About Unit Management Plans
At the October 2000 Conference about Governor Pataki's Forest Preserve initiative, it was recommended that all Unit Management Plans (UMPs) on the Adirondack and Catskill Forest Preserve be completed within five years. Please see The Conference on The Governor's Forest Preserve Initiative for Conference Recommendations.
The Advocates for Wilderness Stewardship Program aims to monitor, review and disseminate information and calls to action about the management of Wilderness, Wild Forest and other units of the Forest Preserve. The program's initial goal has been to assess and critique the quality of the unit management plans against the dictates of Article 14, the requirements of the State Land Master Plan, and contemporary tools for wilderness and wild land management.
What is a Unit Management Plan? Why are they important?
The NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is responsible for the management of state lands in both the Adirondack and Catskill Parks. These 3,014,376 acres of public lands are divided into individual state land "units", typically named for the area in which they reside or a particular natural feature that exists there. Units are classified as one of:
- Wilderness
- Primitive
- Canoe
- Wild Forest
- Intensive Use
- Historic
- Administrative
Wilderness and Wild Forests units, for example, range from 226,000 acres to 550 acres. The classification of each unit was determined by looking at the physical characteristics of the land and water and determining the capacity of the area to withstand human use. There are guidelines for the management and use of each category of land classification and DEC is responsible for insuring that public use of these lands complies with these guidelines.
Before any recreational facilities such as trails, camping sites, parking areas, boat launches, etc., can be built, the DEC must complete a Unit Management Plan (UMP). UMPs are required in the Adirondack Park by the Adirondack Park Agency Act of 1971 which created the Adirondack Park Agency (APA). APA is responsible for writing and interpreting the Adirondack State Land Master Plan (SLMP) which guides management and use of the Adirondack Forest Preserve. Decisions about whether or not a given activity on the Forest Preserve does or does not comply with the SLMP are carried out through consultation between the APA and the DEC. In the Catskills, the DEC has prepared a Catskill State Land Master Plan with similar requirements for UMP development. Once written and approved, these UMPs are intended to be updated every five years. Each UMP needs to assess the natural and physical resources present within a unit, identify opportunities for use and recreation and consider the ability of the resources and ecosystems to accommodate public use. Further, each needs to identify management objectives for public use which are consistent with the land classification, the SLMP guidelines and which, of course, do not violate the Constitution.