ALBANY, NY – A coalition of regional and
national conservation organizations and supporters today presented more than
22,000 petition signatures and thousands of personal letters to Gov. Andrew
Cuomo’s Adirondack Park Agency calling on the agency to protect the pristine
and sensitive Boreas Ponds tract as motor-free wilderness.
Public
hearings on
the state’s land-classification plans for the stunningly beautiful
mountain-scape have already begun. They will continue through early December.
Public comments will be accepted by the Adirondack Park Agency (APA) through Dec. 30.
The BeWildNY Coalition is calling for a
wilderness (no motors) classification on about two-thirds of the Boreas Ponds
tract, with a buffer of wilderness at least one mile wide separating the access
road and parking lot from the ponds.
The groups also released a new
video showing why the Boreas Ponds
tract should be protected from cars, trucks, snowmobiles and other vehicles.
The three-minute educational video is narrated by actress Sigourney Weaver. The music soundtrack
was composed by Michael Bacon.
Both artists own homes in the Adirondack Park and have been coming to the park
since they were children. Both donated their time to the cause of wilderness.
In September, the BeWildNY Coalition
released a 30-second television commercial featuring Sigourney Weaver. The new
version is six times longer, with great aerial footage of the ponds and surrounding
wild lands in full autumn colors.
“The Adirondack Park is a national
treasure, created in 1892 to protect pure water, unspoiled forests and
sensitive wildlife,” Ms. Weaver states in the video. “It is the largest park in
the contiguous United States, greater in size than Yellowstone, Yosemite,
Glacier, and Grand Canyon National Parks combined. But only a small portion of
the Adirondack Park is protected as wilderness, where the forest is a sanctuary
from noise, pollution and automobiles.
“We now have a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity to expand the park’s largest wilderness area, which safeguards New
York’s tallest mountains and drinking water: the headwaters of the mighty
Hudson River,” she said. “Together, we can connect these long-missing pieces of
wild lands and create a single wilderness inside the Adirondack Park as large
as many national parks out West. It will be our legacy to future New Yorkers
and the world. It will remind the world that New York is where wilderness
preservation is alive and thriving.”
The video is being made available online
and will be distributed to television and radio stations for use as a Public
Service Announcement and in news broadcasts.
In presenting the petition signatures,
letters and emails collected to date, BeWildNY Coalition members praised the
public response to the call for wilderness at Boreas Ponds:
“Our canvassers were out over the summer
talking to people who were visiting the Adirondack Park and we were thrilled by
their overwhelming support,” said Adirondack Council Executive Director William
C. Janeway. “These signatures represent the opinions of many, many New York
residents who own this land and want it protected from vehicles.”
“This
is not a debate over where people are allowed to go,” said Neil Woodworth,
Executive Director of the Adirondack Mountain Club. “People can go anywhere on
any public lands in the Adirondack Park. This is a debate about where cars can
go, as well as trucks, snowmobiles and other vehicles. Some places are just too
sensitive for vehicle access.”
“Advocates for motorized access say the Boreas Ponds tract can’t become wilderness because there are a few dirt roads on it and a small dam,” said Adrienne Esposito, Executive Director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment. “All of the Adirondack Forest Preserve -- except for a few hundred thousand acres -- was once heavily logged, developed or scorched to the ground by wild fires. If we allow nature to be the dominant force on this landscape instead of cars and trucks, it will be pristine again in no time.”
The BeWildNY Coalition has taken special
care in its proposal for classification to leave the southern portion of the
Boreas Ponds tract classified as non-wilderness so that a snowmobile trail
could be built to connect Newcomb and North Hudson (see www.BeWildNY.org).
They called the plan balanced and fair, without compromising the ecological
health of Boreas Ponds.
“A wilderness classification for Boreas
Ponds will be beneficial for wildlife, including some of the state’s most
beloved and iconic bird species -- Common Loon and Black-throated Blue Warbler
– that rely on its pristine habitat for survival,” said Erin Crotty, Executive
Director of Audubon New York. “Adding this parcel to the Adirondack Forest
Preserve is a significant investment in advancing the quality of life for the
birds, wildlife and people of New York.”
“In addition to the environmental
benefits, wilderness can bring significant economic rewards to Adirondack towns
and villages,” said Marcia Bystryn, Executive Director of the League of
Conservation Voters. “A recent study by the Clarkson University School of
Business found that wilderness lands bring a significant premium to their host
communities. Over the past decade, people paid much more for real estate inside
the Adirondack Park than for similar real estate outside of the park. Inside
the park, buyers paid 25 percent more to be near wilderness areas than other
places, where snowmobiles and jeeps are welcome.”
“The state’s current plans for the
Boreas Ponds tract will not protect this delicate ecosystem from the
destructive consequences of motorized vehicles, which include traffic, soil
degradation, and the spreading of invasive species,” said Liz Moran, Water
& Natural Resources Associate of Environmental Advocates of New York.
“Thousands of New Yorkers are now calling on Governor Cuomo to ensure this
wilderness stays wild by banning motorized vehicles – and he should listen to
them.”
Source: Environmental Advocates of New York
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