The decision is in on the trespassing lawsuit against Phil Brown, editor of the Adirondack Explorer, over his trip from the William C. Whitney Area to Lake Lila via Mud Pond and Mud Pond Outlet, which partly runs through private property of Brandreth Park. The lawsuit was started by the Brandreth Park Association, among others.
In the lawsuit of Brown vs. The Brandreth Park Association, Brown has won and the public has the right to travel from Mud Pond through Brandreth Park property to Lake Lila. Here’s the decision, filed on February 25th. This decision is a milestone in affirming the public’s recreation and navigation rights.
The lawsuit started after publication of a story by Phil Brown about his trip from Little Tupper Lake through the Lake Lila. A series of inter-connected lakes and ponds, some with short carries, connect Little Tupper to Lake Lila, but the last stretch of the trip from Mud Pond to Lake Lila runs through a corner of Brandreth Park. A long, difficult carry on state land provides an alternative. Brown found the route through Mud Pond, part of a historic canoe route used in the 19th century, to be both possible and enjoyable.
Here’s some background information from Phil Brown.
Hats off too to Attorney General Eric Schneiderman for joining Brown and asserting the public’s navigation rights.
Brown was represented by John Caffry, of the Caffry and Flower Law Office in Glens Falls.
No word at this time of Brandreth Park or others will make an appeal.
Other important public navigation cases include the Moose River case
