The Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan and the 2019 Saranac Lakes Wild Forest Unit Management Plan (SLWF UMP) state that the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) will conduct a carrying capacity study of the Saranac Chain of Lakes. The SLWF includes several constitutionally protected Forest Preserve waterbodies, such as Upper, Middle and Lower Saranac Lakes, Second Pond and Weller Pond. The Saranac Lake Complex includes Upper, Middle and Lower Saranac Lakes as well as Weller Pond, Second Pond, Fish Creek Ponds, Square Pond, Little Square Pond, Copperas Pond, Floodwood Pond, Rollins Pond, Whey Pond, and Follensby Clear Pond.  PROTECT has long advocated for DEC to conduct this study, but in the past DEC has cited budgetary constraints preventing it from completing the study. In the State’s Fiscal Year 2026 Budget, PROTECT and other groups successfully convinced the Governor and the Legislature to include $1 million of funding for DEC to undertake the carrying capacity study. To date, DEC has not completed the study. The Governor and the Legislature have proposed including the $1 million of funding for DEC again for Fiscal Year 2027.

In October 2023, PROTECT sent a formal letter to DEC emphasizing its non discretionary obligation to complete the carrying capacity study. In response, DEC acknowledged that a carrying capacity study “was proposed in the 2019 Saranac Lakes Wild Forest Unit Management Plan” and stated that it was “continuing to evaluate options” for conducting Visitor Use Management or similar studies for Forest Preserve waterbodies, including those in the SLWF. However, after PROTECT filed a Freedom of Information Law request for related records, DEC replied that no such documents existed.

In June 2023, the Adirondack Park Agency (APA) approved the expansion of a large commercial marina on Lower Saranac Lake and in 2024 DEC and APA authorized expansion of another marina project on Lower Fish Creek Pond, which connects to Upper Saranac Lake. These approvals were granted without knowing and assessing the potential impacts of the increase in motorboat use on the carrying capacity of the SLWF waterbodies. More information about what a carrying capacity study is and why DEC is required to conduct one is available here. In Thomas Jorling vs Adirondack Park Agency, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, and LS Marina, LLC, 214 AD3d 98 (3d Dept. 2023), the Court found that it was “inexplicable” that such a study has not been prepared for Lower Saranac Lake.

A pre-existing marina on Fish Creek Pond received approvals in 2024 from APA and DEC to expand operations.  This photo shows the marina with new piers and covered docks added as of September 2025.

In March 2024, PROTECT filed a lawsuit seeking a court order directing DEC to complete the carrying capacity study and to enjoin DEC and APA from approving any new projects involving docking, mooring, or additional motorized watercraft use in the SLWF until the study is completed. The initial court filings, including the Notice of Petition, Petition, Affirmation of Chad Dawson, Affirmation of Peter Bauer, the PROTECT Letter to DEC, and the DEC letter to PROTECT are available here.

Channel connecting Fish Creek Ponds, and other lakes, with Upper Saranac Lake.

In a decision dated April 4, 2025, the court dismissed the lawsuit. It held that the Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan’s language—stating DEC “should” conduct a carrying capacity study—did not create a mandatory legal duty. The court also ruled that the lawsuit was time-barred, as it was not filed within 60 days of the adoption of the SLWF UMP.

At the end of 2025, PROTECT filed an appeal of the decision to the Appellate Division, Third Department in Albany. The parties have submitted briefs in the appeal, and it is tentatively scheduled for oral arguments to be heard by the appellate court in September 2026. We are committed to holding DEC responsible for conducting the carrying capacity study of the water bodies in Saranac Lake Complex.