ORDA Constructed Mountain Bike Trail Features in Violation of the State Constitution, State Law and DEC Policy 

Background on Management of Whiteface Mountain

By agreement with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), the Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA) manages Whiteface Mountain in the Adirondack Forest Preserve. Whiteface Mountain is subject to Article 14 section 1 of the New York State Constitution, known as the “forever wild” clause, and it is also subject to a constitutional amendment that allows for the construction and maintenance of 25 miles of ski trails on the slopes of Whiteface Mountain and for Whiteface Veterans’ Memorial Highway. The constitutional amendment allows for the construction and maintenance of “appurtenances” to the ski trails, but otherwise Whiteface Mountain must be managed as “forever wild” Forest Preserve. This allowance for downhill ski trails on the Forest Preserve is similar to what is provided in the Constitution for Gore Mountain in the Adirondacks and Belleayre Mountain in the Catskills and it is what makes for a unique ski experience at these State-owned skiing locations.

Mountain Biking Trails Previously Proposed but not Racecourse Track

In 2018, an amendment to the Unit Management Plan (UMP) for Whiteface Mountain was adopted. The 2018 UMP Amendment states that “ORDA has committed to conducting an evaluation and assessment of current mountain biking use on Whiteface to develop goals and objectives for future mountain biking at this facility”. Nothing in the 2018 UMP authorized the construction of a new downhill mountain biking racecourse.

In 2022, another UMP Amendment was adopted for Whiteface Mountain that proposed mountain biking trails that would “foster interconnections between existing mountain biking trails at Whiteface with the existing trails within the Wilmington Wild Forest and the Flume Trail System”. Nothing in the 2022 UMP Amendment proposed or authorized the construction of a new downhill mountain biking racecourse. Notably, a UMP cannot legally authorize activity that would violate Article 14 of the Constitution.

Map of mountain biking trails in the 2022 UMP

One year ago, in October 2024, Warner Bros. Discovery Sports and the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) announced that ORDA would be hosting downhill races in October 2025. The exact location for the races (Whiteface Mountain seemed likely but Mount Van Hoevenberg was also under consideration) was not identified at that time, and neither was the exact plan for the construction and/or route of the racecourses (whether they would be follow existing mountain biking trails, create new paths, or simply run down the existing ski slopes).

Incomplete Work Plan for Racecourse Track Violates State Land Master Plan, UMP, and DEC Policy

In August 2023, DEC adopted Commissioner’s Policy CP-78 Forest Preserve Work Plan Policy to “establish administrative procedures for assessing the impacts of construction and maintenance activities and for drafting site-specific Work Plans on the Forest Preserve permissible within the parameters established by Article XIV of the New York State Constitution, the Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan” and other applicable laws, regulations, rules and policies.

In August 2025, a draft Work Plan for the construction of the downhill races at Whiteface Mountain was finally noticed in DEC’s Environmental Notice Bulletin on August 20, 2025. The draft Work Plan for work to be undertaken by ORDA that was released for public comment in late August is both misleading and lacking in critical information to review whether the proposal complies with Article 14 of the State Constitution and the State Land Master Plan. The Work Plan is misleading because it states that “[n]o new trail construction is proposed”, yet the Work Plan also states that a new “trail will be constructed using sustainable methods”. The draft Work Plan also states that there will be “construction of technical features” (e.g., jumps, berms, turns, roller features, and wall ride features) and the removal of natural terrain. The construction work will be done using “[e]xcavators, earth rollers, loaders, tracked dump truck, trailers” and a mulcher. The draft Work Plan made available to the public lacks any information about where and to what extent such construction activities will take place on the course.

Features for the racecourse under construction on Whiteface Mountain in mid-September

The draft Work Plan contains a map showing that the racecourse will traverse the entirety of the mountain from top (over 2800 feet in elevation) to bottom. This is despite the 2022 UMP Amendment stating that “All proposed mountain biking trails are located below elevation 2800’”. The area above 2800’ feet of elevation is potential Bicknell’s Thrush habitat. Bicknell’s Thrush is a state-listed bird species of special concern, which utilizes Whiteface Mountain as summer breeding habitat.
According to what we can glean from the rough sketch map of the racecourse in the draft Work Plan, the beginning of the proposed racecourse starts on the mountain above 2800’ and travels on ski trails/glades, not on existing mountain bike trails. Therefore, this proposed racecourse and the construction of associated features, and the removal of natural terrain, has not been approved in the 2022 UMP Amendment. Further, the potential adverse impacts of the racecourse’s use on Bicknell Thrush have not been analyzed or mitigated in the Work Plan or in the State Environmental Quality Review Act review conducted for the 2022 UMP Amendment which anticipated that mountain biking would not take place above 2800 feet.

Curved construction turn in the woods near a stream

In addition to a new mountain biking racecourse not being approved in an existing UMP, we had several concerns about the Constitutionality of a proposed mountain biking course on Whiteface Mountain and about whether the proposal complied with the Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan. The race course does not meet the Basic Guidelines set forth in the Master Plan (at 41-42) for an Intensive Use Area. The Intensive Use classification requires that all management actions “blend with the Adirondack environment,” “have the minimum adverse impact possible on surrounding state lands,” and must “minimize extensive topographic alterations.” The draft Work Plan does not explain how the proposed racecourse complies with these Master Plan requirements.

Rock garden constructed of boulders in the course

The draft Work Plan as written also fails to comply with DEC Commissioner’s Policy CP-78 Forest Preserve Work Plan Policy because it does not analyze or answer any of the Article 14 questions that are required by that policy to be reviewed prior to work beginning.

PROTECT called on DEC and ORDA to revise the draft Work Plan to include the Article 14 analyses required by CP-78, and an opportunity for public comment on these analyses. We also urged DEC and ORDA to revise the Work Plan to address the Master Plan and CP-78 compliance issues that we raised. The revised Work Plan should have been published for additional public comment and approved before any construction work was undertaken.

Rather than heed our calls for compliance with Article 14, the Master Plan, CP-78 and to allow for more public comment, ORDA began construction of the mountain biking racecourse at Whiteface Mountain. A site visit to Whiteface Mountain in mid-September showed that the construction was nearly done. In response to PROTECT’s requests to DEC for a copy of the final, approved Work Plan for the work conducted at Whiteface Mountain, we were told that one does not exist.

Failure to Comply with Article 14 of the Constitution

Here, the work done to construct the downhill mountain biking racecourse on Whiteface Mountain involves both significant terrain alteration with excavators, earth rollers, loaders, and dump trucks and the construction of numerous manmade features, including jumps, berms, turns, roller features, and wall ride features. This combination of terrain alteration and the construction of manmade features, even without the cutting of trees, violates Article 14 of the Constitution. In Protect the Adirondacks! Inc. v. Department of Environmental Conservation and Adirondack Park Agency, the question involved the construction of snowmobile trails that required the cutting and removal of thousands of trees and the “grading and leveling, and the removal of rocks and other natural components from the Forest Preserve to create snowmobile paths that are nine to 12 feet in width”. 37 NY3d 73, 77 (2021). The Court of Appeals found that the snowmobile trails were unconstitutional due to the amount of tree cutting and clearing required and because they “require greater interference with the natural development of the Forest Preserve than is necessary to accommodate hikers”. Id. at 83. The proposed construction of the racecourse, its modifications to the natural terrain, its width, and its inclusion of artificial features like jumps, berms and turns are far more than the construction that would be “necessary to accommodate hikers” on a trail in the Forest Preserve.

The course travels through an area of trees in between ski slopes

The downhill mountain biking racecourse that has been constructed on Whiteface Mountain is not permissible in the forever wild Forest Preserve. There is no Constitutional Amendment for a downhill mountain bike racecourse on Whiteface Mountain. Generally, hiking trails and mountain bike trails are allowable uses on the Forest Preserve, in designated areas, if they comply with the limits on tree cutting and do not unconstitutionally alter the Forest Preserve. However, the disturbance of the natural terrain and the construction of manmade features can be unconstitutional.

In light of the unconstitutional nature of the construction that is already done, and that there is certainly not enough time to revise, republish and approve a Work Plan before the scheduled races (October 3-5, 2025), we are calling on DEC and ORDA to remove the unconstitutional features from the Forest Preserve as soon as possible after the races have ended.

DEC issued a Notice of Violation to ORDA on September 22, 2025 relating to the construction work, including the unauthorized cutting of 30 trees, completed at Whiteface Mountain, and DEC is requiring that ORDA submit a corrective action plan by November 7, 2025. Part of that plan involves restoration of the trails that are not in compliance with guidance or other applicable standards. DEC must ensure that all of the restoration and deconstruction work is conducted carefully and in compliance with all environmental regulations and restrictions such as ensuring that streams along the racecourse are protected from sediment and erosion and fill from the stones and dirt that have been placed nearby.

Course constructed in the stream bed / immediately adjacent to running water in the stream

DEC and ORDA must also ensure that their procedures for proposing and publishing draft Work Plans follow CP-78 and allow enough time for meaningful public review and comment prior to remediation work taking place.