Whose Adirondacks is it ?
Whose Adirondacks is it anyways? (Column)
Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
6/27/08, Web site
By: Leo Maloney, Outdoors Columnist
Imagine that someday you were driving towards the Adirondacks and as you approached the "blue line" instead of seeing the familiar Adirondack Park signs you saw a chain link fence with a sign saying "Keep Out."
Sound a little far-fetched? Perhaps, but if many of the extreme preservationists that dominate the so-called environmental protection groups of the Adirondacks have their way it might as well be.
Their continued assault on land classification, regulations, DEC management and other issues would essentially exclude any form of recreation that they did not approve of and reduce most people to "windshield tourists." Consider the statement that one high ranking official of a well-known group recently made: "We are getting rid of bikes, motors, and next will be the fishermen."
In addition to their well-documented opposition to trail maintenance, classifying any new state lands other than wilderness, and other forms of recreation, their latest battles include the attempt to ban floatplanes, severely restrict the use of motors on many Adirondack waters, and prevent DEC Fisheries biologists from managing or restoring native trout to most waters.
Because these groups are large in membership and very affluent, they have a tremendous influence upon the Adirondack Park Agency and the Dept. of Environmental Conservation. At a moments notice they can summon their supporters to flood the legislature or state offices with hundreds of letters, or threaten expensive and lengthy lawsuits.
Lows Lake that we have discussed in recent columns is a case in point. It can be reached by a long day of paddling or you can fly in by floatplane to enjoy perhaps the best bass fishing in the Adirondacks. Ironically not many people do fly in, but there are literally armadas of canoes heading up the Bog River. Most people surveyed by the DEC had no objections to the float planes, but the Residents Committee to Protect the Adirondacks (RCPA) and the Association For Protection of the Adirondacks (AFPA) immediately sued the state to ban floatplanes.
By no stretch of the imagination is it wilderness. There are private holdings, including a Boy Scout Camp, along its shoreline. But an AFPA spokesman arrogantly claimed that they are acting on behalf of the states' 19 million people. Are they representing you? If it really were "wilderness" they should blow the dam creating Low's Lake and turn it into Low's swamp!
Brook trout, our native species in most Adirondack waters, is in big trouble due to several factors including acidification and introduction of non-native species such as bass or perch. Fisheries biologists have long proven that Rotenone is a safe and effective of killing off a lake because it attacks gills; it is not a poison. But active opposition from these supposed stewards of the natural habitat have prevented the DEC from using it.
Acidification did render many of the high elevation lakes lifeless, including ridding them of invasive species. Now that acidification has declined somewhat, DEC biologists find they have an opportunity to re-claim the lake. But to do that they need to study the lake and build barrier dams to prevent non-native species of fish from returning. They need to fly people in for two weeks to study the lake, build barriers, etc. in summer.
The APA, the Adirondack Council, and Residents Committee to Protect the Adirondacks are strongly opposed, saying that this will "spoil the wilderness experience." For who? For the three or four people that may hike in there? But unfortunately the top officials of the DEC are sympathetic to these groups, and not their own fisheries biologists.
The wilderness philosophy that dominates the thinking of the eco-fanatic groups, the APA staff, and top positions in the DEC means that there will be no motorized access (and relatively little of any other type), no native species restoration or reclamation, and no effective management. Oh you will still be able to fish Fourth Lake, Long Lake, Tupper Lake and few others. But if you are looking for back country brook trout fishing your chances are becoming increasingly restricted.].
The recently announced "Quiet Waters" proposal sounds positive, and indeed many trout fishermen and outdoor writers have initially endorsed it. It says the DEC will work with other groups to establish waters for paddling only. But even the name is troubling. It is essentially taken from the campaign by "Adirondack Explorer" publisher Richard Beamish who would like to ban motors from most Adirondack waters. That makes one wonder how fair or objective it will really be.
The proponents claim that only 3 to 5% of the Adirondack Parks surfaces are closed to motors. But they have distorted this picture by using the surface acreage of waters, which includes Lake George and Lake Champlain! In reality the motorless waters of the Adirondacks contain 755 wilderness lakes, 39 primitive lakes, and 58 canoe waters that are already off limits to motors. There are also a sizable portion of 986 wild forest water bodies and over 2000 miles of wild and scenic rivers that are either unnavigable or inaccessible to motor boats.
Even the APA reports that there are 11,101 bodies of water within the Adirondack Park and the vast majority are either legally closed, or inaccessible to motorboats. The APA says that slightly over 50% of the ponds are restricted or considered canoe waters.
Surveys show that only a minority of paddlers want the most extreme restrictions. But this issue has the potential to polarize and divide outdoorsmen. We will discuss the realities and issues more deeply in another column. But in the meantime, ask yourself the question - whose Adirondacks is it anyway?
What do you think? Comments and discussion welcomed!