Public Meeting Scheduled for December 18 in Raquette Lake

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is seeking comments to amend the Moose River Plains Wild Forest (MRPWF) Unit Management Plan to improve its mountain bike trail system, Regional Director Robert Stegemann announced today.

“The 2011 Unit Management Plan called for DEC to create a working group consisting of mountain bikers, local governments and other interested parties to develop a comprehensive mountain bike plan for Moose River Plains,” said Director Stegemann. “A meeting of stakeholders in July 2013 resulted in DEC contracting with the International Mountain Bicycling Association to create a mountain bike trail system concept plan. The concept plan has been completed.”

The next step in the process to develop a high-quality mountain bike trail system in the Moose River Plains Wild Forest is to consider an amendment to the UMP.

DEC is initiating a public review to determine which elements of the concept plan to adopt in a UMP amendment, which will also define how a mountain bike trail system will be implemented on the ground. A public meeting will be held in the gymnasium of the Raquette Lake Union Free School, 115 State Route 28, Raquette Lake, on Thursday, December 18, beginning at 7 p.m. The school is wheelchair accessible. Please provide any requests for specific accommodation in advance to DEC at 518-897-1248.

DEC staff will provide a brief presentation on the proposals in the concept plan, identifying the proposals that may be acted on without amending the UMP; proposals that require a UMP amendment; and proposals that cannot be undertaken due to physical or regulatory restrictions. DEC will then seek thoughts and ideas from the public on the proposals in the plan.

Mountain biking has become a very popular activity in many places. Residents and local government officials in the communities around the Moose River Plains seek to improve their local economies by developing high-quality mountain bike trail systems to attracting mountain bikers to the area.

Comments may also be provided by January 30, 2015 in writing to McCrea Burnham, 625 Broadway, Albany, NY, 12233-4254 or e-mailed to: Adirondackpark@dec.ny.gov.

The Moose River Plains UMP and the mountain bike trail system conceptual plan can be viewed and downloaded at:
Moose River Plains Wild Forest – Unit Management Plan