Route 3, an award-winning highway.
“All communities in the Park benefit in so many ways from the Forest Preserve, so it is good to see new dollars and attention being dedicated to enhancing our public lands in Saranac Lake, Tupper Lake and along Route 3 and the popular trail to Ampersand Mountain,” adds Dan Plumley. “These projects directly link people with their Forest Preserve and with the highways that determine the image and entire atmosphere of the region for the traveling public and for Park residents alike,” he concludes.
The Association also lauds the assigning of a DOT employee who will work as a liaison with NYS DEC and other agencies to assure that DOT’s work in both the Adirondack and the Catskill Parks is consistent with state law, Park planning goals and management objectives. “We argued that a dedicated DOT engineer with a mandate to honor the provisions of Article 14 of the Constitution and other Park laws whenever road reconstruction and maintenance projects are undertaken would be one of the best ways that DOT can safeguard the character of our greenways in the Park and prevent violations,” Gibson says. “We are pleased with this provision of the order.”
The Association will continue to work for other measures that it considers important policy reforms in the aftermath of the tree cutting. “While DOT is the subject of this order, it was not solely responsible for what happened. All state agencies involved in this order must collaborate better and match these commitments in order to safeguard the Forest Preserve from future abuse, neglect or indifference,” Plumley concludes.
The Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks, founded in 1901, is a non-profit organization dedicated to sustaining ecological integrity and mutual well being of natural and human communities of the Adirondack Park. The Association has opened the Center for the Forest Preserve and an Adirondack Research Library located in Niskayuna, New York and has North Country satellite offices in Keene and Plattsburgh.